Nehru betrayed Vande Mataram, compromised its spirit under Muslim League pressure: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the first Prime Minster Jawaharlal Nehru ‘betrayed’ Vande Mataram by compromising its spirit under the pressure of Muslim League and Congress policy of appeasement later had it accept the Partition of India too.

Initiating a special discussion on "The 150th Anniversary of the National Song" in the Lok Sabha today, the Prime Minister said the Muslim League leader — MA Jinnah — first intensified his opposition to Vande Mataram on October 15, 1937, from Lucknow, and on October 20, Nehru wrote to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose associating with Jinnah's sentiments and noting that Vande Mataram's Anandmath background had the potential to "irritate the Muslims."

Quoting Mahatma Gandhi on Vande Mataram, PM Modi said there were forces and urges that got the better of even Gandhi's views about Vande Mataram.

Gandhi, writing in Indian Opinion, a weekly published from South Africa, on December 2, 1905, said: "The song Vande Mataram, composed by Bankim Chandra, has become extremely popular in Bengal. During the swadeshi revolution, Bengal saw massive rallies where lakhs congregated and sang Bankim's song. The song has become so popular it seems as if it has become our National Anthem. Its sentiments are lofty and it is sweeter than the songs of other nations. Its sole objective is to inspire us to win freedom. It sees India as a mother and inspires us to worship it."

Recalling the genesis of Vande Mataram from 1875 when Bankim Chandra Chatterjee first wrote it, the PM asked if the song was so great, its sentiments lofty and if it had the strength to bind Indians across regions into one thread of unity against the British, "why was there betrayal with Vande Mataram in the bygone century?"

"Why was injustice done to the National Song? The urges of which power got the better of Mahatma Gandhi's views on the song, which forces dragged even Vande Mataram in the throes of controversy? The present generations must know the factors because of which Vande Mataram was betrayed," said Modi to applause from the treasury Benches, with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi absent from the House.

Giving the reference to Jinnah's opposition to the song, Modi went on to note that after Jinnah's resistance, "Nehru saw his chair shaking."

"Instead of debunking baseless statements of Muslim League and professing commitment to Vande Mataram, Nehru, the then Congress chief, did the opposite. He started investigating the song itself. Five days after Jinnah opposed the song, JL Nehru wrote to Netaji Bose on October 20. Associating with the sentiments of Jinnah, Nehru said Vande Mataram's Anandmath context can irritate the Muslims," PM Modi stated.

He quoted the letter to Bose where Nehru wrote: "I have read the background of Vande Mataram. I feel that this background can provoke the Muslims."

"After this, the Congress gave a statement that on October 29, its CWC meeting will be held in Kolkata, where the use of Vande Mataram will be reviewed. The Congress chose Bankim Babu's Bengal to review his song. The nation was shocked. Freedom fighters agitated against this. But the nation's misfortune was that on October 29, the Congress compromised on Vande Mataram, it truncated the National Song, shattering it to pieces and justified this in the name of social harmony," Modi said.

He said history is witness that the Congress succumbed to the Muslim League on Vande Mataram and this was Congress' way of playing its politics of appeasement. "Under the compulsions of appeasement politics, Congress succumbed and agreed to the Partition of Vande Mataram which is why one day the Congress bent and agreed to the Partition of India also. Unfortunately Congress policies have continued along the same path and INC has become MMC (Muslim Maoist Congress). Even today Congress and allies continue to create disputes over Vande Mataram," lamented Modi. He said the character of a nation is judged by how it responded in times of crises and adversities, noting that through decades, Vande Mataram had united India and Indians against all odds.

PM's reference was to October 29, 1937, when the Congress Working Committee passed a resolution adopting only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram as the National Song and dropped the rest that contained salutations to Durga and other Hindu Gods and Goddesses. The Congress has rejected the PM's claims saying JL Nehru deferred to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore in making that choice.

"Whenever India has faced challenges it has responded inspired by sentiments enshrined in Vande Mataram. Leave apart some segments of history, the nation has largely come together against odds. When there was a food security crisis, our farmers filled the bowls with grains inspired by the spirit of Vande Mataram. The same sentiment defeated the Emergency mindset. When wars were thrust upon the country, our soldiers fought off and defeated the enemy. We defeated Covid 19 and moved on," said Modi describing Vande Mataram as a source of national strength and capacity. He said the National Song will inspire India on the path to swadeshi.

"India can brave any challenge. Vande Mataram is not just a song for us, it is an inspiration to fulfil the dream of Viksit Bharat by 2047. We want to give strength to swadeshi and Vande Mataram will be our mantra," the PM said urging everyone to come together for national good in the spirit of Vande Mataram.