Why is 'Vande Mataram' Being Debated in Parliament After 150 Years? Explained

New Delhi: A special discussion in the Lok Sabha on Vande Mataram has continued, highlighting its historical significance and enduring legacy in India's freedom movement.

Rahul Gandhi’s absence from the debate has again sparked the controversy, as the BJP accused the opposition of disrespecting Vande Mataram, while the opposition argued that the government was politicising a cultural milestone. 

The government has allotted three hours to speak in the Lok Sabha, and the discussion will resume in the Rajya Sabha on December 9. A total of ten hours has been set aside across both Houses.

Why is Parliament Debating it now?

The timing of the discussion is tied to the song completing 150 years on November 7. The government presented the debate as a chance to revisit its legacy and to highlight its role in uniting people during the freedom struggle.

Meanwhile, the govt also accused the Congress of removing significant verses from 'Vande Mataram', as the PM had claimed that this removal "sowed the seeds for partition". The Congress, in its 1937 Faizabad session, used only the first two stanzas of the poem Vande Mataram to keep it secular, since Chatterjee had invoked Hindu goddesses in the later stanzas.

Addressing the Lok Sabha on the occasion of Vande Mataram completing 150 years, PM Modi said that the Constitution was "choked" at the 100th anniversary of Vande Mataram, which coincided with the Emergency.

"When Vande Mataram completed 50 years, India was under British rule. When Vande Mataram completed 100 years, India was in the clutches of Emergency... At that time, the patriots were imprisoned. When the song that inspired our freedom movement, unfortunately, India was witnessing a black period. 150 years of Vande Mataram is an opportunity to reinstate that pride and that great part of our past... This song inspired us to attain freedom in 1947," the PM said.

'Vande Mataram' – A Song Rooted in Freedom Struggle

The renewed debate cannot be separated from the deep historical journey of Vande Mataram. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee wrote it in 1875 and published it in the journal Bangadarshan on November 7 that year. It entered political life in 1905 when students in Calcutta shouted it during protests against the British and in support of the Swadeshi movement.

The slogan grew stronger after the partition of Bengal announced by Lord Curzon, which was seen as an attempt to weaken the nationalist movement. From 1905 to 1947, Vande Mataram echoed through protests, meetings, and marches, becoming a powerful call for freedom.

Even though it had long served as a political war cry, Vande Mataram was officially adopted as the national song only on January 24, 1950, by the Constituent Assembly. The earlier Congress decision in 1937 to restrict its use to the first two stanzas shaped the debates around its religious and cultural interpretations, debates that continue to resurface in political discourse today.

(With inputs from ANI)

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