BSF all-women team plans to sing 'Vande Mataram' after scaling Mt Everest

An all-women BSF mountaineering team is set to make history by singing 'Vande Mataram' atop Mount Everest after successfully summiting the world's highest peak.

An all-women Border Security Force (BSF) mountaineering team is expected to set a new feat of sorts by singing the national song 'Vande Mataram' atop the world's highest peak, Mount Everest, after successfully summiting it on Thursday.

The mountaineers were flagged off from the national capital on April 6 for their maiden expedition.

''Four members of the women's team have successfully completed the acclimatisation phase and are presently positioned at the South Col, the final staging camp before the Everest summit.

''The final summit push is planned for the early hours of May 21, subject to favourable weather conditions,'' a BSF spokesperson said.

To add a patriotic touch, the team will sing 'Vande Mataram' after successfully scaling the peak, he said.

Both the events, the first-ever women's expedition to the 8,849-meter peak, and the rendition of the national song, hold significance.

The events have been planned to commemorate the BSF's diamond jubilee year, and the 150th anniversary of 'Vande Mataram' in 2026, the spokesperson said.

The BSF, a force of around 2.70 lakh personnel raised in 1965, is primarily tasked with guarding India's borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, apart from rendering a variety of roles in the internal security domain of the country.

In January, the Union home ministry had directed that all six stanzas of the 'Vande Mataram', written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, should be sung first whenever the national song and the national anthem are played together.