Mumbai: The Supreme Court’s ruling on Wednesday making it mandatory to play the national anthem in cinema halls before films are screened may have sparked a debate across the country. But in Maharashtra, the practice has been compulsory since 2003.
The Supreme Court ruling was in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Shyam Narayan Chouksey. The Bench said it is the duty of every person to show respect when the national anthem is played or recited or sung under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1951.
In the 1960s, the national anthem would be played at the end of each film show across the country, a practice which continued into the 1980s in Mumbai. But cinema-goers would simply leave the theatre as the end credits were rolling, and the anthem would play to near-empty halls. The practice was eventually stopped.
Then, in 2002, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Narendra Varma demanded the the practice be revived in Maharashtra to help unite the people. Mr. Varma, the then president of the NCP’s youth wing in Mumbai, put forward his idea to the then State Home Minister, NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal. Mr. Bhujbal approved of the idea, and ordered that the anthem be played at movie theatres. Cinema owners complied.
The rule has had its share of controversies. In October 2014, a South African woman refused to stand up for the anthem. According to media reports, her partner was assaulted by a mob. In November 2015, a family that did not stand for the anthem was forced out of a theatre by fellow movie-watchers.
