On the 150th anniversary of the song Vande Mataram, adopted by the Constituent Assembly as the national song of India on January 24, 1950 , the BJP uttered an unabashed lie by saying that the Congress party “brazenly pandering to its communal agenda under the presidentship of Jawaharlal Nehru, adopted only a truncated version as the party’s national song in 1937.”

Prime Minister Modi joined BJP in compounding that lie when he said that important stanzas of the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ were dropped in 1937 and then went on to distort history by adding that in doing so, the seeds of partition were sown in the country.

Gandhi and Tagore on Vande Mataram

It is in this context that it is important to recall what Mahatma Gandhi said in a prayer meeting in Calcutta on August 23, 1947, when someone said "Allah-O Akbar" and others in the gathering responded by uttering, “Vande Mataram.” Gandhi asserted that the recitation of Vande Mataram was not a religious cry but a purely political cry and the Indian National Congress examined it by making a reference to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore about it. He added that both the Hindu and the Muslim members of the Congress Working Committee took a decision as per the decision of Tagore that its opening lines were free from any objection and he pleaded that it should be sung together by all on due occasions.

It was made clear by Gandhi that “It should never be a chant to insult or offend the Muslims”. Expressing very emphatically that Vande Mataram always had a place as “an ode to Mother India” he reminded that “it was the cry that had fired political Bengal” and many freedom fighters embraced suffering and even death by that national song.

It is salutary to recall that the resolution adopted by Indian National Congress in its 1937 session on Vande Mataram stated, “Whenever and wherever Vande Mataram is sung only the first two stanzas should be sung, with perfect freedom to the organisers to sing any other song of unobjectionable character in addition to, or in the place of, Vande Mataram song.”,

BJP and Modi should be mindful that it was Tagore who sang it in the 1896 session of the Congress in Calcutta organised under the leadership of its President, Rahmatullah Sayani.

Constituent Assembly’s decision

It is indeed tragic Modi apart from insulting Tagore’s decision of 1937 to limit Vande Mataram to its initial stanzas is also frowning upon the wisdom of the Constituent Assembly which adopted those stanzas as the national song. President of the Assembly Rajendra Prasad made a statement on January 24, 1950 that “The composition consisting of the words and music known as Jana Gana Mana is the National Anthem of India, subject to such alterations in the words as the Government may authorise as occasion arises; and the song Vande Mataram, which has played a historic part in the struggle for Indian freedom, shall be honoured equally with Jana Gana Mana and shall have equal status with it”.

Prasad clarified before making the above statement that, “At one time it was thought that the matter might be brought up before the House and a decision taken by the House by way of a resolution. But it has been felt that, instead of taking a formal decision by means of a resolution, it is better if I make a statement with regard to the National Anthem”.

Given such well documented history cataloguing that Tagore first sang it in 1896 and took a considered decision to recite only its first few stanzas, it is surprising to see Modi using the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram to peddle a divisive agenda.

While campaigning for his party BJP during 2024 general elections he had claimed that 80 to 90 per cent members of the Constituent Assembly were Sanatanis and because they supported Ambedkar and stood by him a great Constitution could be drafted for the country. When the same Constituent Assembly(CA) adopted a few stanzas of the Vande Mataram and its President Rajendra Prasad made a statement that it should occupy the same status as Jana Gana Mana, the national anthem, Modi is showing utter disrespect to the wisdom of the CA.

While in South Africa Mahatma Gandhi wrote an article “The Heroic Song of Bengal” in Indian Opinion on December 2, 1905 and described Vande Mataram as our national anthem and added, “It is nobler in sentiment and sweeter than the songs of other nations. While other anthems contain sentiments that are derogatory to others, Vande Mataram is quite free from such faults. Its only aim is to arouse in us a sense of patriotism. It regards India as the mother and sings her praises. The poet attributes to Mother India all the good qualities one finds in one’s own mother. Just as we worship our mother, so is this song a passionate prayer to India”.

Again, on April 27, 1915, while speaking at the YMCA in Madras he referred to the beauty and majesty of Vande Mataram which, when people heard it, they sprang to their feet. In that context he said that the patriotism meant to discard fear and said, “If our rulers are doing what in our opinion is wrong, and if we feel it our duty to let them hear our advice even though it may be considered sedition, I urge you to speak sedition-but at your peril. You must be prepared to suffer the consequences. And when you are ready to suffer the consequences and not hit below the belt, then I think you will have made good your right to have your advice heard even by the Government”.

Those words of Gandhi resonate when people point out the wrong doings of the Modi regime they face penal action. So what is the meaning of celebrating the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram by the powers that be when they take stringent action against those who hold a mirror to them.

Writing in Harijan on July 1, 1939, Gandhi said that Vande Mataram should not be sung if on some grounds people object to it.

In his book Constructive Programme, he appealed to the students that, among others, Vande Mataram should not be imposed on others.

It is thus a shame that the 150th anniversary of the song becomes an occasion to deliberately target people on the basis of their faith and disfigure history to polarise society and the nation.

S.N. Sahu served as an officer on special duty to former President K.R. Narayanan.

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