Vande Mataram recitation row: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday slammed Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for opposing the celebration of the 150th anniversary of ‘Vande Mataram’
in schools and citing it as an “outside interference”, saying that their appeasement policy and vote bank is above the constitution.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused Abdullah of “appeasement politics” and claimed that the opposition to the song was motivated by vote-bank considerations.
“In the name of vote bank politics, some leaders continue to oppose Vande Mataram and even encourage others to do so. Historically, Nehruji removed two-thirds of Vande Mataram under pressure from Jinnah’s Muslim League. Today, Omar Abdullah is following the same path,” Poonawalla alleged.
“Omar Abdullah wants to block Vande Mataram in Jammu and Kashmir’s schools. He says this is ‘outside dictation’. Is promoting the national song in schools an outside diktat?” Poonawalla asked.
“These are the same people who opposed the removal of Article 370 and the full implementation of the Indian Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir. They opposed the Indian flag. They wanted two flags, a separate constitution and a separate ‘Pradhan’. And today, they even want a separate national anthem,” he added.
Poonawalla also targeted the Congress and other opposition parties, claiming a “pattern” of similar objections across states.
“In Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah opposes Vande Mataram. In Karnataka, Siddaramaiah opposes. In Maharashtra, Abu Azmi of the Samajwadi Party opposes. So all these people oppose national symbols only because vote bank comes first for them, not the Constitution,” he said.
#WATCH | Mumbai, Maharashtra: On Vande Mataram row, Samajwadi Party state President Abu Asim Azmi says, “… You cannot make someone recite something forcefully. Someone who believes only in Allah and does not even worship his mother cannot worship the earth and the sun according… https://t.co/IFNxKBWno5 pic.twitter.com/ZpXrqJrGeO
— ANI (@ANI) November 7, 2025
“The nation is not first for them. Only their politics of appeasement comes first,” Poonawalla alleged.
What Omar Abdullah Said?
While campaigning in central Kashmir’s Budgam district ahead of the November 11 bypolls, the J&K Chief Minister said he did not authorise the celebration of the 150th anniversary of “Vande Mataram” in schools, saying there should be no outside dictation on such matters and no interference in governing the Union Territory.
“This decision has not been made by the cabinet, nor has the education minister signed off on it. We should decide what happens in our schools without outside dictation on these matters,” Abdullah said as quoted by news agency ANI.
#WATCH | Budgam | On Vande Mataram row, J&K CM Omar Abdullah says, “There is no signature of the Education Minister on this decision. There should be no interference in our work. We will decide what should or should not happen in schools. There should be no dictation from outside… pic.twitter.com/ivRq9SlP4A
— ANI (@ANI) November 7, 2025
On October 30, the culture department of J-K had called for schools across Jammu and Kashmir to participate in the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of “Vande Mataram.”
This order faced strong backlash from the Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU), an alliance of several religious organisations in Jammu and Kashmir, which demanded the immediate withdrawal of what they termed a “coercive order,” arguing that parts of the song contradicted Islamic beliefs regarding monotheism.
(With inputs from agencies)
