By
L.S. Herdenia
BHOPAL: A decision to suspend singing
of Vande Matram at the state Secretariat and stop pension of MISA detainees
have plunged Madhya Pradesh into a serious controversy. Both the decisions have
given an opportunity to the BJP to train the guns on the newly formed Congress
government.
Vande
Matram used to be sung in the park opposite Vallabh Bhavan, which houses the
Secretariat of the MP government. This practice was introduced by the then BJP
chief minister Babulal Gaur. Officials and employees working in the Vallabh
Bhavan would assemble in the park on the first of every month before the start
of the working day for mass singing of Vande Matram. Invariably some minister
also used to participate in the recital of the national song. But suddenly, on
this years’ first January Vande Matram was not sung, which led to a fierce
controversy. The first to lodge strong protest was the former chief minister
Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He termed stoppage of singing Vande Matram as an
unpatriotic act. He announced that BJP members would assemble at the park on
the morning of January 2 to sing the song.
Accordingly,
several former BJP ministers, legislators and other local BJP leaders assembled
at Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Park and not only sang Vande Matram but ended up
chanting slogans like “Is desh mein rahna hain to bharat mata ki jai kehna
hoga’. When media persons requested them to sing “Vande Matram’ some of the BJP
leaders could not do it properly on their own. “Very few people know the
complete text of Vande Matram. If you ask me to recite the national song on my
own, I may not be able to do it. But I respect it all the same,” said former
MLA Surendra Nath Singh.
MLA
Rameshwar Sharma said “I can sing the first stanza. If you sing it in unison,
you would be able to sing it completely, but if you are asked to do it on your
own, you may face problems. It doesn’t mean that we don’t respect Vande Matram
or have no right to protest of the recital is stopped” he said.
Meanwhile,
Chief Minister Kamal Nath clarified that there is no intention to insult the
national song. But the idea was that the event should be held in a better and
organised way. A spokesman of the government stated that the event was reduced
to mockery. He said that the number of officers and employees working in the
Vallabh Bhavan who attended the singing event was never more than 200 to 300.
Therefore, the idea is to hold the event in such a way to ensure massive
participation. As per the decision, event will be made more inclusive. National
anthem ‘Jana-Gana-Mana’ will also be sung.
Under
the new system, the police band will march from Shaurya Smarak to Vallabh
Bhavan playing different patriotic songs at 10.45 am. General public can also
accompany the police band. Once the band and the public reach Vallabh Bhavan,
the national anthem and the national song will be sung. Officers and employees
of the state government will also take part in Vande Matram programme to be
held on the premises of Vallabh Bhavan.
The
new Vande Matram singing programme will be organised on the first working day
of every month only. The members of state council of ministers will take part
in the programmes in turns. The Vande Matram programme will also take place in
a festive manner at division/district headquarters on the first working day of
every month immediately before the start of office. The national anthem and
national song will be recited under the programme.
The
programme has been made attractive in the new format and common people will be
encouraged to join. With the participation of the masses, the Vande Matram
singing programme will become one of Bhopal’s centre of attractions.
BJP
president Amit Shah also joined the controversy and posed the question whether
singing was stopped on the orders of the Congress president. Reacting to Shah’s
comment, Chief Minister Kamal Nath said “BJP is playing politics with Vande
Matram; sometimes they play politics on Ram Temple and now on Vande Matram; I
consider this wrong and strongly condemn it”.
Shivraj
Singh Chouhan has announced that he along with all the 109 MLAs of BJP will
recite Vande Matram at Vallabh Bhavan ground at 10 am on January 7. People are
welcome to join the programme” he tweeted on Wednesday adding that BJP
legislators will take oath only after recitation of Vande Matram. The first
session of the newly constituted Assembly begins on January 7.
Besides
registering the protest over Vande Matram, the BJP described the decision to
suspend payment of pension to MISA detainees as political vendetta. The final
decision to scrap pension will be taken in a few days. MISA pension is given to
those who were arrested during Emergency under Maintenance of Internal Security
Act. (IPA Service)
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