Panaji, Nov 20 (TOI): Irrespective of the decision coming out of the debate about standing up when the national anthem is played in cinema halls, chief minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday said that according to him, one must stand up when the national anthem is being played.

Parrikar said that when he had gone for an event, the organizers asked him whether there is a judgment which said that there is no need to stand when the national anthem is played or if it is not compulsory now to stand for national anthem and what should be done.

"I asked what is the judgment, (they said) it is not compulsory to stand. I told them we should not go into the merits of judgment but you can request to stand before the national anthem is played to pay respect to national anthem, as there is no restriction saying not to stand for national anthem," he said.

He was speaking at the concluding function of sixth annual state-level conference 'Emotional Intelligence' organized by Gomantak Balshiskshan Parishad and directorate of education, at Panaji. Parrikar said, "I am not going into whether the judgment is right or wrong, but according to me it is not correct."

Sitting while the national anthem is being played will not be acceptable to any patriot, Parrikar said, adding that he felt there is some sort of confusion regarding the judgment. "I told them you can request to stand up for national anthem and see and on their request, all were seen standing," he said.

People's decision to stand or sit while the national anthem is played does not depend on the Supreme Court order. Standing for the national anthem is a part of our culture which has been taught to us since childhood, the CM said.