India’s Supreme Court seeks government response to Vande Mataram petitions
Two petitioners challenge orders concerning the song’s six-stanza version, arguing that compulsory performance infringes religious freedom.
India’s Supreme Court asked the Union government on October 27 to respond to two petitions challenging orders concerning the six-stanza version of the national song Vande Mataram, The Hindu reported. The challenge puts the government’s requirements for performing the full song before the court, alongside the petitioners’ objections on religious-freedom grounds.
The petitions were filed by B.D. Borkar and former civil servant Balakrishnan Sathyabhama Mavoji, according to The Hindu. Bar and Bench described Borkar as a Buddhist activist and said the challenged Ministry of Home Affairs orders mandate singing all six stanzas at formal state events. The court issued notice to the government on both petitions; it has not decided whether the orders are lawful.
What the petitioners object to
The petitioners call the six-stanza song a ‘divisive religious war song’ and argue that the orders impose a sectarian prayer, The Hindu reported. They say the requirements violate fundamental rights of religion and raise questions under criminal law. Those are the petitioners’ arguments, rather than findings made by the Supreme Court when it sought the government’s response.
The Hindu reported that one requested remedy is for the court to direct that only the standalone two-stanza version be recognised, treated, performed and sung as the national song. That request makes the length and content of the version used at official events central to the dispute. The government’s response to the two petitions has not been reported.
The court’s earlier remarks on conscientious objection
On September 2, the Supreme Court orally observed that a democratically elected government could not compel conscientious objectors to sing or play any or all of Vande Mataram’s stanzas under threat of penal action, The Hindu reported. The court referred to its 1986 Bijoe Emmanuel judgment, which upheld religious freedom, constitutional tolerance and the right to object silently. Those earlier oral remarks provide context for the petitions now before the court, but they were not a ruling on the October 27 notices.
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Sources and context
- Supreme Court seeks government response on pleas challenging Vande Mataram as a ‘divisive religious war song’The Hindu
- Supreme Court seeks Centre's response on pleas challenging compulsory singing of full version of Vande MataramBar and Bench
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