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Lucknow: Amid the raging controversy following prime minister Narendra Modi’s charge that some lines of the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ were dropped in 1937 blaming the Congress for the same, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that Vande Mataram recital would be mandatory in all schools in the state.
Speaking while taking part in ‘Unity Footmarch’ in his home town of Gorakhpur, Adityanath said that this step would inculcate the feeling of pride and respect among the citizens toward ‘Bharat Mata’.
‘’Every one should have respect for the national song Vande Mataram……we will make its singing mandatory in every school in UP,’’ the chief minister said.
He also said that it was the duty of every one to identify the elements who wanted to divide the country in the name of caste, region and language. ‘’It is a conspiracy to create a new Jinnah (Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan)….we will have to ensure that no Jinnah emerges in India,’’ he added.
Adityanath said that no religion could be more important than the country. ‘Anyone who creates obstacles for the country, should be relegated to the sidelines.
The chief minister referred to the reported refusal of a Samajwadi Party (SP) MP to sing Vande Mataram and said that such people took part in events to commemorate Jinnah but did not take part in programs to pay respect to Vallabh Bhai Patel.
Modi had a few days back claimed that some lines of Vande Mataram were dropped in 1937 and blamed the Congress for the same. Congress however refuted the charge.