Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a sharp criticism against the Congress party and former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru during a Lok Sabha debate marking the 150th anniversary of the national song, Vande Mataram.
PM Modi accused the past Congress leadership of “pandering to communal concerns” and compromising the national song’s status, linking their decisions to opposition voiced by Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
Accusations Against Jawaharlal Nehru
Initiating the discussion, PM Modi claimed that Nehru had once written to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, suggesting that Vande Mataram might “provoke and irritate Muslims” and recommended examining its usage.
“This, despite Vande Mataram being born in Bankim Chandra’s Bengal,” PM Modi stated.
The Prime Minister linked this behavior to the Congress’s 1937 decision to adopt only the first two stanzas of the song in national gatherings, a move criticized by some Muslim leaders at the time who viewed later stanzas as religiously symbolic due to their invocation of Hindu goddesses.
PM Modi asserted that this move “sowed the seeds of division” that eventually led to the Partition of India.
Linking Vande Mataram to the Emergency
The Prime Minister also connected the song’s history to the 1975 Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi:
- He noted that when Vande Mataram completed 100 years (1975), “the Constitution was throttled and those who lived for patriotism were put behind bars.”
- Modi urged Parliament to use the 150th anniversary as an opportunity to “restore the greatness of Vande Mataram,” characterizing the Emergency as a “dark chapter in our history.”
“Rock of Resistance”
Describing Vande Mataram as the mantra that “energised and inspired India’s freedom movement,” PM Modi praised the song for standing “like a rock” against British oppression. He noted that the song unified the country after the Partition of Bengal in 1905, serving as a powerful response to the British promotion of “God Save the Queen.”