The Bengal government on Monday said all 1,600 madrasas under the minority affairs and madrasa education department sang Vande Mataram during morning prayers as the institutions reopened after the summer vacation.
Heads of the madrasas videorecorded the prayers and uploaded the clips to WhatsApp groups administered by school sub-inspectors and district inspectors of schools as proof of compliance.
Seikh Manjur Ahmed, headmaster of Dahakanda Siddiquia High Madrasah in Mathurapur-I, South 24-Parganas, said 350 students sang Vande Mataram in keeping with a state government order issued on May 20.
The summer vacation in the state’s madrasas had begun on May 14.
Vande Mataram was played on small sound boxes placed outside classrooms where students assembled for prayers.
“Each student was given a PDF containing all six stanzas of Vande Mataram. It was played on sound boxes, the students joined in. Videos of the performance have been uploaded to the relevant WhatsApp groups,” Manjur Ahmed said. “We expect students to learn all six stanzas within a week. Thereafter, they will sing without the help of the device,” he added.
Teachers, both Hindu and Muslim, joined the students during the performance.
The national song was followed by the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana.
In January, the Union home ministry said all six stanzas of Vande Mataram should be sung before the national anthem. The decision was taken to mark the 150th year of Vande Mataram.
Before the introduction of Vande Mataram, madrasa students sang the national anthem during morning assembly along with Ananta Ashim Premomoy Tumi, written by poet Golam Mostafa, said Manjur Ahmed. “On Monday, Ananta Ashim Premomoy Tumi was not sung. Only the national song and the national anthem were performed,” he told Metro.
Vande Mataram was also sung in all government and aided schools on the first day after the summer break.
Sanjay Barua, headmaster of Narayan Das Bangur Memorial Multipurpose School on Bangur Avenue on the northern fringes of the city, said 650 students from Classes VI to XII sang only Vande Mataram during the morning assembly on the school grounds.
Before the introduction of Vande Mataram in government and aided schools on May 13, students sang the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, and the state song, Banglar Mati Banglar Jol, also composed by Rabindranath Tagore, during morning assemblies. The Mamata Banerjee government had introduced the state song last November.
During an administrative review meeting on May 25 and 26, inspectors were instructed to ensure full compliance with the directive to sing Vande Mataram in schools and
madrasas.