Vande Mataram compulsory in Chhattisgarh

Amid controversy over the recitation of 'Vande Mataram' in its centenary year, the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Chhattisgarh has made mandatory singing of the song in all educational institutions of the state, including madrasas.

"The state government has made mandatory the rendition of Vande Mataram in all educational institutions of the state on September 7," School Education Secretary Chitta Ranjan Khetan told PTI in Raipur. The decision has been intimated to all the District Education Officers and Secretaries of Madrasa Board, Sanskrit Board and Secondary Education Board and Directors of Public Education, Rajiv Gandhi Sikshya Mission and NCERT of the State, he said.

"As per the decision there will be recitation of Vande Mataram in all the schools, colleges and educational institutions at 11:00 am on September 7," the government order said.

"On completion of 100 years of acceptance of first two stanzas of 'Vande Mataram' as the national song, the Centre has decided to make mandatory its recitation in all educational institutions," the order said.

The state government also took the decision to make the song mandatory after receiving a letter from the Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh urging state Chief Minister Raman Singh to issue appropriate direction in that connection, it said.

A controversy has erupted after a section of Muslims objected to the singing of 'Vande mataram' as it was in "conflict" with their religious beliefs.