12 people jailed for not standing up for national anthem in India’s Jammu and Kashmir

Srinagar police say 12 people have been ‘generally bound down for good behaviour’

Indian paramilitary troopers patrol during the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Tiranga bikers rally at the clock tower in Lal Chowk area of Srinagar on (AFP via Getty Images)

Police in India’s Jammu and Kashmir detained 12 men for a week for not standing up for the national anthem played during an event held in June.

The men, including amateur cyclists and others, were detained from a “pedal for peace” event organised by Jammu and Kashmir police in collaboration with the J&K Cyclists Association near the Dal Lake on 25 June.

The event was attended by Jammu and Kashmir governor Manoj Sinha and senior police officers.

The Srinagar men were produced before the executive magistrate on 3 July where they were sent to seven days in preventive custody, reported the Indian Express.

The order said, “there is every likelihood that they may commit breach of peace and disturb public tranquillity if released”.

“In view of the above facts, SHO police station Nishat Srinagar is directed to detain the above named accused in Central Jail Srinagar for seven days from today and conduct the proceedings of the case under law,” the order stated.

Some police officials were also suspended for failing to ensure that people stood up for the national anthem at the closing ceremony, reported Press Trust of India, adding that 14 people were arrested.

On Thursday, Srinagar police said in a tweet that 12 people have been “generally bound down for good behaviour” to clarify that reports of 14 civilians and policemen being arrested or suspended were “completely false”.

“There is an unverified news doing rounds that 14 policemen/persons have been arrested/suspended for disrespecting national anthem. It is clarified that the news is completely false, rather 12 persons have been generally bound down for good behaviour under sections 107/151 of CrPC.”

The Independent has reached out to Srinagar police for a comment.

One of the relatives of the detained men told the Indian Express: “The families are hesitant to talk because they fear it will cause more harm than help those in custody.”

Section 107 of the Indian Penal Code allows the executive magistrate to take action when there is likelyhood of imminent danger to peace while 151 allows police to arrest a person to prevent a cognisable offence.

India’s official code of conduct states that whenever the anthem is being sung or played, the audience shall stand to attention.

However, when in the course of a newsreel or documentary the anthem is played as a part of the film, it is not expected of the audience to stand as standing is bound to interrupt the exhibition of the film and would create disorder and confusion rather than add to the dignity of the anthem, according to the code.

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court held in a 2021 verdict that not standing for the national anthem may amount to disrespect and failure to adhere to the fundamental duties enshrined in the constitution but it is not an offence under the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act, 1971.

The order came as the court quashed a complaint against a lecturer in Jammu who was accused of not standing up for the national anthem at a college function in 2018.

The topic of people not choosing to stand up for national anthem has remained debatable in India where several incidents have emerged of people targeting those who refused to stand up for “disrespecting” the country.

It was made mandatory in cinema halls to play the national anthem before the screening of the movies in 2016. Even as it was made optional to play the national anthem two years later, people conitued to be targeted for “disrespecting” the national anthem by not standing up.

In 2018, a bunch of movie-goers were heckled after they did not stand up for the national anthem at a cinema hall in Bengaluru.

In 2016, at least nine people were assaulted in Chennai for not standing up for the national anthem.

In the same year, a wheelchairbound man who was also an activist was assaulted for not standing up to the national anthem. The incident triggered outrage in the country as several called out people for the attack.