150 Years of Vande Mataram: PM Modi Leads Historic Lok Sabha Debate
Celebrate 150 years of Vande Mataram: PM Modi highlights Bengal’s role, freedom struggle history, and calls for national unity in Parliament.
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On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over a debate in the Lok Sabha marking the 150th anniversary of India's national anthem, Vande Mataram. During the session, Modi read some stanzas that were not very popular before and gave a spotlight to the role that Bengal played in India's freedom fight.
Modi, while addressing Parliament, said that the national anthem has always connected the country from north to south and from east to west. He stated, "There is neither any opposition nor any leadership here. Today, we all together acknowledge the Vande Mataram.” The Prime Minister pointed out that the song had been a source of strength of the people and that liberation from the British Raj should be re-christened 'self-reliance by 2047'.
The Prime Minister narrated the tale of the song through the years till it became one of the most important and widely used mantras of the Indian independence movement, “a mantra and a slogan that fueled sacrifice and perseverance.” He anchored the present debate to other historical landmarks like 75 years of the Constitution, 150th birth anniversaries of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Birsa Munda, and the 350th martyrdom day of Guru Tegh Bahadur.
The debate also saw some party members making cutting remarks. BJP MP Kangana Ranaut spoke against previous Congress governments, saying that their decision to remove references to Goddess Durga in the song amounted to a historical blunder. On the other hand, Congress MP Manickam Tagore asserted that the RSS had no connection with the song during the freedom struggle and that Vande Mataram was created by a group of leaders—Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Subhash Chandra Bose.
Vande Mataram’s 150 years celebration, the Lok Sabha session has been allotted 10 hours. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is the one to speak next, with Congress leaders Gaurav Gogoi and Priyanka Gandhi among those to follow.
The argument highlights the enduring cultural and political importance of Vande Mataram in India today. Experts say that although the song has been regarded as a symbol of loyalty to the country, its meaning has often been a matter of dispute, which shows the interplay of history, politics, and national identity that is still going on.
Vande Mataram, which was written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and set to music by Jadunath Bhattacharya, is still considered a symbol of India's fight for independence. The debate on the 150th anniversary in Parliament seems to be aiming at re-examining its legacy, uncovering the aspects that have been ignored, and strengthening its position as a part of the country’s historical narrative.
