ICHR (Indian Council for Historical Research) stopped the daily singing of the national anthem by its staff members after ‘objections’. Additionally, images of Bharat Mata and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay were removed from the ICHR office. The decision was taken on Friday, February 24 after ICHR, an autonomous body under the Education Ministry, received ‘objections’ regarding the same.

The decision was taken despite the fact that singing the national anthem daily was a routine affair for the last six months. While the Bharat Mata picture was removed from the conference room, educationist Pandit Deendayal’s image was taken off member secretary Umesh Kadam’s office.

“The singing of the national anthem started based on a verbal order last September and stopped today, also on a verbal order. There was no written order to remove images of Bharat Mata and Upadhyaya but these were removed today from both places”, The Indian Express quotes a senior official as saying.

“There was no written order (to put these images). People come and present such things and we install them at an appropriate place.”, said Umesh Kadam. “It is true that there was no proper permission (for images and the national anthem). Neither from the (Governing) Council nor from me. But I have no role in the removal of the images or stopping the national anthem. I have not visited the ICHR office since February 10. ICHR is a non-sectarian body, and we have to maintain its sanctity”, the body’s chairman Raghuvendra Tanwar said.

ICHR exhibition titled Glory of Medieval India: Manifestation of the Unexplored -Indian Dynasties, 8th-18th Centuries was inaugurated on January 30 this year at the Lalit Kala Akademi in Delhi by Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Minister of State (MoS) External affairs. The exhibition will end on February 6.

Interestingly, the body decided not to feature Islamic dynasties in the exhibition. “Those people (Muslims) came from the Middle East and didn’t have a direct connection with Indian culture. Islam and Christianity came to India during the Medieval period and uprooted civilisation and destroyed the knowledge system. Indian history should not be defined by Mughals and Delhi Sultanate.”, stated Professor Umesh Kadam.

(Featured Image Source: Outlook India)