The Congress on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech during the ‘Vande Mataram’ debate in the Lok Sabha was meant to ‘rewrite history’ and give it a ‘political colour’. The opposition party claimed that no matter how hard the BJP tries, it will not be able to tarnish the contributions of Jawaharlal Nehru.
The Congress party also said that it was the Congress that gave “Vande Mataram” the importance it deserved and the status of a national song.
Speaking during the day-long debate on 150 years of ‘Vande Mataram’ in the Lok Sabha, Deputy Leader of the Congress in the House of Representatives Gaurav Gogoi he claimed that it was the practice of the Prime Minister to frequently refer to India’s first Prime Minister Nehru and the Congress whenever he spoke on any issue.
“During the debate on Operation Sindoor, he took Nehru’s name 14 times and the name of the Congress 50 times. When the discussion was on 75th Anniversary of the ConstitutionNehru’s name was taken 10 times and that of Congress 26 times,” he said.
Gogoi claimed that if any political party gave “Vande Mataram” the importance it deserved, it was the Congress. He said his party has ensured that it is not seen as just a political slogan but is accorded the status of a national song.
It was at the Calcutta session of the Congress in 1896 Rabindranath Tagore he first sang “Vande Mataram”, he said. “He (Tagore) wrote to Nehru that the privilege of originally setting the first stanza of Vande Mataram to tune was mine when the author was still alive,” the Congress MP said. He said that at the Congress session in Banaras in 1905, Sarala Devi Chaudhurani sang “Vande Mataram”.
“An important change was made in this song, which was a population song. The original song mentioned 7 million, but in 1905, during the Banaras session, Sarla Dev Chaudhurani made 30 million and turned the attention of the entire country to Vande Mataram,” Gogoi said. He said that the Prime Minister’s speech had two goals – to rewrite history and to give political color to this debate.
“It seemed that your political ancestors were involved in various movements against the British. So I saw in the Prime Minister’s speech an intention to rewrite and revise history. The second objective was to give a political color to this debate,” he added.
PM Modi on Vande Mataram
The Prime Minister also referred to the Congress Working Committee and Jawaharlal Nehru.
“It is his habit whenever he talks about any issue, he keeps repeating the name of Nehru and the Congress,” Gogoi said. “I want to humbly say to him and his party that no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to succeed even one speck of Nehru’s contribution,” he said.
Gogoi pointed out that it was the Muslim League that wanted to say that the entire “Vande Mataram” must be boycotted.
“Congress’ Maulana Azad he said, “I have no problems with Vande Mataram.” This was the difference between Congress and Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Despite pressure from the League, a decision was taken in the 1937 Congress session that the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram would be sung at national assemblies,” he said.
The Muslim League and the Hindu Mahasabha protested against the decision of the Congress, but the party did not act according to their dictates but followed the sentiments of the people.
