Darjeeling school students exempted from singing state anthem during prayers: Administrator

An autonomous body formed to run administrative affairs in Darjeeling Hills has said that students of the schools in the region have been exempted from singing the state anthem during prayers.

The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) on November 6 issued a notification saying that all state-run and state-aided schools will have “Banglar mati Banglar jol”, penned by Rabindranath Tagore and earlier declared as the state anthem, from now on, along with the national anthem.

The song, 'Banglar Mati Banglar Jol' (Bengal’s land, Bengal’s water), was written by the Nobel laureate in 1905 to protest the partition of Bengal.

Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Secretary P D Pradhan said in a notice on November 7 to the district inspector of schools that many institutes in the GTA region have traditional anthems and morning prayers in Nepali language apart from the national anthem.

''I have been directed to apprise you that the regular tradition of morning assembly will be followed in the schools keeping in mind the different cultures, tradition and language of communication in the schools within GTA region. You are also requested to inform all the secondary schools in GTA region accordingly,'' the notice read.

A WBBSE official confirmed that the schools in the GTA region would be exempted from the decision to make the state anthem mandatory.

In another development, BJP MLA of Darjeeling Neeraj Tamang Zimba wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, flagging the WBBSE notice directing the state anthem be compulsorily sung during the assembly in schools has raised “serious constitutional, cultural and administrative concerns” across his constituency and beyond.

''Our Constitution celebrates unity through diversity, not uniformity through diktat… No citizen, student or institution is compelled to adopt a practice or symbol that conflicts with their conscience, language or cultural identity,'' Zimba said.

Except for the National Anthem, there was no specified prayer song earlier in the state.