Kerala Rejects Central Directive on Full Vande Mataram Recitation

Kerala officials and political leaders have firmly rejected a central government directive to sing the full six-stanza version of the national song Vande Mataram during official events, asserting the state will continue its established practice of performing only the first two stanzas. The dispute centers on a letter issued by Kerala Chief Secretary Bishwanath Sinha on August 6, which instructed that the song be recited in full during the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign from August 9 to 17, 2026.

The directive stems from guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Culture, linking the 2026 Har Ghar Tiranga campaign to the third phase of a nationwide commemoration marking 150 years of Vande Mataram. The letter stated that all physical celebrations would combine flag hoisting with the collective singing of the song's complete text, as approved by a National Implementation Committee chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

In response, Kerala Health Minister K. Muraleedharan stated that the state government would not follow the central directive. "In all state government programmes only the first two couplets were sung in the past, and that practice will continue even now," Muraleedharan...