Overview
- Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said in Gorakhpur that reciting the national song will be compulsory across Uttar Pradesh’s educational institutions to instill respect for the nation.
- He directed authorities to incorporate the song into daily school and college assemblies, framing the move as part of efforts to strengthen unity and national pride.
- The decision follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 7 November launch of a year-long 150th-anniversary observance in New Delhi, where he released a commemorative stamp and coin.
- Mass-singing events were organized by railways and other institutions nationwide as part of the commemoration, with full versions of the song performed at major stations and offices.
- Modi’s claim that dropping stanzas in 1937 sowed the seeds of Partition drew a sharp response from the Congress, which demanded an apology and cited Rabindranath Tagore’s role, while some politicians and religious groups objected to compulsory recitation on faith grounds.