 Sanjay Pandita
Early Times Report
Jammu, Sept 10: Amid brewing differences between two coalition partners over singing the full stanzas of the national song Vande Mataram, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday charged the ally Congress with unnecessarily raising the issue.
Chief Minister made a pointed statement on the contentious Vande Mataram issue, declaring that his government has no choice but to comply with existing law mandating the singing of the song's full version — and daring the Congress party to change that law if it ever returns to power.
Speaking to reporters in Srinagar, Abdullah said the statutory provisions requiring the rendition of the complete version of Vande Mataram are not unique to Jammu and Kashmir but apply uniformly across the country. No government, he stressed, is above the law, and as long as the provision remains on the books, compliance is not optional.
"We have to follow the law. If Congress comes to power, they can scrap this law. But as long as the law exists, we have to abide by it," the Chief Minister said, making clear that his administration's hands are tied regardless of its own political preferences.
Abdullah went further, virtually in We have to follow the law.
If Congress comes to power, they can scrap this law.
My administration’s hands are tied regardless of our own political preferences.
We have to fulfil our legal and constitutional obligations.
The Chief Minister specified that the full stanzas of Vande Mataram, alongside the national anthem, must be observed at government functions attended by constitutional dignitaries under the current legal framework.
Abdullah was careful to draw a line between his party's politics and his government's obligations. He clarified that the National Conference has never accepted Vande Mataram as its own and will not do so in the future — but as the party running the government, it is bound to follow the law and statutory provisions currently in force.
"We have to fulfil our legal and constitutional obligations," he reiterated.
The remarks underscore the balancing act Abdullah is attempting: keeping the NC's political identity distinct from Vande Mataram while insisting his government will not defy a law that applies nationwide — effectively shifting the burden of any change onto the Congress and Parliament, not his own administration. | 