Omar Abdullah Defends Full Vande Mataram Rendition, Asks Congress If It Wants Kashmiris Jailed
Omar Abdullah said the full rendition of Vande Mataram is a legal requirement nationwide, hitting back at Congress advice to the National Conference.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has defended the full rendition of Vande Mataram as a statutory obligation, asking whether the Congress wanted Kashmiris jailed for not complying with it.
Speaking to reporters in Srinagar on Thursday, Abdullah said the requirement applies across the country and not only to Jammu and Kashmir. He added that it would also apply at government functions in states ruled by the Congress.
His remarks followed a public exchange between the Congress and the National Conference over the singing of the full version of the national song at the inaugural ceremony of Jammu and Kashmir's first International Film Festival earlier this week. The event was attended by Abdullah and NC president Farooq Abdullah.
Congress's position
Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal, in a post on X, said the full version of Vande Mataram sits uneasily with the syncretic and pluralist ethos envisioned by the country's freedom fighters. He appealed to the National Conference, an INDIA bloc constituent and a pre-poll ally of the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir, to honour the wisdom and judgement of the freedom fighters and sing only the first two stanzas.
Venugopal invoked the positions of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Acharya Narendra Dev, Maulana Azad, Sarojini Naidu and J B Kripalani, shaped in part by the counsel of Rabindranath Tagore. He said the shorter version was chosen deliberately to keep the song from being communalised, and that upholding it was a way of preserving the secular and inclusive character of the Republic.
Jammu and Kashmir Congress president Tariq Hameed Karra described the rendition of the full version by an alliance partner as a matter of concern, saying national symbols and traditions draw their strength from their ability to bind together a diverse nation.
NC's response
National Conference legislator Tanvir Sadiq, a close aide of the Chief Minister, pushed back by posting videos of Congress chief ministers Revanth Reddy of Telangana and D K Shivakumar of Karnataka standing during the full rendition of the national song.
Abdullah said not standing during Vande Mataram could carry legal consequences. He asked what the Congress wanted, and whether Kashmiris should be jailed on this account, reiterating that the full rendition is a statutory obligation.
He said the Congress should have stopped the practice in Parliament and prayed that a Congress government would come to power soon and abolish the law in Parliament. He added that the National Conference has never accepted Vande Mataram and will not accept it in the future, but would continue to fulfil its legal and statutory obligations.