The Opposition on Wednesday accused BJP leaders of distorting history, with Congress leader Jairam Ramesh saying that the whole aim of the debate on 150 years of Vande Mataram was to malign the first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
Participating in the debate in the Rajya Sabha, Ramesh accused the BJP of insulting freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for the country.
“Those who have spoken from the other side have proved. They wanted to be historians, but they have become ‘distortions,” Ramesh said.
He gave details of letters exchanged between leaders, including Subhas Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, Rajendra Prasad, and Jawaharlal Nehru, over Vande Mataram. “Rajendra Prasad wrote to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on September 28, 1937, raising concerns and worries prevalent in large sections of our political system on Vande Mataram, and requesting Patel that the Congress Working Committee (CWC) take a stand. Was it appeasement? Are you accusing Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, of appeasement?” Ramesh said.
“On October 28, 1937, CWC passed a resolution about Vande Mataram. Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Azad, Acharya Kripalani, GB Pant. They were all present,” Ramesh said.
He added that on October 30, 1927, Tagore issued a press statement that he had advised the CWC that they pass a resolution to adopt the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram as the ‘national anthem’, and it was later adopted as the national song.
He said a communal environment was created in 1937.
“Many organisations were responsible. One of them is celebrating its centenary now. They spread communal fire, and today they tell us Congress did appeasement,” he said. Ramesh accused the ruling party of insulting Tagore, and said, “Why is the Government making this Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay vs Tagore. They wanted to insult Nehru, but they ended up insulting Tagore”. The Congress leader slammed the BJP for its “appeasement” jibes at his party, and said BJP ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee had formed a Government with AK Fazlul Huq, who later presented the Lahore resolution for the formation of Pakistan.
“A lot has been said, the aim of this whole debate is to malign Nehru. This is a part of that project. You are insulting people who sacrificed their lives for the nation,” he added.
Trinamool Congress MP Ritabrata Banerjee said in 1905, when Bengal was being partitioned, an anti-partition movement erupted with Tagore as the “nerve centre”.
“On August 7, 1905, at the first mass meeting of anti-partition protest, Tagore himself sang the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram,” he said.
“On October 16, 1905, Tagore spearheaded the famous anti-partition protest where Hindus and Muslims tied ‘rakhis’ on each other. Thunderous slogans of Vande Mataram, and the famous protest poem written by the polymath himself, took Calcutta and Bengal by storm... What was the song - Amar Sonar Bangla...This is the national anthem of Bangladesh,” he said.
“I am speaking in Bengali, would we be called Bangladeshi?” he questioned.
Banerjee also accused the BJP of insulting Tagore by saying that Jana Gana Mana was written to welcome George V. He also said it was Tagore who said the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram should be adopted.
“Before the election in 2026, please speak in Bengali that Tagore is responsible for this, and then fight the election. Bengalis will teach you what is the meaning of Vande Mataram,” he said.
CPI MP P Sandosh Kumar, meanwhile, demanded a special discussion on the contributions of Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar in Parliament.
“It’s all the more important today because Godse is creeping in the social fabric of our lives,” he said.
Kumar said the discussion on Vande Mataram could have been a “healthy debate”, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the first speaker, made it controversial.
“All these leaders should be sent to a history hospital... Gandhi-Nehru virus is in their heart and brain, it must be deleted. They should go for a treatment,” he said, in an apparent reference to BJP leaders.
“People whose slogan is Vande Adani and Namo Trump can’t speak more...” he said.
Kumar also pointed out the link between Mookerjee and Huq, and said, “these are simple facts of history... He shared power with leaders who moved the Pakistan resolution. Don’t teach us history, you had no role in the freedom movement. You should not try to divide people in the name of Vande Mataram,” he said.
Biju Janata Dal MP Debashish Samantaray questioned why Parliament is debating this, when the country has accepted both Vande Mataram and Jana Gana Mana.
“What I want to say is that today, why are we debating it? We have lived with Jana Gana Mana and also Vande Mataram. So, it is high time we shouldn’t throw aspersions on history, who did what... None of us can correct it. It is done. We are living in a free country,” he said.
“Why this debate, first of all? Vande Mataram is our national song, Jana Gana Mana is our national anthem. It is a sentimental thing for all Indians equally,” he said.
