PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said first PM Jawaharlal Nehru betrayed Vande Mataram by echoing Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s communal concerns and fragmenting the national song that put India on the path of politics of appeasement, leading to its Partition. Initiating a debate on the ‘150th anniversary of national song Vande Mataram’, Modi highlighted how Vande Mataram inspired the nation, energised the freedom struggle and became a symbol of national resolve which prompted Mahatma Gandhi to liken it to the national anthem. Penned by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1875, Modi said Vande Mataram challenged the British Empire that was unsettled by the freedom struggle of 1857 and heaping injustices upon India and forcing its people into submission. “Vande Mataram, which was a source of immense strength for every Indian both within the country and abroad, suffered grave injustice in the last century.

 

I wonder why Vande Mataram was betrayed and what forces overshadowed the sentiments expressed by Mahatma Gandhi and dragged the sacred inspiration into controversy,” the Prime Minister said. Modi said Muslim League leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah first stepped up his opposition to Vande Mataram on October 15, 1937, from Lucknow. Nehru wrote to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose five days later, sharing Jinnah’s sentiments and observing that Vande Mataram’s ‘Anandmath’ background had the potential to “irritate the Muslims”, Modi said. “Instead of firmly countering the baseless statements of the Muslim League and condemning them, Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Congress President, did not reaffirm his and the Congress party’s commitment to Vande Mataram, but began questioning Vande Mataram itself,” he said. Modi said it was ironic that Bankim Chandra’s Vande Mataram underwent a review of its worth in his home state of Bengal at the Kolkata session of

 

 

THE Congress on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of attempting to “rewrite history” and giving a “political colour” to the “Vande Mataram” debate, and asserted that no matter how much the BJP tries, it will not be able to put a single blot on the contribution of Jawaharlal Nehru. The Opposition party also said it was the Congress that gave “Vande Mataram” the importance it deserved and the status of national song. Speaking during the day-long discussion on the 150 years of “Vande Mataram” in the Lok Sabha, Congress deputy leader in the House Gaurav Gogoi alleged that it is the Prime Minister’s habit to keep referring to India’s first Prime Minister Nehru and the Congress whenever he speaks on any issue.

 

“He took Nehru ji’s name 14 times and that of the Congress 50 times during the debate on Operation Sindoor. When there was a discussion on the 75th anniversary of the Constitution, Nehru’s name was taken 10 times and that of the Congress 26 times,” he said. “During the discussion on the President’s Address in 2022, he (Modi) took Pandit Nehru ji’s name 15 times. The PM, during the discussion on the President’s Address in 2020, took Pandit Nehru ji’s name 20 times. I want to say with utmost humility to Narendra Modi ji and his entire system, no matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to put even a single blot on Pandit Nehru ji’s contributions,” Gogoi said. Gogoi’s attack came after Modi accused the Congress of breaking “Vande Mataram” into pieces under the guise of social harmony, and said it was still following the politics of appeasement.

 

The PM also targeted Nehru for agreeing with the suggestion that “Vande Mataram” could antagonise Muslims. In his remarks, Gogoi asserted that if any political party gave “Vande Mataram” the importance it deserved, it was the Congress. He said his party ensured that it is not just looked upon as a political slogan but was given the status of national song. It was in the 1896 Calcutta session of the Congress that Rabindranath Tagore first sang “Vande Mataram”, he said. Gogoi further said that in the 1905 Banaras session of the Congress, Sarala Devi sang “Vande Mataram”. “An important amendment was made in this song which was that of population. The original song mentioned 7 crore, but during the Banaras session in 1905, Sarla Devi made it 30 crore and turned the focus of the entire country to Vande Mataram,” Gogoi said. He said the PM’s speech had two objectives -- to rewrite history and give a political colour to this debate. “It seemed that your political ancestors participated in various movements against the British. So I saw the intention in the PM’s speech to rewrite and revise history.

 

The second objective was to give a political colour to this debate,” he added. The Prime Minister also referred to the Congress Working Committee and Nehru. Gogoi pointed out that it was the Muslim League that wanted to say that the whole “Vande Mataram” must be boycotted. “Congress’ Maulana Abul Kalam Azad said, ‘I have no problems with Vande Mataram’. That was the difference between the Congress and Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Despite the League putting pressure, a decision was taken in the 1937 session of the Congress that the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram will be sung at national gatherings,” he said. The Muslim League and the Hindu Mahasabha protested the Congress’ decision but the party did not act on their diktat but went by the sentiments of the people. The slogan of “Vande Mataram” was raised in opposition to the British Raj to instil fear in the heart of the British Raj, he said. “I want to ask -- When did your political ancestors fulfil this intent of ‘Vande Mataram’? When did your political ancestors oppose the British Raj?” Gogoi said.

 

“I want to ask -- When the ‘Quit India Movement’ was taking place, where were the political ancestors of the BJP? It is recorded in history that the political ancestors of the BJP had said that one should not participate in the Quit India Movement,” he said. He alleged that the BJP has never even tried to understand the nation. There are many languages and States in India, but only one national scripture and that is the Constitution, the Congress leader said. “We are still protecting this very Constitution today,” Gogoi said. Gogoi alleged the Modi Government wants to strip away all the rights of the country’s citizens such as the right to vote, the right to independent thought, the right to love someone and the right to criticise the Government. Today, there is no British rule in the country, but political forces that follow their divide and rule policy still remain, he claimed. In a swipe at the BJP-RSS, Gogoi said that when the entire country accepted ‘Jana Gana Mana’ as the national anthem, “your political ancestors neither hoisted the tricolour nor sang the national anthem in their branches for 52 years”. Today, the people of the country are raising many issues, but the Prime Minister’s speech did not address those matters. “A bomb explosion occurred in the country’s capital, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not mention it even once. We are celebrating the 150th anniversary of ‘Vande Mataram,’ but are we able to provide security to the present-day India? Have we provided security to the people of Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir?” he said.