Modi, Oppn lock horns over Vande Mataram

Nehru aligned with Jinnah’s concerns, betrayed Vande Mataram: Modi in LS

- OUR CORRESPONDENT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched a sharp critique of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, alleging that Nehru “betrayed” Vande Mataram by echoing Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s objections to the national song and contributing to a political climate that eventually culminated in Partition. Modi was speaking while opening a special debate in Parliament on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram.

‘The prime minister said the song, written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1875, provided moral strength to generations of Indians and became a rallying call during the freedom struggle. He recalled that Mahatma Gandhi had once likened it to the national anthem because of the devotion it inspired. According to Modi, the poem unsettled the British Empire as it emerged in the aftermath of the 1857 revolt, a period marked by what he described as harsh repression intended to suppress India’ aspirations.

“Vande Mataram, which was a source of immense strength for every Indian both within the country and abroad, suffered grave injustice in the last century? Modi told the Lok Sabha. He asked why the song’s stature had been questioned and “what forces overshadowed the sentiments expressed by Mahatma Gandhi and dragged the sacred inspiration into controversy.”