Chief Minister draws line between party position and legal obligation; confirms anthem, full six-stanza national song performed at IFFJK closing ceremony; remarks come amid an INDIA bloc split over the expanded rendition
Srinagar, Sep 11 (BuzzBytes): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday addressed the ongoing debate surrounding the full rendition of Vande Mataram, clarifying his party’s position on the national song even as he underlined that legal obligations override political preference.
“A law has been enacted regarding the national song. All verses have become mandatory… this applies to government functions nationwide. Failure to comply will result in action,” Abdullah said.
He confirmed that both the national anthem and the complete national song were performed at the International Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir’s closing ceremony in Srinagar.
The Chief Minister drew a clear distinction between his government’s compliance and his party’s own position. “As a party, we have never adopted Vande Mataram, nor will we do so in the future, but we must comply with legal obligations,” he said.
His remarks follow recent events in which Abdullah and National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah stood through the full six-stanza rendition at the festival’s inauguration, an action that had highlighted divisions within the INDIA bloc after Congress MP KC Venugopal expressed concern that the expanded version conflicts with India’s pluralist values as envisioned by the country’s independence leaders.`
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, speaking separately at Kashmir Expo 2026 on Friday, also weighed in on the song, describing it as one with “a historic association with India’s freedom struggle” and calling it the song of martyrs and freedom fighters, sung across communities during the movement for independence—(BuzzBytes)
