Naga students slam Vande Mataram mandate as attack on faith; writes to President
NSF says revised Vande Mataram contains devotional imagery conflicting with the religious and cultural sensitivities of Naga people
Hundreds of students demonstrate holding placards in Kohima, on Monday. (AT Photo)
Kohima, Mar 16: Thousands of students and citizens under the banner of the Naga Students' Federation (NSF) staged a rally on Monday opposing the Centre’s directive to the state government mandating the singing of Vande Mataram during official functions and in educational institutions.
Carrying placards reading “MHA’s January 28 directive is an assault on secularism”, “Naga rights are non-negotiable”, “Stop forced policies”, and “The directive is a direct attack on our faith”, protesters marched from Kohima Town to Lok Bhavan.
Addressing the gathering, NSF president Mteisuding Heraang said the rally is a collective assertion that the identity and beliefs of the Naga people cannot be dictated by administrative directives.
He maintained that the protest is not directed against any nation or community, but against the imposition of symbolic practices that conflict with the conscience of the people.
The demonstrators also submitted a memorandum addressed to President Droupadi Murmu through the Governor of Nagaland.
In the memorandum, the NSF urged the President to withdraw the directive mandating the singing or playing of Vande Mataram during official functions and within educational institutions in the Naga homeland.
It also called for dialogue with representatives of the Naga people before implementing policies that could affect the cultural and social fabric of the region.
The memorandum further noted that the revised version of Vande Mataram contains devotional imagery associated with the worship of a particular deity, which the federation said conflicts with the religious and cultural sensitivities of the Naga people.
The NSF also maintained that educational institutions should remain spaces for intellectual freedom and democratic values rather than platforms for “enforcing symbolic compliance or ideological uniformity”.
Citing international legal frameworks such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the federation asserted that freedom of thought, conscience and religion must be upheld.
Speakers from the Naga Peoples’ Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), the Nagaland Joint Christian Forum (NJCF), the Nagaland Christian Revival Churches, and the Catholic Association of Nagaland also addressed the gathering, expressing support for the protest and stressing the need to safeguard the cultural and religious sensitivities of the Naga people.
PTI