New Delhi: For the first time in an international sporting event, the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ was played prior to the start of the first T20 match between India and Afghanistan held at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the capital on Sunday, September 13.
All six stanzas of the national song were broadcast at the stadium before the commencement of the match. Citing BCCI sources, the PTI news agency reported that henceforth, the ‘Vande Mataram’ song will be made mandatory before the first match of every domestic series held in India.
However, the opposition Congress has strongly objected to the broadcast of ‘Vande Mataram’ encompassing all six stanzas.
Congress lashes out
Questioning the government’s decision in this regard, Congress leader Udit Raj lashed out, asking, “What is the purpose of doing this without any compelling reason? Will this create jobs? Or will it further strengthen the Indian cricket team? Will this help us progress in the fields of science and technology, where we are lagging far behind? Exports have declined and the debt burden is increasing in the country. Will this solve the serious problems currently faced by the Gen Z youth? The ruling government is merely trying to create a political narrative.”
Recently, in its Working Committee (CWC) meeting, the Congress party had decided to adhere to its 1937 resolution of using only the first two stanzas of the ‘Vande Mataram’ song at party events. In 1937, the Indian National Congress selected the first two stanzas of this song as the national song, and later in 1950, the Constituent Assembly officially adopted it as the ‘National Song’.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had issued new guidelines on February 6 regarding the broadcast of ‘Vande Mataram’ to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the national song. According to these guidelines, the duration of the official ‘Vande Mataram’ song has been fixed at 3 minutes and 10 seconds, and everyone present is required to stand up respectfully while the song is being broadcast. Furthermore, approval was granted to use the full version of all six stanzas at official government ceremonies and major national celebrations attended by the President or Governors.