Vande Mataram
By Poonam I Kaushish
Much ado about nothing! That is the sum total of a debate in Lok Sabha yesterday to celebrate 150 years of our iconic national song Vande Mataram after it was first penned. Facetiously, it’s a part of Government’s ongoing year-long commemoration of the patriotic poem written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1875 and to bring forth important and unknown facets related to it. “To fill our present with self-confidence and gives us courage to believe that there is no goal that Indians cannot achieve.” Sic.
Questionably, why now in Parliament? The answer is shaped by nuanced politics, cultural nationalism and their respective benefits for the ruling dispensation by showcasing “Nehru’s real stance of divisive approach and unnecessarily accommodating and reflective of a long pattern of Muslim “appeasement.”
It stems from a point of ideological contention between BJP and Congress with Prime Minister Modi’s charge that Congress in 1937 “brazenly pandered to its communal agenda under erstwhile Prime Minister Nehru who agreed with Jinnah’s views of “cutting down Vande Mataram as it could irritate Muslims and removed two important stanzas …its soul and a powerful war cry from a tune of hope in times of slavery” thereby “sowing the seeds of partition. Today’s generation needs to know why this injustice was done with this ‘maha mantra’ of nation building, energy, dream and a solemn resolve. This divisive mindset is still a challenge for the country.”
Countered, Congress Priyanka Gandhi who squarely accused Government of committing a “big-sin” by weaponising a cultural symbol to distract from present-day challenges. Highlighting the Vande Mataram debate was being selectively used to score political points, evading “real issues and selectively quoting Nehru, given the song is alive in every part of the country.” More. Primarily, using it to raise the ante on the forthcoming West Bengal Assembly elections March-April 2026, along-with showcasing RSS’s limited role in the freedom struggle.
Citing the chronology of events, she added in 1937 the Congress Working Committee under Nehru’s Presidentship adopted a resolution, whereby only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram would be sung, acting on Rabindra NathTagore’s advice to keep the national movement united, not divided. Alongside, organisers had freedom to sing any song of unobjectionable character, in addition to, or in the place of Vande Mataram.
She might have a point. After tasting dust in Assembly polls 2021 BJP seems to be using Vande Mataram to keep the election pot boiling by positioning itself as the defender of Bengali cultural pride allowing it to put Mamata’s TMC on the defensive. It’s Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly is busy accusing TMC of closing a Kolkata’s park where “soul of Bengal Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s” statue is without a garland.
“TMC is not a patriotic Party it wants Tagore’s song compulsory sung in schools across the State but not the national song.” To counter this, the Hindutva Brigade is organizing celebrations in over 1500 places in the State. Combating this, Mamata indicted BJP as “a Party of divisions trying to create division between two great Bengalis Chattopadhyay who wrote Vande Mataram and Rabindranath Tagore who composed national anthem Jana Gana Mana.
But many Opposition leaders assert that the national song is just another prop to celebrate the nation State and undue importance mustn’t be given to it, lambasting BJP of attempting to “claim ownership” of national symbols and heritage. Not a few, averred singing Vande Mataram must neither be made a test case of patriotism nor should people be obstinate about not singing it. Though it is compulsorily played at the end of every Parliament session.
Either way, no matter what its source was, and how and when it was composed, it had become a most powerful battle cry among Hindus and Muslims of Bengal during Partition days. It was an anti-imperialist cry. The Congress formally adopted it as national song at its Varanasi Session on 7 September 1905.
But, in October 1937, some Muslim leaders objected to Vande Mataram on grounds that it contained verses that were in direct conflict with Islam and amounted to worshipping the motherland. This went against the concept of tawheed (oneness of God), according to which a Muslim cannot supplicate to anyone except Allah. Alongside, they were offended by India’s depiction as Goddess Ma Durga — equating the nation with the Hindu concept of Shakti. Also objectionable was it was part of Anandamatha, a novel with an anti-Muslim message and an irritant to the minority community.
Nehru understood Muslims religious predicament even as he accentuated the hymn’s national importance in the freedom struggle. The Congress Working Committee then adopted a resolution, whereby only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram would be sung. Alongside, organisers had freedom to sing any song of unobjectionable character, in addition to, or in the place of Vande Mataram.
Interestingly, while Vande Mataram was treated as India’s national anthem for long, Jana Gana Mana was chosen as national anthem on 24 January 1950, even as the Constituent Assembly accorded the nationalistic song the same stature as Jana Gana Mana.
Clearly, be it Vande Mataram or Jana Gana Mana both are beautiful and melodious and have their sanctity and stand on equal footing. Both ignited patriotism, galvanised Indians to gang up against the British, threw out the firangis and won India its freedom. It is high time our leaders stop playing petty politricks.
The patriotic song stands at the intersection of history, identity and contemporary politics. Whether it becomes an opportunity to reflect on how national symbols can unite a diverse country or merely another battleground for partisan sparring, will depend on how leaders choose to engage with it.
As India marks 150 years of Vande Mataram the challenge ahead is to acknowledge its layered legacy while ensuring that conversations around it strengthen, rather than strain, the shared idea of nationhood.
In the ultimate we need to realize that India’s multi-pluralistic character, pulsating democracy and civil society is neither rigid nor frozen in time. It is constantly evolving. True, two songs cannot make or mar the future of a nation or its people, even as we respect Vande Mataram as our national song and symbol of national pride, on par with Jana Gana Mana. High time this frivolous and needless controversy is put to rest once and for all. There are more pressing issues which need our leaders and judiciary’s attention. What says you? — INFA