Vande Mataram debate an attempt to divert attention from pressing issues: Kharge
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said true patriotism seeks solutions to problems like the falling value of the rupee and the hardships faced by the common people
NEW DELHI: Congress president and leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Tuesday hit back at the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-led government over the ongoing Vande Mataran discussion in Parliament, describing it as a tactic to divert attention from the economic challenges the country is grappling with, pressing foreign policy issues, and internal security matters.
“The political debate over the national song Vande Mataram is merely a diversionary tactic when the country faces economic challenges. True patriotism seeks solutions to problems like the falling value of the rupee and the hardships faced by the common people, rather than mere symbolism and speeches,” he said in Rajya Sabha during a discussion on the 150th anniversary of the national song. Even when the country is grappling with a raft of problems relating to economy, unemployment, and social issues, the Prime Minister is only interested in election campaigning, the Congress leader alleged.
Vande Mataram will remain an inspiration to create a self-reliant and prosperous India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday, initiating the discussion on the 150th anniversary of India’s national song in the Lok Sabha. Modi blamed India’s first prime minister and Congress leader Jawaharlal Nehru for removing stanzas from the song, composed in the 1870s by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, and said this was done under pressure and to appease the Md. Ali Jinnah-led Muslim League. Under pressure, the Congress divided Vande Mataram, and that’s why the Congress also had to buckle under pressure and partitioned India, Modi said.
“He (Modi) initiated the debate on Vande Mataram with the West Bengal elections in mind. Do not be under the misconception that attacking Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore is a way to divert attention from real issues. The objective of this House should be to focus on the pressing issues facing the country. Because the true tribute to Mother India will be when this Parliament debates public issues and their solutions,” Kharge said.
He said the PM referred to Nehru’s letter to Subhas Chandra Bose in Lok Sabha on Monday. “As usual, he once again misled the House. His allegations are devoid of facts and are designed to mislead the public.”
“On, October 20, Nehru wrote to Subhas Bose. In that letter Nehru supported Jinnah’s point of view and said, coming in the background of Ananda Math, Vande Mataram can irritate Muslims. I want to read Nehru’s quote: “I read the background of Vande Mataram. I think this background can instigate the Muslims.” On 26 October, a Congress Working Committee (meeting) was held in Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s Bengal to review the utility of Vande Mataram. The entire country opposed this proposal. But unfortunately, on October 26, the Congress compromised on Vande Mataram. The decision to remove lines from Vande Mataram was done as an act of social harmony,” Modi had said.
Kharge disputed what the PM said.
The truth is, he said, on October 16, 1937, Subhas Chandra Bose wrote to Rabindranath Tagore asking him what stance the Congress should take on Vande Mataram. The next day, on October 17, Bose wrote to Nehru and suggested that the latter should meet Tagore personally on this issue, he said.
“On October 25, 1937, Nehru met Tagore and wrote a letter on October 26, which I quote: ‘In offering my own opinion about it, I am reminded that the privilege of originally setting its first stanza to the tune was mine …..to me, the spirit of tenderness and devotion expressed in its first portion, the emphasis it gave to beautiful and beneficent aspects of our motherland made a special appeal, so much so that I found no difficulty in disassociating it with the rest of the poem. The first two stanzas are such that it is impossible for anyone to take objection to… remember we are thinking in terms of a national song for all India’,” Kharge said.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) unanimously passed a resolution on the song and prominent leaders who agreed to this resolution were Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana Azad, Nehru, Bose, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel and others, Kharge said.
“This resolution clearly states that: ‘The Committee wish to point out that the modern evolution of the use of the song as part of national life is of infinitely greater importance …...therefore the Committee recommends that wherever Vande Mataram is sung at national gatherings only the first two stanzas should be sung, with perfect freedom to the organisers to sing any other song of an unobjectionable character’,” Kharge said.
It’s clear that the RSS and BJP have woken up from their slumber today and that’s why they are holding this debate, he said.
“Congress made Vande Mataram the slogan of the freedom movement and granted it the status of the national anthem after Independence. I would like to say to those in government: stop spreading lies and smearing national heroes to cover up your failures. Learn to respect the heroes who drafted the Constitution and the leaders who sacrificed everything for the country’s Independence. Whenever you insult them, it will become clear that your ancestors played no role in the country’s Independence. The thinking of Gandhiji, Nehruji, and all the leaders of the freedom movement led to the country’s Independence and global prestige. Don’t make a laughing stock of yourself in the country and the world by questioning their wisdom.”
Learn to respect Vande Matram as assembly elections will come and go, but the greatness of Vande Mataram will remain, he added.
