Shillong, Mar 29: The Meghalaya unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a right-wing Hindutva-based students’ union affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has welcomed the recent verdict of the Supreme Court regarding the national song Vande Mataram.
A petition had been made to the court calling on it to quash the January directive from the central government to play the song at public events. There has been some opposition from this, including in Meghalaya, as the song contains lyrics directed to a Hindu goddess. However, the court dismissed the petition as the directive does not force anyone to sing it if they choose not to.
Bomsing Khongtir, the state secretary of the ABVP, said he welcomed the verdict. He also highlighted the song’s place in India’s freedom struggle but made no mention of the controversy regarding the religious lyrics, which have caused unease in Christian-majority states like Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram as well as among Muslim groups.
