The Congress on Sunday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Vande Mataram controversy, claiming that the Prime Minister has insulted the 1937 Congress Working Committee and Rabindranath Tagore, which issued a statement on the song.
Congress said Modi should fight his political battle on current issues related to daily concerns. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Prime Minister’s insult to the CWC and Tagore was shocking but not unexpected “as the RSS played no role in our freedom movement led by Mahatma Gandhi.”
In a clear attack on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said important verses of the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ were removed in 1937 which sowed the seeds of partition and such “divisive mentality” is still a challenge for the country.
Prime Minister Modi said this while inaugurating the year-long commemoration to commemorate 150 years of the national song ‘Vande Mataram’. Modi also released a commemorative postage stamp and coin at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here on the occasion.
Ramesh wrote on the social media platform ‘X’, “The meeting of the Congress Working Committee was held in Kolkata on 26 October-1 November 1937. Among those present were Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sarojini Naidu, J.B. Kripalani, Bhulabhai Desai, Jamnalal Bajaj, Narendra Dev and others were included.
He said, “Page 46 of Volume 66 of Mahatma Gandhi’s Collected Works shows that on October 28, 1937, the Congress Working Committee had issued a statement on Vande Mataram and this statement was highly influenced by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and his advice.”
Ramesh said, “The Prime Minister has insulted the Congress Working Committee and Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. His doing so is shocking but not unexpected as the RSS had played no role in our freedom movement led by Mahatma Gandhi.” He said the Prime Minister should fight his political battle on current issues which are a matter of daily concern for crores of Indians worried about their present and future.
“His economic policies have further increased inequalities,” Ramesh said. Unemployment has reached new heights. The pace of investment has slowed down. His foreign policy has collapsed. He has been completely exposed and he just abuses and defames the first Prime Minister of India (Jawaharlal Nehru).
Congress General Secretary shared ‘screenshots’ of CWC’s statement on ‘X’.
A 1937 CWC statement said, “Gradually the use of the first two verses of the song (Vande Mataram) spread to other provinces and began to acquire a certain national significance. The remaining parts of the song were rarely used and are still known to very few people. In these two verses the beauty of the motherland and the abundance of its gifts are described in gentle language.
It says that there is nothing in it which can be objected from religious or any other point of view.
“There is nothing in these verses that anyone can object to,” the statement said. The other verses of the song are less known and rarely sung. These have some connotations and a religious ideology which may not be in line with the ideology of other religious groups in India.
“Taking all things into account, the committee recommends that wherever Vande Mataram is sung at national functions, only the first two verses should be sung,” the statement said. The organizers should have complete freedom to sing any other non-objectionable song in addition to or in place of the Vande Mataram song.
The CWC had said in 1937 that there could be no question about the place of Vande Mataram in the national life but the same could not be said about other songs.
It says, “People have adopted the songs of their choice, irrespective of their ability. The need for an authentic collection was felt for a long time and hence the Committee constituted a sub-committee with the membership of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose and Narendra Dev which would review all the existing national songs sent to it and those who wish to do so are invited to send their compositions to this sub-committee.”
The CWC had said that out of the songs received by the sub-committee, it would submit to the working committee a collection which it might consider worthy of a place in the collection of national songs.
He had said, “Only such songs which are composed in, or can be adapted into, simple Hindustani and whose tune is encouraging and inspiring, will be accepted for review by the sub-committee. The sub-committee will consult and take advice from poet Rabindranath Tagore.
