India Supreme Court orders all movie theaters to play national anthem

news4jax ^ | 11/30/2016 | JAMES GRIFFITHS , CNN

[BenLurkin]

Movie theaters across India must play the national anthem before every film, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

The anthem -- "Jana Gana Mana" -- will be accompanied by an image of the Indian flag.

"All present in the (cinema) hall are obliged to stand up to show respect to the national anthem," Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy wrote.

The ruling is in response to a petition filed by Narayan Chouksey, a retired engineer in Bhopal, who asked the court to "specify what would be constituting disrespect and abuse of the national anthem."

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While the national anthem is already played before movies by some theaters, and many Indians grew up listening to the song before most school and society events, it has never before been the law except in the western state of Maharashtra.

"The citizens of the country must realize that they live in a nation and are duty bound to show respect to (the) national anthem," the justices said.

Ministry of Home Affairs regulations already stipulate that Indians must stand to attention "whenever the anthem is sung or played."

In the past there have been reports of people being thrown out of venues or attacked for not showing respect to the anthem.

However, many Indians have also criticized a recent trend toward aggressive displays of patriotism amid a rise in jingoism on television news and in the press.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Then why are you holding “if it opposes lefties for any reason, it has to be good” up to your face as the mirror to look in?

[Gaffer]

I stand by my statement. You invoked your vision of “should be” and FR.