150 years of Vande Mataram: Why BJP and Congress are at loggerheads over 'missing stanzas'?
150 years of Vande Mataram: Why BJP and Congress are at loggerheads over 'missing stanzas'?
PM Modi on November 7 launched a year-long celebration to commemorate the 150th year of Vande Mataram. He said the aim of the initiative was to create awareness among youth and students about the significance of the national song.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will today kickstart a special discussion on Vande Mataram in Lok Sabha to mark 150 years of the national song. The discussion, which will last for about 10 hours, will be concluded by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Home Minister Amit Shah will initiate discussion on this in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
This debate is happening at a time when politics around this song has heated up, with the BJP claiming that the Congress deliberately dropped important stanzas of Vande Mataram in 1937, which ultimately sowed the seeds of partition.
PM Modi rebukes Congress
Addressing an event last month, PM Modi accused the Congress of deliberately removing several important stanzas of Vande Mataram. He said the soul of the national song was separated and it was an injustice to this 'maha mantra'
"Vande Mataram became the voice of India's freedom struggle, it expressed the feelings of every Indian. Unfortunately, in 1937, important stanzas of Vande Mataram... a part of its soul, were separated. The division of Vande Mataram also sowed the seeds of partition. Today's generation needs to know why this injustice was done with this 'maha mantra' of nation building... this divisive mindset is still a challenge for the country," PTI quoted him as saying.
Congress party’s response
Responding to the allegations, the Congress cited the Working Committee’s decision that included Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhas Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Azad and Sarojini Naidu.
The grand old party said that in 1937, only the first two posts were chosen because the remaining posts had religious symbols, which some people disagreed with.
Congress also stated that this decision was not meant to create any division but was taken keeping in mind the sentiments of all communities. The party also accused the Prime Minister of distorting history and diverting attention from current issues.
What to expect from PM Modi?
PM Modi on November 7 launched a year-long celebration to commemorate the 150th year of Vande Mataram. He said the aim of the initiative was to create awareness among youth and students about the significance of the national song. During the discussion in Lok Sabha, PM Modi is expected to outline important and unknown facts about the national song.
"Many important and unknown facets related to Vande Mataram will come out in front of the nation during the debate," PTI quoted officials as saying.
He is also likely to counter the Congress Party over the alleged “missing stanzas” and other issues in this context.
