Captain Black’s ‘Great Loyalty Oath Crusade’ Comes to India as Home Ministry Mandates All Stanzas of Vande Mataram With Jana Gana Mana

If Captain Black were alive today, he would recognise the moment instantly.

Captain Black is a character from Catch-22 , a satirical novel by Joseph Heller set during World War II that gave the world its most enduring phrase for bureaucratic absurdity. In one of its most unsettling episodes, Captain Black launches what he grandly calls the Great Loyalty Oath Crusade where soldiers were forced to sign loyalty oaths repeatedly , before eating breakfast, before starting the day, before going to bed.

That logic now finds an unsettling echo in India.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a directive mandating that ‘ all six stanzas of Vande Mataram’ be sung before the National Anthem ‘ Jana Gana Mana’ whenever both are rendered together at official functions. Issued during the 150th year of the National Song , the order prescribes not just respect, but completion, sequence, and posture , with assemblies required to stand in attention.

In effect, MHA mandates all stanzas of Vande Mataram with Jana Gana Mana . On the surface, the directive speaks the language of protocol and uniformity. Beneath it lies a broader concern about the boundary between voluntary reverence and enforced compliance .

For over a century, Indians have sung Vande Mataram in varied forms, most often rendering the opening stanzas that celebrate the land, while historical sensitivities shaped how the rest was approached. That evolution was organic, not enforced. It reflected a nation negotiating diversity without demanding proof of loyalty.

The new directive subtly alters that relationship. The issue is no longer whether the song is sung, but whether it is sung fully, correctly, and in the prescribed order . As in Captain Black’s crusade, the act itself becomes secondary to compliance.

Joseph Heller’s warning was simple but devastating. When loyalty must be demonstrated repeatedly, it is no longer trusted. The louder the demand for affirmation, the thinner the faith behind it. Patriotism that requires constant certification ceases to be belief and becomes fear of falling short.