PIL challenging singing of national anthem in UP madarsas dismissed

ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad high court has dismissed a PIL challenging a government order making singing of the national anthem in all the schools and madarsas of UP mandatory.

The bench, comprising chief justice DB Bhosale and justice Yashwant Varma, while dismissing the writ petition filed by Alaul Mustafa, said that the petition is thoroughly misconceived.

The petitioner, claiming to be a secretary of an institution which runs a madarsa in Mau district, had challenged the government order of August 3, 2017 as also a circular dated September 6, 2017 making singing of national anthem mandatory in schools and madarsas.

In the petition, a request was made for a directive to the respondents not to execute any order or force students of madarsas in Uttar Pradesh to sing the national anthem.

The court observed that it was the view of the petitioner that singing of the national anthem was ‘forced patriotism’ and could not be enforced upon people who did not want to sing or recite the national anthem in the light of their ‘belief and custom’.

“The petitioner was unable to refer to or draw our attention to any material, which may have even remotely established that the singing of the national anthem would violate the beliefs and customs of students attending madarsas in UP. The writ petition also does not carry any evidence of students attending madarsas in the state objecting to the singing or recital of the national anthem”, added the bench.

The court, while dismissing the petition observed, “This court is constrained to record its anguish at the stand, which is taken by the petitioner, who quite far from espousing the interest of anybody, appears to have made various averments in the writ petition, ignorant of the duty of every citizen of this nation to

Petitioner was unable to draw our attention to any material, which may have even remotely established that singing of the national anthem would violate beliefs and customs of madarsa students. HIGH COURT BENCH

respect the national anthem irrespective of his or her religious or political beliefs.”

The court also observed, “The recitation of the national anthem is in essence the act of every citizen honouring the history and tradition of this great nation and ultimately subserves the spirit of brotherhood among all without exception to the religious, lingual or regional affiliation of a particular individual. The singing of the national anthem is, therefore, not just a constitutional duty but also fosters the spread of the spirit of democracy, secularism and the integrity of the nation.”