Nehru echoed Jinnah, betrayed Vande Mataram: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, betrayed Vande Mataram by echoing Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s communal concerns and fragmenting the national song, which put India on the path of a politics of appeasement, ultimately leading to its partition.

- Press Trust of India

Initiating a debate on the ‘150th anniversary of national song Vande Mataram’, PM Modi highlighted how Vande Mataram inspired the nation, energised the freedom struggle, and became a symbol of national resolve, which prompted Mahatma Gandhi to liken it to the national anthem.

Penned by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1875, the PM said Vande Mataram challenged the British Empire that was unsettled by the freedom struggle of 1857 and heaping injustices upon India and forcing its people into submission.