08-30-2006, 03:30 AM
Varanasi sadhus undertake Vande Mataram yatra to usher Jan Chetna<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Varanasi, Aug.29 (ANI): The controversy over the recital of the national song is yet to be resolved as evident from the sadhus in Varanasi who organised a Janchetna Yatra on Monday to encourage the singing of the national song.
The sadhus took out a march in the city of Ganges, singing Vande Mataram all through the way. Many people later joined the march and also sang the same. They insisted that the recital of the national song, which laid the foundation of our freedom struggle, can not be withdrawn from its old status as it reflected nation's true identity.
"We want to say that Vande Mataram being the national song, it deserves an important place and the one who denies doing so can not be a true nationalist," said Arun Pathak, President, Kranti Shiv Sena.
Criticising the opposition to sing the national song, Swami Narendranath one of the Sadhus said that reckoning the essence of true patriotism in the song, religious bigotry should be shunned.
"We want the people to come out of factionalism and realise the true spirit of this song. It evolves within itself several meanings and one should be free to accept the radical things instead of being stubborn," said Swami Narendranath.
Recently, a directive issued by the Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) that oversees education wanted all schools to recite the first two stanzas of the song at 11 am on September 7 to mark the completion of the centenary celebrations commemorating adoption of the national song.
However, when some Muslim clerics in Uttar Pradesh objected to this by contending that singing Vande Mataram amounted to worshipping the motherland and Muslims cannot worship any other than Allah.
Soon, the HRD minister, Arjun Singh, on a second thought, then diluted the appeal and made the recital of Vande Mataram optional. (ANI)
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The sadhus took out a march in the city of Ganges, singing Vande Mataram all through the way. Many people later joined the march and also sang the same. They insisted that the recital of the national song, which laid the foundation of our freedom struggle, can not be withdrawn from its old status as it reflected nation's true identity.
"We want to say that Vande Mataram being the national song, it deserves an important place and the one who denies doing so can not be a true nationalist," said Arun Pathak, President, Kranti Shiv Sena.
Criticising the opposition to sing the national song, Swami Narendranath one of the Sadhus said that reckoning the essence of true patriotism in the song, religious bigotry should be shunned.
"We want the people to come out of factionalism and realise the true spirit of this song. It evolves within itself several meanings and one should be free to accept the radical things instead of being stubborn," said Swami Narendranath.
Recently, a directive issued by the Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) that oversees education wanted all schools to recite the first two stanzas of the song at 11 am on September 7 to mark the completion of the centenary celebrations commemorating adoption of the national song.
However, when some Muslim clerics in Uttar Pradesh objected to this by contending that singing Vande Mataram amounted to worshipping the motherland and Muslims cannot worship any other than Allah.
Soon, the HRD minister, Arjun Singh, on a second thought, then diluted the appeal and made the recital of Vande Mataram optional. (ANI)
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