BJP Nagaland ally and ruling NPF opposes Vande Mataram: ‘Alien… threatens our rights’

The NPF statement followed a heated debate in the Assembly over the issue. On Friday, a convocation at a Central university in the state, where Vice-President C P Radhakrishnan was the chief guest, saw some students remaining seated when the song was played.

In January, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued a directive notifying protocols for singing Vande Mataram, stating that the full version of the song – lasting 3 minutes and 10 seconds – be played before national anthem Jana Gana Mana, when both are part of official functions, and the audience stand in attention when it is performed. The order directed that this full version be played at official functions such as the arrival of the President, unfurling of the Tricolour, and speeches of governors, and states that “in all schools, the day’s work may begin with community singing of the national song.”

In Nagaland, those opposed to the directive point to the special Constitutional protections provided for Naga social and religious practices under Article 371(A), and say that the religious imagery in the national song makes the Centre’s mandate about it incompatible in the state. Christians make up more than 87% of the population in Nagaland.

Muslim groups have also been opposed to the mandatory singing of the national song on the same grounds.

The issue flared up after the national song was played on the first day of the ongoing Budget Session of the Nagaland Assembly, when Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla addressed the House. The next day, the MLAs spoke up in the House against this.

The Nagaland Assembly incidentally does not have any Opposition – while the NPF with 33 MLAs and the BJP with 12 are in a coalition government, the remaining 15 MLAs also support the government.

Referring to the playing of the national song in the Assembly, NPF MLA Kuzholuzo Nienu said: “I was deeply disturbed. This is my 24th year in the Assembly… Yesterday was the first time I came across such a thing.”

He, along with other MLAs, specifically pointed to the fourth stanza of Vande Mataram, which refers to Hindu goddesses, and likens the ‘motherland’ to Durga, Saraswati and Lakshmi.

“As a Christian, we believe in one God… I want to raise my strong objection and resentment of what is happening in the Assembly. I think we should not permit this,” Nienu said.

“Article 25 of the Indian Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to each citizen for freedom of conscience and freedom to profess and practise (any religion). My conscience does not allow (singing of the national song). I respect other religions, others’ beliefs, but at the same time, my conscience, my religion, my belief should also be respected… Anything and everything cannot be imposed,” said Y Lima Onen Chang, an MLA from RPI(Athawale), another NDA constituent.

Most of the MLAs focused on Clause (a) of the Article 371(A), which states that no Act of Parliament in respect of religious or social practices of the Nagas; Naga customary law and procedure; administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law; and ownership and transfer of law and resources, shall apply to the State of Nagaland unless its Assembly clears it by a resolution.

Ultimately, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, who belongs to the NPF, proposed that the matter be referred to a Select Committee of the House for examination, including legal consultation, “before arriving at a considered decision”.

Different student groups, tribal organisations and Church bodies have since taken up the matter. On Friday, in response to a boycott call by the Naga Students’ Federation, several students remained seated when Vande Mataram was played at the convocation of Nagaland University’s Lumami campus.

The federation said the song contains “strong and undeniable religious connotations rooted in the worship of Hindu deities” and objected to the remarks of BJP leader and minister Temjen Imna Along in the Assembly, where he was the lone MLA to defend the directive.

Along had urged that the directive regarding Vande Mataram not be “taken personally” or be “seen as an infringement of Article 371(A)” or “on our faith as followers of Christ”. “Let us feel and understand – even if we don’t want to sing it, even if we think it’s a religious issue – the way the rest of the country epitomizes motherland, (the song describes it) according to their thought process… The idea of secularism is a thought process of accepting and respecting each others’ thought process also… We should take it as a national song and, wherever it’s sung, it is our duty as citizens of this country to give it the best respect that we can give.”

The BJP MLA’s statement had been opposed by other MLAs, with NPF MLA and the party’s general secretary, Achumbemo Kikons, warning the BJP: “When the Congress was there, it was Indira is India, India is Indira. And all the regional parties got together to oust them from power. Today, our BJP friends have become very powerful. They should also be mindful of how people have rejected (parties) because of overusing and abusing power.”