UP to make singing 'Vande Mataram' compulsory in schools

Addressing an 'Ekta Yatra' (Unity March) event in Gorakhpur three days later, Adityananth said making "Vande Mataram" mandatory would inspire feelings of reverence and pride among citizens towards "Bharat Mata" and the motherland

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Singing the "Vande Mataram" will be made compulsory in every school and educational institution of the state, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said Monday.

Debate over India's national song rekindled last week when Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after inaugurating the yearlong commemoration of 150 years of "Vande Mataram" that dropping key stanzas in 1937 had "sown the seeds of Partition". Such a "divisive mindset" remained a challenge for the country, he said in remarks seen as an attack on the Congress.

Addressing an 'Ekta Yatra' (Unity March) event in Gorakhpur three days later, Adityanath said making “Vande Mataram" mandatory would inspire feelings of reverence and pride among citizens towards "Bharat Mata" and the motherland.