Can controversy on Vande Mataram finally end?

Leaders of Islamic nations always use the Arabic greeting but Subianto stuck to the traditions that his forefathers and predecessors followed which dates back before the advent of Islam on the island nation. In Indonesia many families still invoke Lord Ganesha during auspicious occasions. There was a time when Lord Ganesha’s image adorned their 20,000 Rupiah note.

You must be wondering why I am mentioning these examples.

Parliament is set to discuss revolutionary song Vande Mataram on its 150th anniversary. For years its singing has drawn controversy. A section of Muslims doesn’t accept it as the National Song. They not only refuse to sing the whole song but are adamant not to mention the term Vande Mataram. Why? The song mentions the motherland as a reflection of goddesses Durga and Lakshmi.

They argue these phrases are against the philosophy of Islam which prohibits worshipping anyone else except Allah. While I respect their faith I would ask if Indonesian presidents from Sukarno to Subianto don’t shy away from observing their cultural practices then why is there so much confusion in India? Symbols of national pride and struggle shouldn’t be seen from a religious prism as they transcend such limited boundaries.

The uninitiated should know that Vande Mataram is not just a film song. Bengali author Bankim Chandra Chatterjee penned it in 1875. Later he included the song in his famous novel “Anand Math”. Orders of Hindu religious sects that rose against the British used it as their war cry. It sparked their intellectual, physical uprising. In 1905 when Lord Curzon partitioned Bengal, the same song became the bedrock of Bengali unity.

Whenever the British tried to silence the people, revolutionaries would electrify the air by singing Vande Mataram. At that time Vande Mataram was not a Hindu religious symbol but a rallying point of national resistance. Frustrated, the British banned it. But they were feeble attempts at crushing the rising revolutionary spirit. The British finally saw a ray of hope in the statement issued by Muslim League leader Syed Ali Imam in 1909. Imam and his handful of followers felt it was a heretic song and the Muslims should stay away from it. The slogan that represented Bangla unity and played an important role in the National Movement became a victim of communal conspiracy hatched by the British.

The Congress party needed a national anthem. It formed a committee to select one. Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose and Rabindranath Tagore were the members of the panel. On Tagore’s recommendations, the first two paragraphs of Vande Mataram were picked as National Song. These paragraphs sang praise to the nation’s land, rivers, gardens etc. The panel left out the rest of the paragraphs as there was mention of Hindu deities.

All the three men astutely judged the pulse of the moment. By that time ‘Pakistan Zindabad” had become a clarion call among Muslim League workers. They were distributing pamphlets of ‘Pakistan Declaration’ in cities and villages. In 1933, Choudhry Rahmat Ali prepared the draft. Though Jinnah hadn’t officially declared his intentions for a separate nation, he was keenly following the political developments. Vande Mataram could have fanned the divisive fires further. The panel’s recommendations temporarily papered over the row, but it continued to simmer.

On 24 January 1950, India’s first President Dr. Rajendra Prasad said that Vande Mataram should be accorded the same stature as ‘Jana Gana Mana’. But it couldn’t get a Constitutional status. According to Article 51A of the Constitution, it’s mandatory for every Indian to sing the national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’. Vande Mataram was recognised as the National Song but with no Constitutional insistence on mandatory singing.

However, since then periodically it has been weaponized. If we have to progress we will have to learn to curb these manufactured controversies. But how can we achieve it?

Today we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram. The government has also earmarked 10 precious Parliamentary hours of the winter session to discuss the national song. Will our honourable parliamentarians be able to finally put an end to this dangerous debate once and for all?

Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. Views are personal.