Can those who want Indian citizens to compulsorily sing the national song sing it themselves?
A panel discussion (video above) on the NDTV show Left Right and Centre about the recent rulings by civic bodies in Jaipur and Guwahati with regard to making the singing of the national anthem and the national song compulsory for employees ended in some hilarity.
Towards the end of the debate moderator Nidhi Razdan asked Rakesh Sinha, an RSS ideologue: “Since everyone seems to be into singing Vande Mataram these days, would you like to take a shot or should I just let it be?”
Sinha tried to get out of it with a cryptic answer: “Patriotism being debated in such a (sic) is creating a binary.” He did not sing the song, but fellow panelist Aamir Raza Husain jumped in to recite the lyrics accurately. (You can watch the full video here.)
Meanwhile, India Today asked various members of the BJP administration at different levels to sing the national song. The outcome:
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