‘Banglar Mati, Banglar Jol’: Bengal’s state song now mandatory in morning govt school assemblies

State Education Minister Bratya Basu announced the decision on X, writing, “In accordance with the permission of CM Mamata Banerjee, the famous song ‘Banglar Maati Banglar Jol’, composed by Rabindranath Tagore in 1905, has now been approved to be sung as the prayer song at the commencement of every government and government-aided school in West Bengal.”

He further said, “In addition to the regular singing in schools of India’s national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka Jay He’, composed by the poet, we firmly believe that if this state anthem is sung, it will always remain vigilant and active as a special catalyst for social and communal unity across the entire state.”

In September 2023, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had convened a citizens’ convention to select a state song. The meeting included representatives from political parties, religious leaders, and prominent citizens, all of whom chose Tagore’s “Banglar Mati, Banglar Jol” (‘Bengal’s soil, Bengal’s water’). Following the convention, the state Assembly passed a resolution, officially adopting it as the state song, and stating that it should be sung at the start of all state government functions, with the national anthem played at the conclusion.

The latest directive for schools comes at a time when the Centre and the state BJP are celebrating 150 years of the national song, “Vande Mataram”.

Speaking to The Indian Express, BJP leader Rahul Sinha said, “The thing is that as they are seeing that BJP is celebrating this and it is being celebrated all over the country, TMC feels they have to do something. Now that they are seeing that the Centre has taken such an initiative, suddenly the Bengali sentiment and Bengali asmita in them has awakened.”

At a press conference on Thursday, Minister Bratya Basu said, “BJP is a party which practices divisive politics… Now, they have started to create a rift between two great Bengalis, Rabindranath Tagore and Bankim Chandra. The narrative of Chandra is liked by the BJP, and BJP always did not like Tagore. The three main reasons are that Tagore was not a Hindu or Brahmin, he was a Brahmo; secondly, Tagore, always in his life and writings, spoke of togetherness of Hindus and Muslims, and thirdly, the Congress, be it Mahatma Gandhi or Nehru or Subhash Chandra Bose, respected him greatly.”