SRINAGAR, Aug 18: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said people may need some time to get accustomed to the singing of the national song Vande Mataram at official functions, as it has been included in such events only this year.
Addressing reporters in Srinagar, Abdullah said there was no controversy over the recent Congress function, asserting that all three verses of Vande Mataram were sung.
“Look at the video, all three verses of Vande Mataram were sung there. So what is the controversy here?” Abdullah said, referring to the controversy surrounding allegations of disrespect to the national song by Congress leaders.
He said the inclusion of Vande Mataram in official programmes was a new development and that people were still adjusting to the change.
“This was my eighth Independence Day parade, but it was for the first time Vande Mataram was included in it,” Abdullah said, explaining that the sequence involved standing for the national song, unfurling the national flag and then observing the National Anthem.
His remarks came amid a political row over the singing of the national song during the Congress Independence Day function at its headquarters in New Delhi. A complaint was also filed with Delhi Police seeking registration of an FIR against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi over alleged obstruction during the rendition.
The Congress has denied any attempt to stop the full version of the song and maintained that a 1937 meeting of its Working Committee had decided that the opening stanzas would be sung at party sessions.
On PDP president Mehbooba Mufti's recent post on X concerning the restoration of Article 370, Abdullah declined to comment, saying she was free to express her views on her social media account.
Commenting on student protests in Jharkhand, the J&K chief minister said authorities should engage with protesters if their demands were legitimate. He noted that the state government had already held one round of talks with the students.
Abdullah also criticised the centralisation of examinations and said education and health were primarily state subjects under the division of powers. Referring to the NEET controversy, he argued that greater centralisation had increased the Centre's responsibility when lapses occurred.
“What belongs to the state should be left to the state; what belongs to the Centre, the Centre should handle,” he said.
