Here’s a version tailored for an Indian newswire audience in Reuters style, retaining legal context and familiar terminology while using neutral, concise language:
The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday observed that “heavens will not fall” if all six stanzas of Vande Mataram are sung in madrasas, while hearing a public interest litigation challenging a West Bengal government order making the rendition of the full national song mandatory in the institutions.
The petition challenges a state government circular requiring madrasas to sing all six stanzas of Vande Mataram. The petitioners argue that while Vande Mataram is India’s national song, it does not have the same constitutional status as the national anthem and therefore cannot be made compulsory.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen questioned whether the circular had led to any coercive action against madrasas.
“Heavens will not fall…today if I am asked to utter a quote that is not in my religion…what will happen? I will become a person not belonging to that religion?” the Acting Chief Justice said.
The bench also drew a comparison with prayers in Christian-run educational institutions, saying, “There have been thousands of Christian schools where all students are asked to pray to the Lord. Then, do students belonging to a particular community ask why they are being asked to sing certain things which are in the Christian religion?”
Senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the state could not compel students in madrasas to sing the national song.
Questioning the maintainability of the plea at this stage, the court asked, “You have brought it before us, as an activist. Has any impinging action been taken for strict implementation of this circular?”
After the petitioners said the authorities “have not dared to enforce it yet”, the bench observed, “Only if any punitive action is taken, can you contend that it was mandatory. Has anybody suffered yet?”
Appearing for the state, Additional Solicitor General Dhiraj Kumar Trivedi sought time to file an affidavit setting out the government’s stand. He argued that the petition was based on apprehension as no punitive action had been taken under the circular.
Senior advocate Kalyan Bandopadhyay submitted that Vande Mataram had long been a contentious issue and referred to earlier parliamentary debates on the subject.
The bench adjourned the matter to allow the state government to file its affidavit.
The later stanzas of Vande Mataram have long been opposed by some Muslim organisations, which argue that references to Hindu deities conflict with Islamic beliefs. In 1937, the Congress Working Committee adopted only the first two stanzas as the national song.
The West Bengal government has directed that all six stanzas of Vande Mataram be sung during assembly prayers in madrasas. Several Muslim organisations have opposed the move, saying it violates their religious beliefs and constitutional rights.
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