Trimming Vande Mataram Is Beginning of Appeasement, Says Amit Shah
Shah said that while every major milestone of a great creation is celebrated in India, Vande Mataram did not receive due recognition during previous anniversaries because of Congress leadership
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday alleged that opposing “Vande Mataram” is in the blood of the Congress and said that if Jawaharlal Nehru had not divided the song into two parts to begin appeasement, the country would not have been partitioned.
Refuting Shah’s charges, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the decision to use only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram as the national song was collectively taken by leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.
Initiating the discussion in the Rajya Sabha to mark the 150th anniversary of the national song, Shah slammed the Opposition for linking the debate on the National Song with the upcoming West Bengal elections.
Noting that Vande Mataram was the “mantra” that awakened India’s cultural nationalism and remains as relevant today as it was during the freedom struggle, Shah stressed that the song will remain relevant in the coming days as well while taking the country towards Viksit Bharat in 2027.
“When Vande Mataram completed 50 years in 1937, Jawaharlal Nehru ji divided it into two parts and limited it to two stanzas,” Shah said, which triggered uproar from Opposition benches.
He said many like him believe that the nation would not have been partitioned if the hymn Vande Mataram was not “divided into two”, alleging that appeasement politics began ever since.
“That is where appeasement politics started… And that appeasement resulted in the partition of the country. Many like me believe that if Vande Mataram was not divided into two due to appeasement politics, this nation would not have been partitioned,” the home minister stated in the Upper House.
Taking a dig at the Opposition, he said many Congress members were considering the discussion on Vande Mataram as a political manoeuvre or a weapon to divert attention from issues.
He further added that when the song completed 100 years, the country was under Emergency and Opposition leaders were jailed. Mr Shah also alleged that the then Prime Minister imprisoned those who chanted Vande Mataram and imposed the Emergency.
“Look at the situation of the Congress party, which used to start its sessions with Vande Mataram. It was a mantra of the freedom movement… When the debate started in Lok Sabha, both members of the Gandhi family were missing… The opposition to Vande Mataram is in the blood of the Congress leadership, from Jawaharlal Nehru to the present-day Congress leadership,” he alleged.
“There is not one BJP member who would not stand respectfully during Vande Mataram… I will lay a list of all those who left the House before Vande Mataram. I request that the names be made a part of this discussion,” he said.
Participating in the debate, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said the true homage to Bharat Mata will be paid only when Parliament discusses and resolves the issues of common people, and he accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of holding a discussion on Vande Mataram while keeping the Bengal elections in mind.
In his speech, the Congress president accused BJP leaders, including the Prime Minister, of insulting Jawaharlal Nehru, as he said the decision to use only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram as the national song was collectively taken by stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Madan Mohan Malaviya, Acharya JB Kripalani, and Rabindranath Tagore.
“He (PM Modi) has started a discussion on Vande Mataram only keeping the Bengal elections in mind,” Kharge said, adding that the attempt is to divert the attention of people from the real issues faced by the country. The aim of the House should be to discuss burning issues like financial problems, rising unemployment, a poor economy, and the fall in the value of the rupee.
“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,” Kharge stressed.
“When the non-cooperation movement started in 1921, Congress members were going to jail chanting Vande Mataram… What were you doing? You were working for the British,” he added.
While summing up his speech, the octogenarian Congress leader said, “Stop spreading lies and slamming national leaders to cover up your own failures. Learn to respect the leaders who built the Constitution and the leaders who sacrificed everything for our country’s independence.”
Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora, Upper House nominated member Sudha Murthi, BJP member Radha Mohan Das and others participated in the debate on the national song.
