Debate around 'Vande Mataram' heated after Jaipur Mayor's controversial remark

New Delhi: Debate over playing of national anthem in movie halls had not cooled off yet when Jaipur Mayor Ashok Lahoty, again turned the heat around the controversy relating to national anthem and national song. The Mayor has enforced compulsory singing of national anthem and national song within the premises of Jaipur Municipal Corporation from October 31. All the officers and workers of JMC are now required to sing the national anthem ‘Jan Gan Man’ at 9:50 every morning before beginning of the daily routine. The attendance will close soon after that, which means everybody willing to be marked present has to be present during the song. Similarly, the national song Vande Mataram has to be sung daily at 5:55 pm which is the closing time of the office. However this initiative soon came to be viewed as a diktat because of the following statement by the Mayor who said that those unwilling to sing the national anthem or the national song should leave the country for Pakistan. The statement has triggered a big debate on whether singing of national song should be free will of an individual or should it be forcefully imposed upon the countrymen? Supporting the stance of the Jaipur Mayor, Allahabad Mayor Abhilasha Gupta Nandi added another controversial remark to the hullabaloo. She said that those opposing the singing of national song and the national anthem have no rights to stay in the country and should leave the country and go. Abhilasha Gupta had made singing of Vande Mataram compulsory in Allahabad Municipal Corporation after Yogi Government came to power in Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, in a similar development Bhopal Mayor Alok Sharma said that a proposal to sing the national anthem and national song daily at the Bhopal Municipal Corporation would soon be moved. Jaipur Mayor Ashok Lahoty, however retracted from his statement and explained that his ‘Pakistan’ comment was a friendly banter.