Not just India, national anthems are a touchy subject in many other Asian countries

The Chinese parliament has amended their criminal law to include a tougher penalty — imprisonment by three years — for those who disrespect the country’s national anthem. Prior to this, it passed a law in September mandating up to 15 days in police detention for those who mock the anthem. These proceedings are particularly raised alarm in Hong Kong, to which the mainland law will be likely be extended. The new law has been perceived by many observers as part of the Communist top brass led by President Xi Jinping’s push to silence internal political dissent and boost patriotism and party loyalty.

Hong Kong fans turned their back to the Chinese national anthem in protest (October 11, 2017). (Source: Reuters)

The Philippines’ House of Representatives approved a bill in June requiring members of the public to sing the country’s national anthem “with fervour” whenever it is played publicly. Offenders who fail to do so could face public censure, fines between $1,000 to $2,000 and up to a year in prison. The measure, however, did not define how it would qualify whether or not a citizen sang the anthem with enough fervour. The bill, which also has to get approval from the Philippines’ Senate and President before becoming law, allows a stipulation for those “whose faith or religious beliefs prohibit them from singing the national anthem”: They must “show full respect” and stand at attention.

In Thailand, the national anthem has a long tradition of being played at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. every day on loudspeakers in places like schools, offices buildings, parks and train stations. People are expected to stand still and be silent. Back in 2007, Thai lawmakers considered a bill that required motorists to stop their cars while the national anthem played, but it did not pass. A separate song — recognised as the royal anthem as it pays a tribute to the monarchy is played in cinema halls and concerts. Failing to pay respects to it by standing can result in serious consequences. For instance, in September 2007, a Thai man and woman were charged for not standing up in a cinema hall to the royal anthem with lèse-majesté, which means offending the dignity of the monarch and can be punishable by up to 15 years. The charges were dropped in 2012, according to the New York Times.

In Japan too, the national anthem and ‘enforcement of patriotism’ has emerged as a controversial issue since last decade, especially between teachers and school administrators. Overt displays of patriotism had been unsettling in the country that had suffered a crushing defeat in World War II and ‘pacification’ after it, as a result of excesses and imperialist ambitions of its militaristic regime. As a result Japan’s national flag and anthem were legally declared only in 1999, and originally came with a pledge that use of the two symbols would not be enforced by the government. Some associate the national anthem “Kimigayo” — a solemn song about loyalty to Japan’s Emperor — with Japan’s militaristic past and choose to not sing it. But, a controversy broke when Tokyo education board in 2003 passed a regulation that required school or board officials to record the names of teachers who did not stand and sing the national anthem. The ones who did not stand were ‘disciplined’ with reprimands, poor performance evaluations and salary cuts. The Supreme Court of Japan ruled the singing of the national anthem “constitutional” in 2012, dismissing two petitions from 375 education professionals which sought to ban rules that made the singing mandatory. Thus, even today dissenting teachers who refuse to stand do so at a risk of facing action and jeopardising their careers.

Moving to Eurasia, up till early this year Russia fined its citizens (anywhere between the Rouble equivalent of $45 and $2,200) for mocking or desecrating the country’s national anthem. In May, the Russian Supreme Court approved a draft bill that proposed to introduce criminal punishment for desecrating the national anthem with up to a year in prison, as per the report of news agency Interfax. Under the law, anyone “intentionally distorting the words or music of the anthem in public performance, social media, and on the internet” could be sentenced to a year in prison, the BBC reported. If approved by President Putin, the law would give Russia’s national anthem a similar level of protection that already applies to the country’s flag and coat of arms. The lawmakers stated that they were spurred to action by an incident in Russian-annexed Crimea where satirical lyrics taken from an online parody were projected on a giant television screen, describing Russia as “insane,” “slavish,” and “boastful,” while the anthem was being sung at a government meeting, Politico.eu reported.