Madras High Court was hearing a plea by one Mr. Veeramani. His answer ‘Bengali’ for the question “In which language Vande Mataram was written’ was marked wrong by the Teacher’s Recruitment Board. Veeramani got 89 marks and the eligibility was 90 so he missed the job by only one mark. Board claimed the song was originally written in Sanskrit. So, the Judge directed Advocate General to find out the correct answer. After doing his research, AG replied that the song was written in Sanskrit language, but in Bengali Script. Judge asked TRB to consider Veeramani for next parts of selection process.
Of course, the case has nothing to do with the fact that Justice Muralidharan declared “Vande Mataram should be sung in all schools, government offices, private entities and industries in the state of Tamilnadu”.
Of course, he is an educated man who read the law and knows what is expected of his pronouncement. So, he made it clear that in the event, any person/organization has difficulty in singing or playing the song, they shall not be compelled or forced to sing it, provided there are valid reasons for not doing so.
Justice Muralidharan said the schools must sing the National Song at least once in a week, preferably on Monday or Friday. Offices shall sing at least once in a month. If people are not comfortable in singing the Sanskrit Song, let the song be translated into Tamil, he proclaimed. Ending his decree, he further said the youth are the future of this country and this order shall be taken in right spirit and implemented in letter and spirit (verbatim from TOI).
Thank You Justice.
Of course, there are others like the one who compiled news for Firstpost, who felt the judiciary is prone to overt displays of patriotism. But, I consider it as a cure, not a problem.
Yesterday, self-proclaimed guardian of Indian Liberal Values, the editor of Hindustan Times has written a piece on how it is not the job of Vice Chancellor to inculcate ‘Nationalism’ in students. Apparently the Vice Chancellor has celebrated Kargil Vijay Diwas on the campus and even allowed army veterans. Maybe for the ultra-liberal editor of HT, the presence of army veterans amounts to desecrating the holy land of JNU.
Of course, the VC too shall share a part of blame. Unlike Justice Muraleedharan, who was experienced in the nuances of the society, the enthusiastic VC wanted to have an old army tank exhibited in the university. He should have known how to implement things without getting attention. There are many such old relics many science and engineering institutes. Maybe the editor of Hindustan Times has never visited one so he can be aware of such things.
But, the VC’s decision annoyed the editor so much, he got one Rohan D’Souza, an associate professor, Kyoto University too write a piece condemning the VC’s move. If the editor is half-an-intellectual, Sahib is a pucca one. So, he dwelled into history and selected parts suiting his case and articulated it as “Should the sword be mightier than the pen?”
Normally it is expected that any intellectual would study the culture and customs of the places they visit or reside. Perhaps, our Sahib was busy in his books he forgot to study how Japanese raise their children. It would help him a great deal if he spends some of his time in understanding how nationalism is in-built in the education system of Japan. Nationalism is literally embedded in their academics, despite the third class democracy they have (I mean, like everywhere else), Japanese remain loyal to their nation.
Ever since I read these two letter-bombs in Hindustan Times, I was feeling melancholy (Shakespearean). To say the least, the order of Justice Muraleedharan was like the first drop of rain on a parched land (after all, it is Sravan).
Thank You Justice, once again.
By the Way,
Vande Mataram!
