While addressing students of a private college in Roorkee, Uttarakhand’s Higher Education and a former RSS functionary Dhan Singh Rawat has reportedly said that”If you want to live in Uttarakhand, you have to sing Vande Mataram.” According to the source, Vande Mataram would be made compulsory from the next academic session in July.

Apart from this, Rawat has also specified the timings for singing the anthem. When asked by the reporters, Rawat said, “I believe that my statement was not understood properly. I said that there should be Vande Mataram and national anthem in all education institutes. It would be good if Vande Mataram and national anthem are sung in educational institutions, universities,” as reported by ANI. He further added that “We are thinking of having Vande Mataram and national anthem from next session in colleges. No education institutes have any problem. Singing Vande Matram is not a crime. We are not an enemy of any religion. Nobody should have a problem with Vande Mataram,” he added.


Supporting his statement he said that he thinks that nobody has any problem with this and it has nothing to do with the religion.”I don’t think anyone in Uttarakhand has any problem with it, though it’s not directed yet.Not right to link it with the religion.”

Last week, Rawat had made hoisting of the national flag compulsory in universities across the state.

(with agency inputs)