BMC House passes motion to make singing Vande Mataram mandatory in civic body-run schools
After the Maharashtra Assembly witnessed ruckus over the issue of singing of Vande Mataram, BJP corporator from Goregaon Sandeep Patel on Thursday demanded that the song be made compulsory in all BMC-run (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) schools.
After the Maharashtra Assembly witnessed ruckus over the issue of singing of Vande Mataram, BJP corporator from Goregaon Sandeep Patel on Thursday demanded that the song be made compulsory in all BMC-run (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) schools.
Patel brought a notice of motion in the BMC House, the assembly where all corporators come and deliberate on local civic issues, asking for singing of Vande Mataram to be made mandatory in all BMC schools.
Despite the Samajwadi Party and the Congress' objecting to it, the motion was passed by the BMC House. The motion states that Vande Mataram be sung in all BMC-run schools at least twice a week. The Samajwadi Party corporators walked out of the BMC House in protest.
"When we come to BMC House, Vande Mataram gets played. It is from here that I got the idea that it should be played in schools too. I don't know what is wrong with singing 'Vande Mataram' in schools. I don't understand why some people are objecting to it? Instead of raising a hue and cry over it, we should proudly sing Vande Mataram", said Sandeep Patel.
SAMAJWADI PARTY OBJECTS TO MAKING VANDE MATARAM COMPULSORY
"When this motion was introduced in the House by Patel, Samajwadi Party corporators asked the BMC Mayor to conduct a vote test on this. According to BMC rules, a minimum of 4 corporators should ask for a vote on a particular topic. Only then is such a request considered. Disregarding this, the House cleared this motion. We are not against singing of Vande Mataram in schools, but we object to its being made compulsory. For us, Allah is the only God. We don't do Vandan (prayer) to anyone else. That's why we are objecting to it. When Vande Mataram gets played in BMC house, we stand in respect of it. But why make it compulsory? This is nothing but BJP's agenda. Earlier, they tried to impose Surya Namskar on schools and now Vande Mataram. By making it compulsory, we are diminishing the value of the national anthem", said Rais Shaikh of Samajwadi Party.
A few weeks ago, the same controversy had erupted in the Maharashtra assembly where BJP MLA Raj Purohit had made a similar demand after the Madras High Court pronounced its verdict making singing of Vande Mataram compulsory in all schools. Samajwadi Party and MIM had raised objections to this demand of BJP.
Now that the House has passed this notice of motion now, it has been sent to the BMC Commissioner for his approval. In 2004, a similar request was made by one corporator which the House had passed. But the Commissioner had declined it, stating that 'Vande Mataram' was not the national anthem.
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