Omar Abdullah Defends Full Vande Mataram, Asks Congress If It Wants Kashmiris Jailed

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has pushed back sharply against ally Congress over its objection to the full rendition of Vande Mataram at an official event in Srinagar, asking whether the party wanted Kashmiris imprisoned over the issue.

"A law has been enacted regarding the national song. All verses of Vande Mataram have become mandatory. This applies not just to Jammu and Kashmir, but to the entire country; this is the protocol for government functions nationwide. Failure to comply will result in action," Abdullah said.

"Does Congress want Kashmiris to be thrown in jail on this issue?" he added.

The dispute follows the playing of all six stanzas of the national song at the opening of the International Film Festival in Srinagar, where Abdullah and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah stood through the full rendition on September 7. The Chief Minister said the national anthem and the national song would also be performed at the festival's closing ceremony.

While asserting that his party had never adopted Vande Mataram as its own and would not do so in the future, Abdullah said legal obligations still had to be met.

Congress MP K C Venugopal had said on September 8 that the full version of the song "sits uneasily" with the syncretic and pluralist ethos envisioned by India's freedom fighters, and urged the party's allies to respect the version adopted by the Congress in 1937. The National Conference responded that the Congress could not dictate to alliance partners on the matter.

The Congress Working Committee decided last month to abide by its 1937 resolution, under which only two stanzas of the national song are sung at party events. That decision followed BJP accusations that Congress leaders had insulted Vande Mataram by not singing the full version at their functions.

Earlier this year, the Centre mandated that all six stanzas of Vande Mataram be played before Jana Gana Mana at government events, schools and official ceremonies.

The BJP has also attacked the Congress over its position. Party MP and spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the objection left no doubt that the Congress had become a "new Muslim League of the 21st century" and stood "completely isolated" on the issue.

The National Conference and Congress are partners in the INDIA alliance, and the Congress supports the Omar Abdullah government from outside.