Amit Shah links division of Vande Mataram to Partition; Kharge defends Nehru

Home Minister Amit Shah told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday (December 9) that the division of the song Vande Mataram in the name of “politics of appeasement” ultimately led to India’s partition, as he criticised the Opposition for linking the debate on its 150th anniversary to the forthcoming West Bengal elections.

Also Read: Congress cites historian Sugata Bose on Tagore's advice over 'Vande Mataram'

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, however, accused BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of disrespecting Jawaharlal Nehru. He argued that the decision to adopt only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram as the national song had been taken collectively by luminaries such as Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.

Amit Shah hails Vande Mataram

Opening the debate in the Upper House, Shah said Vande Mataram was the “mantra” that awakened India’s cultural nationalism and remains as significant today as it was during the freedom movement.

He stressed that the song will remain relevant in the days to come as well, in taking the country towards Viksit Bharat.

Shah also attacked Congress for questioning the need for a debate on Vande Mataram, and accused first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru of "dividing" the poem and limiting it to two stanzas.

"Yesterday some MPs in the Lok Sabha questioned what is the need to discuss Vande Mataram. The need for discussion...was as relevant when the song was written, during the freedom movement, today, and will be as relevant in 2047 when the Viksit Bharat would be achieved," Shah said.

Also Read: With Vande Mataram debate, Modi fails to score in history, Bengali culture

"Some people are saying Vande Mataram is being discussed because elections are coming in West Bengal... They are trying to reduce the importance of Vande Mataram by linking it with Bengal elections," he said.

Song rooted in Bengal, spread nationwide

The home minister urged members to take the spirit of the message of Vande Mataram to the youth of the nation. He said the song was written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in Bengal, but it spread across the nation, and became the chant for India's freedom struggle.

Shah said the song was written years after India tolerated "Islamic attacks", and the British tried to impose a new culture on the country.

"The song re-established the culture of witnessing the nation as a mother. Even though the (British) government tried to ban it, and people were beaten and jailed for chanting Vande Mataram, it touched people's hearts and spread from Kashmir to Kanyakumari," he said.

"India is the only nation whose boundaries have not been decided by any act, its borders have been decided by our culture, and culture has united it. That is why the idea of cultural nationalism, this cultural nationalism was awakened by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay," Shah added.

Nehru accused of trimming the verses

Shah also accused the Congress and Nehru of 'dividing' the song. He added that in the 100th year of Vande Mataram, the country was under Emergency.

"Many members of Congress questioned why the discussion on Vande Mataram was required, calling it a diversionary tactic. We are not scared of taking up any debate. We do not stall Parliament, we have nothing to hide, we are ready to discuss any issue," Shah said.

Also Read: Modi trying to rewrite ‘Vande Mataram’ history, can’t blot Nehru’s legacy: Congress

"On the 50th anniversary of Vande Mataram in 1937, Jawaharlal Nehru divided it into two and limited it to two stanzas. This was the way Congress honoured Vande Mataram," he said, leading to protests from Opposition MPs.

Shah called it the beginning of appeasement politics, and said it led to partition of India. "If they had not divided the song into two for appeasement politics, India would also not have been partitioned," he said, leading to more uproars from Opposition benches.

Shah rejects 'poll motive' behind debate

Shah’s comments came a day after Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra claimed in the Lok Sabha that the government had initiated the debate with an eye on the Bengal polls.

She had argued that the ruling establishment wanted the public to remain preoccupied with the past instead of focusing on present governance and future challenges. Shah, without naming her, rejected the allegation during his Rajya Sabha address.

He went on to accuse successive generations of the Gandhi family from Jawaharlal Nehru onward of repeatedly undermining the importance of Vande Mataram.

Bengal Congress chief rebuts allegations

Meanwhile, Shah's claims were firmly countered by West Bengal Congress president Subhankar Sarkar. He said Priyanka Gandhi rightly pointed out that the national anthem was chosen by Rabindranath Tagore himself and was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India.

“Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi has correctly stated that the prime minister has suddenly raised this controversy over ‘Vande Mataram’ with an eye on the forthcoming West Bengal Assembly elections,” he said.

Also Read: PM Modi says Congress split Vande Mataram stanzas in line with Muslim League

“We further assert that the repeated insults meted out by Modi and his associates to the great sons of Bengal, including Rabindranath Tagore, Raja Rammohan Roy, and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, will soon be answered by the people of Bengal,” the Pradesh Congress chief claimed.

He further stated that the manner in which member of parliament Priyanka Gandhi tore apart the web of lies, and presented authentic historical documents to narrate the true chronological history of “Vande Mataram” in her speech will remain a historic record in the archives of the Indian Parliament.

“To raise a controversy around this is nothing but a gross insult to Rabindranath Tagore and to the departed members of the Constituent Assembly,” Sarkar said in a press statement. He further flayed the “disrespectful manner” in which prime minister Narendra Modi referred to the literary giant Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in his speech yesterday (December 8).

Kharge dismisses BJP’s accusations

Kharge, countering the BJP’s accusation that the Congress ‘divided’ the song, said that Congress leaders have always chanted ‘Vande Mataram’.

Speaking After Shah, Kharge alleged that the politics of appeasement was behind the decision to use only two stanzas of the poem as the national song, Kharge started his address, raising the slogan 'Vande Mataram'.

"We have always been singing Vande Mataram. But those who did not sing Vande Mataram have also started singing it now. It is the power of Vande Mataram. It is a national festival, not a debate. "When the non-cooperation movement was started in 1921, Congress members were going to jail chanting 'Vande Mataram'... What were you doing? You were working for the British," Kharge said.

Claims against Nehru countered

"You are teaching patriotism to us? You were scared of patriotism and were serving the British. PM Modi leaves no opportunity to insult Jawaharlal Nehru, nor does the Home Minister... I heard the Prime Minister blamed Nehru for stanzas being removed," Kharge added.

Also Read: Modi refers to Vande Mataram creator as ‘Bankim da’; TMC up in arms

Kharge said the resolution to sing only two stanzas of the poem, which was passed by the Congress working committee, was not done by Nehru alone, and leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Madan Mohan Malaviya, and Acharya JB Kripalani were present.

The Congress president also quoted Tagore, who said he found "no difficulty" in dissociating the first two stanzas of the poem with the rest of the song. "You are insulting all these tall leaders. It was their combined decision. Why do you target Nehruji alone?" he said.

(With agency inputs)