In the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Leader of the House and BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda claimed that the national song Vande Mataram did not get the respect and place it should have and held the ‘ruler’ of the country’s first government after independence responsible for this.
At the end of the discussion in the Upper House on the 150th anniversary of the national song Vande Mataram, Leader of the House Nadda said that in the last two days, more than 80 members participated in the discussion, which shows how contemporary this topic is. He said that Vande Mataram is the mantra to awaken the soul of the country.
He said that this song has been witness to many incidents during the freedom movement. He said that this song is a worship of Mother Bharati. He said that when the British rulers wanted to impose their national song in the country, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee awakened the whole of India by writing the song Vande Mataram.
The BJP president said that this mantra in the form of a song proved so effective that the British rulers banned it and anyone who sang it was sent behind the bars of the jail. He said that the charges on which VD Savarkar was sent to Kala Pani on two life sentences included raising slogans of Vande Mataram. He said that Marhish Arvind also had to go to jail because of Vande Mataram. He said that when Khudiram Bose was hanged, the last words on his face were Vande Mataram.
Nadda referred to the allegation made by Congress’s Jairam Ramesh while participating in the discussion that the only purpose of this discussion was to defame former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The leader of the House said, “Our aim is not to defame the former Prime Minister of India, but our aim is to present the facts of India’s history correctly.”
He reminded that whenever any incident occurs, it is the Sardar who is responsible. He said that the leader of the government and Congress was Jawaharlal Nehru. He said that when you are happy, you take responsibility and if something goes wrong, instead of taking responsibility, you start blaming other people.
Nadda said, “When you (Congress) feel right, you start talking about the Nehruvian era and when you don’t feel right, you bring Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.” He said that Vande Mataram did not get the respect and place it should have got and the then rulers are responsible for this.
According to the leader of the House, Nehru had criticized the language of Vande Mataram and the concept behind it in a letter written to Urdu writer Sardar Jafri. He said that in the Congress Working Committee meeting in 1937, it was decided to sing only two parts of Vande Mataram while the organizers were advised to sing some other song. He said that this is the biggest proof that Vande Mataram is not given due respect and place.
Nadda said that a committee was formed in the Constituent Assembly to decide the national emblem, but the national anthem was adopted without any discussion. He said that the country does not run on compromises and runs on unconditional national sentiments. He said that the national song should get the same place as the national anthem and it should be included in the Constitution.