The Maharashtra government on Saturday issued a Government Resolution (GR) directing government employees to answer the phone with “Vande Mataram” instead of “hello” when receiving calls from citizens or government officials, and also while addressing staff, speaking to citizens or making public announcements.
The campaign was launched across the state on Sunday, October 2, the occasion of the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and as part of Amrit Mahotsav. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Cultural Affairs Minister Sudhir Mungatiwar launched the campaign from Wardha on Sunday morning.
Speaking at the function, Fadnavis said, that ‘Vande Mataram’ played an important role in India’s independence movement. “Bhagat Singh’s last word was ‘Vande Mataram’, we have to bring Vande Mataram in our daily routine again,” he said. “From today onwards, we will start the ‘Vande Mataram’ movement.”
The campaign roused controversy as Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi on Sunday said that the state had always had a ‘Jai Maharashtra’ greeting since Bal Thackeray’s time, and this new campaign was only introduced to polarise Muslims, who he said cannot say ‘Vande Mataram’ as it is against their faith.
“I had met Bala (Thackeray) saab once or twice, he would always say ‘Jai Maharashtra’. All their sainiks would say the same. Even CM Shinde would say ‘Jai Maharashtra’. In Maharashtra, if a GR is issued which leaves out ‘Jai Maharashtra’ and takes up ‘Vande Mataram’, it indicates you (CM Shinde) are under their (BJP and RSS) pressure,” he said, adding that people of Maharashtra would question this and ask if it was a sin to say ‘Jai Maharashtra’.
“They are introducing this only to try and polarise. Muslims can’t say ‘Vande Mataram’. They are trying to divide us. We (Muslims) love our country but we only bow our heads before Allah, we can never say ‘Vande Mataram’, we will definitely say ‘Saare Jahan se Acha Hindustan,” he said.
The move drew criticism from other opposition parties as well, as NCP National Spokesperson Clyde Crasto said that while ‘Vande Mataram’ invokes a sense of pride and patriotism, they should not be forced.
“Vande Mataram invokes a sense of pride and a feeling of patriotism among Indians and forcing them to say so is not right, especially when they are asking their employees to say Vande Mataram even when they use their private telephones. This is nothing but infringement of their Right to Freedom of speech and also imposition of a particular minset on the people. Let them say Vande Mataram with pride, don’t force them to say so,” he said.
Congress Spokesperson Charan Sapra alleged that this was a ploy to divert attention from main issues.
The GR issued by the General Administration Department states officials across government, semi-government, local civic bodies, aided schools, colleges and other institutions will have to answer the phone with ‘Vande Mataram’.
Additionally, employees will use the greeting in meetings, while interacting with staff members or officials, while making public announcements, and also while speaking to citizens directly, as per the notification. The GR stated that employees should create awareness among the people who come to meet them by using ‘Vande Mataram’ as a greeting.
Calling the word ‘hello’ an imitation of Western culture and just a ‘greeting without any specific meaning’ which ‘does not evoke any affection’, the circular said if conversations start with ‘Vande Mataram’, it would lead to more positive and conducive atmosphere.
Replacing a meaningless greeting like Hello with Vande Mataram will also generate national pride, it added.
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