Church in India Opposes Singing of Controversial National Song

On Aug. 13, the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) said it opposed directives requiring the singing or playing of the Hindu-nationalist song “Vande Mataram” at official events in India.

The NBCC, from the majority Christian state of Nagaland, joins a chorus of leaders from other minority religions in India opposing the move by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to bring the national song on par with the national anthem.

Under the new protocol, all states must play the full national song, followed by the national anthem, at official functions. Failure to do so will attract stringent penalties.

Previously, while the national anthem was played on state and ceremonial occasions, the national song was largely restricted to cultural events, and even then only its first two stanzas were sung. But that has changed now.

The Controversy

In the August 2026 Parliament session, the BJP government amended the law to bring the national song Vande Mataram, with all its stanzas, on par with Jana Gana Mana, the national anthem.

The Vande Mataram controversy centers on the song’s later stanzas, which feature explicit Hindu religious imagery and descriptions of the motherland as a goddess.

While the first two verses focus on nature and patriotism, the government directives to play or sing the full version at public functions have recurrently sparked debates over secularism, religious freedom, and historical compromises.

NBCC Stance

The NBCC church body argued that true patriotism comes from free choice and that forced compliance violates freedom of faith and conscience.

The NBCC emphasized that compelling Christians or other citizens to sing a song (the Vande Mataram) that may conflict with their deeply held religious convictions or personal beliefs violates freedom of conscience.

According to a statement issued by NBCC general secretary Rev Dr Mar Pongener and secretary for social concern Dr. Villo Naleo, the church body said it fully respects India’s national symbols, patriotic sentiments and constitutional values. Still, it maintained that matters involving faith, conscience, religious conviction and identity require sensitivity and respect.

What is Vande Mataram?

Vande Mataram is India’s National Song, meaning “I bow to thee, Mother,” written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in Sanskrit and Bengali in the 1870s and included in his 1882 novel Anandamath.

The song served as a powerful rallying cry and source of inspiration for freedom fighters during the Indian independence movement.

While India’s national anthem is Jana Gana Mana, Vande Mataram holds a special national status.

However, some stanzas in Vande Mataram explicitly invoke Hindu deities such as Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati, presenting the nation as an object of divine worship (Tvam hi Durga dashapraharana dharini).

This is why the NBCC opposed it.

Moving from Secular Content

Meanwhile, on Aug. 15, when India celebrated its Independence Day, the official celebrations from the ramparts of the Red Fort in New Delhi marked a departure from tradition for the first time in 80 years. India’s national anthem Jana Gana Mana (The Minds of All People), which Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore penned, was preceded by the singing of the national song, Vande Mataram.

According to “The Wire” report, singing the national song first is a clear move by India’s Hindu nationalist BJP government to “degrade the national anthem to a secondary status”.

Media reports indicate this is significant because the national anthem has constitutional status and, under official protocol, is considered the republic’s highest musical symbol.

However, the BJP and its affiliates in the Sangh Parivar have never been fond of the secular content of the national anthem and have consistently demanded primacy for the more controversial Vande Mataram, which has clear Hindu religious overtones.

Voicing the opinion of the Christian community, the NBCC said the Constitution of India is founded on liberty, equality, pluralism and freedom of conscience and national unity should not be confused with uniformity.

The church body stressed that a citizen’s love for the country cannot be measured solely by participation in a prescribed patriotic expression like singing the Vande Mataram.

“Patriotism must never be reduced to compulsory conformity,” it said.

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