Division of Vande Mataram song led to partition of India: Home Minister Amit Shah

The division of 'Vande Mataram' song for “politics of appeasement” led to the partition of India, Home Minister Amit Shah said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, as he slammed the Opposition for linking the debate on 150 years of the national song with the upcoming West Bengal elections.

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Initiating the debate in the House, Shah said Vande Mataram was the "mantra" that awakened India's cultural nationalism, and remains as relevant today as it was during the freedom struggle.He stressed that the song will remain relevant in the days to come as well, in taking the country towards Viksit Bharat. Shah also attacked Congress for questioning the need for a debate on Vande Mataram, and accused the first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru of "dividing" the poem and limiting it to two stanzas.

"Yesterday some MPs in the Lok Sabha questioned what is the need to discuss Vande Mataram. The need for discussion...was as relevant when the song was written, during the freedom movement, today, and will be as relevant in 2047 when the Viksit Bharat would be achieved," Shah said.