Forming 12 members panel is just a waste of time, energy and tax payers’ money. National Anthem should be made compulsory not only in the cinema halls, PVRs and other entertainment programmes, but also at corporate, public, government offices, schools and colleges and other institutions. This will be of immense value for generating patriotism, love, unity, secularism and socialism etc. among every citizen of Mother India. So National Anthem must be respected as a “Holy Song” of our Nation, just as we respect Constitution of India as Holy Book and Parliament as Temple of Mother India.
Being a citizen of India, it is our fundamental duty to respect the national anthem. But patriotism should come from heart and we cannot force anyone to respect the national anthem. It is their own choice and thinking whether they want to respect Jana Gana Mana or not. But banning National Anthem in cinema halls will not solve the problem. I stand whenever National Anthem is played and I don’t have any problem and why only in cinema halls, it should be played in every government as well as private offices. Being Indian we should be proud of our National Anthem. It is the attachment towards the country and our motherland. I am proud to be an Indian and I am proud of Indian National Anthem.
What a national shame! Most unfortunately, India could be the only “democratic” country in the world where even playing of its National Anthem has become a subject matter of such mindlessly and shamefully “man-made” controversy. Where was the need for raking up this issue? If anyone is Indian then he/she should unquestionably show due respect to it that too irrespective of the place where it may be played.
We should respect National Anthem but oppositions along with different religions are against it. People have to think at once that we live in India and it does not matter that we belongs from which religion or community. Playing National Anthem in cinema halls are not something new, introduced by the Apex order very recently. It was a practice in yesteryear too.
For what reason it was discontinued is not known. Forget it. The present decision of the Union Home Ministry to appoint a 12-member inter-ministerial committee, which would take a final call on the playing of the national anthem in cinema halls and public places, sounds absurd. There is no point in taking six months to judge on this. National Anthem must be played in theatres. It is not a burden to citizens and gives the citizens an opportunity to be more patriotic and passionate about their country. It can be seen as a failure in system, if this small thing cannot be implemented.
The Cinema Hall being a place of public entertainment and as schools and colleges in the country regularly conduct entertainment all across the nation it was deemed fit by the authorities at a particular time not to differentiate and to ensure that in the interests of the unity of the nation and to instil that unity in the minds of the public at peace times and in war times that the national anthem should be played and that all the participants should stand and give public respect to the nation.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
