Heavens won’t fall if all 6 Vande stanzas sung in madrassas: Calcutta HC

The Calcutta High Court dismissed a petition on Tuesday challenging the mandatory singing of six stanzas from the national anthem, Vande Mataram, in madrassas. The court's acting chief justice, Tapabrata Chakraborty, stated that "the heavens will not fall" even if the directive is implemented. He emphasized that if a Christian school forces students to pray, it should not be surprising if students from a particular religion are asked to sing something outside their beliefs.

The petition was filed by senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, who argued that the Centre had notified the requirement of singing all six stanzas. Bhattacharyya pointed out that the Constitution had agreed upon singing only two stanzas after extensive deliberation. He added that forcing anyone to sing the anthem would disrupt communal harmony, given the bloodshed that had been endured to achieve independence.

Bhattacharyya submitted that such a law could lead to imprisonment if a student refused to sing the national anthem. Another petition was filed by senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, who mentioned a previous debate on the topic in Parliament. The Acting Chief Justice acknowledged the "jurisdictional" aspect of the petition but questioned whether any coercive step has been taken so far.

Additional Solicitor General Dhiraj Kumar Trivedi opposed the injunction, stating that the PILs were driven by the desire for publicity rather than genuine concerns.