MP considering national anthem recital mandate in madrasas, says minister Narottam Mishra

A day after Uttar Pradesh government made recital of the national anthem mandatory in all madrasas, Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra said a similar step could be considered in his state in future.

Speaking to reporters in Bhopal on Friday, he said the national anthem can be sung everywhere and that it is a “matter to be considered” in Madhya Pradesh.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) MP unit president Vishnu Dutt Sharma said the national anthem should be recited at all educational institutions across the country. “We are not asking anyone to sing the national anthem in Pakistan. We are just asking educational institutions situated in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and all corners of the country to sing the national anthem and national song and slogans of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai',” he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

In Maharashtra too, a similar request has been made by the BJP. Acharya Tushar Bhosale, who is the state president of BJP's spiritual coordination alliance (according to his Twitter bio), earlier in the day lauded the Yogi government’s move and spoke about the necessity to follow suit.

“Welcoming the decision of the Yogi government to make the national anthem mandatory in madrassas in Uttar Pradesh! It is necessary to inculcate patriotism along with religious and school education,” one of his tweets, roughly translated from Hindi, read.

In another tweet, Bhosale urged the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)-led government in Maharashtra to make the recital of ‘Jana Gana Mana’ mandatory in madrasas of the state.

“In Maharashtra also, national anthem should be mandatory in madrassas. Our demand from the state government,” the post read.

On May 9, the registrar of Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Education Board, SN Pandey, issued an order making recital of the national anthem compulsory in all recognised, aided and unaided madrassas of the northern state mandatory from Thursday (May 12) onwards.

“As per the decision taken in the meeting of UP State Madrasa Education Board on March 24, the national anthem has been made mandatory at the time of prayer in all madrasas from the new academic session which started today (Thursday),” Pandey said in the order.

The national anthem will be played before a class in a madrasa commences in the morning, as per the decision made in the board meeting on March 24.

The general secretary of Teachers' Union Madaris Arabia, Diwan Saheb Zaman Khan, said that till now, ‘Hamd’ (praises to Allah) and ‘Salam’ (salutations of Muhammad) were recited before the start of classes in madrasas.

“In some places, the national anthem was also sung but it was not compulsory. But now it has been made mandatory,” Khan added.

(With agency inputs)