Kohima, Sep 3 (PTI) The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) continued its protest against the compulsory singing of Vande Mataram outside the Nagaland Assembly for the second day on Thursday and directed educational institutions and their affiliated bodies across the state not to invite the governor or any government official to programmes.
The NSF members staged a demonstration outside the Assembly and sang Christian hymns, including ‘Onward, Christian Soldiers’, ‘When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder’ and ‘I Have Decided to Follow Jesus’, as legislators arrived to attend the ongoing session.
The protesters urged the legislators to adopt a resolution against the compulsory singing of the song.
Raising the matter during the Zero Hour, MLA Achumbemo Kikon, a former NSF president, said the agitation was not confined to any particular constituency but concerned Nagaland as a whole.
He said the government had taken note of views expressed by legislators, the church, civil society organisations, tribal bodies and the NSF.
Kikon said an administrative instruction issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on January 28, 2026, had directed states on the compulsory singing of Vande Mataram during the arrival of important VVIPs at national functions, including the governor’s arrival in the Assembly. He said two stanzas had also been played instrumentally in the House.
He said the matter had been referred to the Assembly committee examining the applicability of laws passed by Parliament to Nagaland in the context of Article 371A.
The committee is headed by Parliamentary Affairs Minister KG Kenye.
Kikon said the recent enactment of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Act, 2026, required further examination of the legal position and appealed to the NSF to call off its agitation.
Kenye, clarifying the committee’s position, said the matter was “very contentious” and “hypersensitive” in view of Article 371A and other constitutional provisions.
He said the committee had met twice and was ready to submit its report, but the President’s assent to the legislation had changed the legal circumstances.
“Earlier it was an executive directive, now that it has been enacted by Parliament, it takes the shape of law,” Kenye said, adding that the committee was awaiting publication of the legislation in the Gazette of India before examining its provisions further and submitting its report.
Later, Kenye also officially wrote to the NSF explaining the position of the committee and requested to call off its agitation.
However, addressing the media, the NSF expressed unhappiness over the Assembly’s failure to adopt a resolution against the compulsory singing of the song and directed all educational institutions and its affiliated bodies across the state not to invite or include the governor or any government functionary as a guest or invitee at programmes involving the singing or playing of Vande Mataram.
It directed its federating units and subordinate bodies to ensure compliance.
The federation, however, said the first phase of its agitation, a peaceful demonstration in connection with the Assembly session, had been kept in abeyance.
The decision followed a government communiqué to the federation seeking additional time for the Assembly committee to submit its report, they said.
The NSF reiterated that its principal demand remained that the Nagaland Assembly adopt a strong resolution against compulsory singing or playing of Vande Mataram at government programmes and official functions.
It warned that failure to adopt such a resolution would lead to an intensification of its democratic agitation.
The federation said its position was rooted in freedom of conscience, religious liberty, democratic safeguards and peaceful coexistence, while reaffirming its commitment to democratic and peaceful means.
Earlier, Nagaland’s lone Lok Sabha member, S. Supongmeren Jamir, also visited the protest site and expressed solidarity with the protesters, assuring them that he would take up the matter with the central government. PTI NBS NBS MNB
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