New Delhi, Dec. 8 — Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday accused India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of “betraying” Vande Mataram by yielding to pressure from the Muslim League in 1937 and compromising the spirit of the National Song.
Opening a Lok Sabha discussion on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram, Modi said Nehru “associated with” Muslim League leader M.A. Jinnah’s objections to the song instead of defending it. “Why was there betrayal with Vande Mataram in the bygone century?” he asked, triggering applause from treasury benches. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was absent.
Modi cited Jinnah’s statement from Lucknow on October 15, 1937, and said Nehru wrote to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose just five days later echoing concerns that the song’s Anandmath context could “irritate the Muslims.” “Instead of debunking baseless statements, Nehru started investigating the song itself,” he said.
He read from Nehru’s letter: “I have read the background of Vande Mataram. I feel that this background can provoke the Muslims.”
Modi said the Congress Working Committee then convened in Kolkata on October 29, 1937 — “in Bankim Babu’s own Bengal” — to review the song. “Freedom fighters agitated against this, but the Congress compromised,” he said, referring to the decision to adopt only the first two stanzas and drop the rest that included salutations to Hindu deities.
“History is witness that the Congress succumbed to the Muslim League on Vande Mataram,” Modi said, adding that this approach “paved the way for accepting the Partition of India.” He said the party’s politics “continues on that path” and claimed the INC had become a “Muslim Maoist Congress.”
The Congress has rejected the charge, arguing that Nehru deferred to Rabindranath Tagore’s counsel on choosing the stanzas.
Modi said Vande Mataram has repeatedly united India “in moments of crises and adversity,” from the freedom movement to post-Independence challenges. “When wars were thrust upon the country, our soldiers fought inspired by this sentiment. We defeated Covid-19 and moved on,” he said.
Calling the song “a source of national strength,” Modi said its spirit will propel India’s goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047. “Vande Mataram will be our mantra,” he said.
