Calcutta High Court questions mandatory Vande Mataram verses in madrassas

The Calcutta High Court heard a petition challenging a central directive that requires madrassas to sing all six stanzas of Vande Mataram, with the bench saying the heavens will not fall.

During a hearing in Kolkata, the Calcutta High Court examined a petition that seeks to halt a government order obligating madrassas to sing the complete six-stanza Vande Mataram anthem. Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty likened the issue to compulsory Christian prayers in schools, emphasizing that religious coercion is unwarranted. Senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya highlighted that the Constitution originally limited the anthem to two verses after extensive debate and warned that mandatory singing could inflame communal tensions.

He also warned that penalising dissent could lead to imprisonment without clear legal recourse. The bench observed that, to date, no punitive measures have been reported against anyone refusing the chant. Additional Solicitor General Dhiraj Kumar Trivedi opposed an interim stay, labeling the petitions as publicity-driven litigation. The court’s preliminary view suggests jurisdictional concerns over the memo’s validity.