Editorial: Rising to the occasion

Last week, the State government declared Tamil Thai Vaazhthu, which was penned by ‘Manonmaniam’ Sundaranar, as the State song of Tamil Nadu. It was also announced that when the song is being sung at public functions, educational institutions and government offices, everyone should rise, with the exception of pregnant women and the differently-abled. The development comes after Justice GR Swaminathan of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court observed that the Tamil Thai… was a prayer song and not an anthem and that there was no statutory requirement for attendees to stand up during its recitation. The observation by Swaminathan was in response to an incident from 2018 which involved the Kanchi seer being seated while the invocation song was being played at a function in Chennai being presided over by the then-Governor Banwarilal Purohit. A group of protesters had expressed their outrage by storming the Kanchi Mutt in Rameswaram and intimidating its manager.

As per the latest government release, the invocation song must now compulsorily be sung at the start of events organised at the aforementioned venues and it has been mandated that at public functions, the rendition of this song with musical instruments or via recording must be avoided and that trained singers should be employed to sing the prayer song within the designated time of 55 seconds in Mohana Raagam. It may be recalled that it was in 1970, under the leadership of then chief minister M Karunanidhi that a GO was passed mandating the rendition of Tamil Thai… at the beginning of functions held by the state government, and those held by educational institutions and public establishments. This time around, the government has encouraged private players also to sing the song at the beginning of their functions, in an attempt to disseminate the richness of Tamil among the youth.

The conversation pertaining to the prayer song had gathered momentum in the past month after a reputed educational institution in the city had proceeded with the rendition of a Sanskrit song on the occasion of its convocation, instead of Tamil Thai... The issue snowballed into a political controversy as the State’s Higher Education Minister, K Ponmudi wrote to the Director of IIT-Madras, asking that the State’s invocation song be sung at all events of the institution including convocations. He added that the Central-government funded institution, established in 1959, had been provided with 250 acres of land by Tamil Nadu which has continued to support the institution’s growth through various means.

Regional and patriotic leanings aside, prayer songs and anthems have often found themselves in the midst of misunderstandings of all kinds, which have turned into fodder for political rhetoric. A few years ago, the furore around the national anthem being played in multiplexes before the screening of films had evoked strong reactions from citizens. Many had questioned whether a cinema theatre was an appropriate location to exhibit an individual’s patriotism. While several people were arrested in Chennai, as well as in cities in Kerala, the Supreme Court conceded that the law was being used to brand people as anti-national. Subsequently, in an about-turn of its 2016 verdict, the apex court ruled in 2018 that playing the anthem in theatres before the screening of films is no longer mandatory.

But here’s the question – do concepts such as patriotism for one’s own nation or State require the drafting of laws to ensure compliance from citizens? What does it say about a nation when fear of penalties by law enforcement authorities is the only driver for respecting a national or regional sentiment? In an ideal scenario, our elected representatives should be striving towards building a State and a country where we don’t need to be told to rise when the occasion demands – rather it should be the default response of a people who truly value their homeland and its citizenry.