– Kalyanaraman TR, JOINT SECRETARY
Sankara Institute of Management Science            
 

    The honorable Supreme Court of India has recently ruled that National Anthem will be played in all movie theaters before the movie begins. There are huge section of people who support this rule, as they are of the view that it will inculcate plethora of people to be more patriotic and will pervade the spirit of unity among the masses. However, I disagree with this group, as I feel that playing National Anthem at theaters is not a necessity, as it would not be sung with decorum

         There are places where it is important to sing national anthem with passion and pride. For instance, in this day and age, most schools play national anthem prior to the beginning of classes in the forenoon and majority of students sing it with great pride. Educational Institutes are places where students are not only taught about academic subjects, but also they get enlightened about discipline, respect, and patriotism. However, people visit the theaters for relaxation, hence, making everyone stand and sing anthem prior to movie might not be received well by everyone, and this might demean the pride of the Anthem if it’s not sung with interest and passion.

      There might be an argument from few groups that if playing national anthem before sporting events are mandate, then why not implement the same in theaters. I have a contrary view on this, as in sports, an individual or a team, are representing our country on the global map, and it is important to ensure that we sing our Anthem with great passion. Albeit sporting arenas are not battle field, but still our players are on national duties and we don’t like to see our country get defeated even in any sport, from cricket to kabbadi.

    To summarize, I don’t agree with the Supreme Court’s rule of playing the Anthem of our country in theaters, as it’s a place of entertainment, and there might be passion for few days from regular movie goers, but it will alleviate in the longer run.