Darjeeling schools exempted from singing West Bengal State anthem in assemblies: Gorkhaland administration

The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) has issued a notification clarifying that the West Bengal government’s decision to allow schools to sing State anthem ‘Banglar Mati, Banglar Jol’ during morning assembly will not be applicable to the schools under the region.

GTA is the regional autonomous body that administers Darjeeling hills and adjoining regions and was set up after a tripartite agreement between the Union government, West Bengal government and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in 2011.

In a letter addressed to District Inspector of Schools of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts, the secretary of GTA on Friday (November 7, 2025) informed that schools in GTA region “have their traditional anthem and morning prayers in Nepali language” and the “regular tradition of morning assembly will be followed in the schools keeping in mind different culture, tradition and language of communication of the schools within GTA region”.

The West Bengal government on November 4 had issued a notification that Rabindranath Tagore song ‘Banglar Mati, Banglar Jol’ which has been accorded the status of State anthem, will be sung in morning assembly in schools across the State.

On December 30, 2023 the West Bengal government had issued a notification declaring Poila Boisakh, the first day of the Bengali New Year, as the State Day and a song ‘Banglar Mati Banglar Jal’ written by Tagore as the State Song. The notification which stated that the State Song or State Anthem will be played at all government events will have a playing time of one minute and 59 seconds.

While the State anthem was being played at all the government events for almost two years now, the notification to make its singing mandatory in the schools comes at a time when West Bengal’s ruling party is alleging disrespect to Tagore by the BJP.

However, both the West Bengal government and the party are cautious that imposing the circular on State’s Darjeeling region may not be prudent as the people in the hills have always claimed to have a distinct culture. The 100- day-violent agitation in Darjeeling hills over the demand of separate state of Gorkhaland that claimed over a dozen lives was triggered by the rumours of Bengali being made compulsory in schools in Darjeeling.

GTA chairperson and leader of Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha Anit Thapa said that respecting the distinct heritage and the lost standing customs of the hills, it has been decided that the state government order on singing Banglar Mati, Banglar Jal will not be enforced in GTA schools.

The Trinamool Congress on Saturday (November 8) once raised the issue that the BJP was disrespecting Rabindranath Tagore. State’s Minister Sashi Panja and MLA Vivek Gupta along with hundreds of party supporters paid tributes to the national icon at Jorasanko Thakurbari, where the ancestral house of the Nobel laureate is located in Kolkata

“For us, Tagore is not just a name. He is the very soul of Bengal, its conscience, its identity, its eternal voice. We will not stay silent while the BJP tries to distort and desecrate his legacy. The poet who gave India her National anthem needs no certificate of nationalism from those who have never understood its meaning,’ the party said in a statement.

On Friday (November 7) Dr. Panja along with State Education Minister Bratya Basu held a press conference referring to a remark allegedly made by BJP MP Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri where he said that the country’s national anthem penned by Tagore was written “to welcome the British official”.

Just at a time when Trinamool Congress is accusing BJP of insulting Tagore, the BJP leadership has alleged that the West Bengal ruling party did not pay tributes to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay who wrote ‘Vande Mataram‘ . On Friday, the BJP leadership across the country including Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered tributes to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay by observing sesqui centenary celebration of the national song ‘Vande Mataram‘ .