Patriotism on a sleeve

The Supreme Court has done well by asking the Central government to consider amending the national flag code as far as the playing of national anthem in cinema halls is concerned. It’s a reversal of the apex court’s December 1, 2016 order which mandated all the theatres across the country to play the national anthem before screening a film. Since then, the issue has been discussed so extensively that any public debate has invariably led to questioning the patriotism of those who have questioned or opposed the move.

Like every contentious issue, it has two sides. One, is it really necessary to play the anthem to instil patriotic feelings among those who come to watch a film? Two, can’t the audience stand up for a few minutes in silence and show their respect to the anthem, by inference to the country? As a corollary, one can ask, if one fails to stand up (for whatever reason) does it mean he is unpatriotic and showing disrespect to Jana Gana Mana when it is played? One can indulge in such arguments and counter-arguments ad infinitum without arriving at a conclusion.

In fact, in some places, such arguments had led to fracas and managements had to evict the emotionally-charged viewers from theatres. Worse than that is, people entering the cinema hall after the anthem was played just to avoid standing up. For such people, it doesn’t matter whether it is mandatory or voluntary; just they want to enjoy the film without wearing a patriotic tag. Some years ago, the anthem was used to be played at the end of the film.

After sitting for three hours watching a movie, people were too impatient to stand for three minutes while the national anthem was being played. Half of the theatre used to get empty by the time the national hymn was over. To make the audience pay respect to the nation, cinema halls were forced to close the exit gates. It was bizarre in the sense that the audience had to be ‘disciplined’ for the sake of national anthem, raising questions, among others, about patriotism and whether a theatre was the right place for showing our collective respect to the nation.

Thus, while hearing the PIL filed by Shyam Narayan Chouksey who sought directions on playing the national anthem in all theatres before they start screening a film and proper norms and protocols to be observed at official functions and programmes, the three-member Supreme Court bench has made two things clear.

One, it is the Centre’s responsibility to frame appropriate rules and regulations, not that of the court; second, the apex court can modify the earlier order replacing the word ‘shall’ with ‘may’ on playing the anthem compulsorily in cinema halls. Clarifying further, the court said the Centre has to take a call uninfluenced by its earlier order on the issue.

However, the most significant part of the apex court’s observation remains “citizens should not be forced to carry patriotism on their sleeves.” It added that the court cannot inculcate patriotism through its orders.

With the ball in the Centre’s court – the Supreme Court has asked the Centre to consider amending the national flag code and frame rules by January 9 – the BJP government has to take a pragmatic look at the issue instead of being carried away by over-enthusiasm to administer an extra dose of patriotism to a diversified stratum of population.

By S Madhusudhana Rao