SRINAGAR: The political row between the ruling National Conference and its alliance partner Congress in Jammu and Kashmir escalated on Thursday over the rendition of the full version of Vande Mataram, with J&K Congress chief Tariq Hamid Karra accusing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of being “detached from reality”.
Karra questioned whether anyone had been jailed in Kerala, where only the first two stanzas of the national song were sung at government events, after Omar said the full rendition had become a statutory obligation.
In a post on X, Karra said Omar’s remarks were “detached from reality” and that “the public has nothing to do with this debate. It is the government that is expected to stand upright.”
Responding to Omar’s question on whether Congress wanted more Kashmiris jailed for not standing during the full rendition, Karra said, “Did a single person in Kerala go to jail when its government chose to sing only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram at the Independence Day parade?”
“Are we wrong to expect our CM to be equally capable of standing up for secular and inclusive values as the CMs of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and now even Karnataka and Telangana have done by limiting Vande Mataram to the first two stanzas at state events,” he said.
Omar had defended the government’s position, saying the law now made the full rendition of Vande Mataram compulsory at functions where the national anthem is played.
“This is not only for J&K but for the whole country. Where there are states of Congress, this will also happen there in government functions,” he said.
Omar also said legal action could be taken against those who did not stand during Vande Mataram and asked, “What does the Congress want… that more Kashmiris should be jailed?”
Congress leaders have opposed the full rendition, arguing that the shorter, adopted version better reflects India’s secular and plural ethos.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said the full version “sits uneasily with the syncretic and pluralist ethos” envisioned by India’s freedom fighters and urged allies to honour the version they had adopted.