During a Lok Sabha debate commemorating 150 years of Vande Mataram on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress, accusing previous prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru of "pandering to communal concerns" and echoing Muhammad Ali Jinnah's objection to the national song.
PM Modi started the conversation by claiming that Nehru had previously warned Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose that Vande Mataram would "provoke and irritate Muslims" and recommended looking into its use. "This, even though Vande Mataram was born in Bengal under Bankim Chandra," he stated.
The Prime Minister also connected the national anthem to the 1975 Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi, claiming that "the Constitution was throttled and those who lived for patriotism were put behind bars" when Vande Mataram reached his 100th birthday.

"A terrible period in our history was the Emergency." We now have the chance to bring Vande Mataram back to its former glory. Modi addressed the House, "That opportunity should not be allowed to pass."
"Rock of resistance"
Vande Mataram was the catchphrase that "energised and inspired India's freedom movement," according to PM Modi, who added that the song "stood like a rock" against oppression even after the British forbade its printing and distribution.
The British forced "God Save the Queen" into every home following the rebellion of 1857. Despite Bengal's 1905 split, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's Vande Mataram response brought the nation together, he claimed.

The dispute around Vande Mataram
The Congress's 1937 decision to only play the song's first two stanzas at national events, which some Muslim leaders at the time believed to be less religiously significant than subsequent lyrics that invoked the Hindu goddesses Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati, has been repeatedly criticized by the BJP.
According to PM Modi, the action "sowed the seeds of division" that led to Partition.
"The nation was caught up in the Emergency as Vande Mataram celebrated its 100th anniversary. It is now our responsibility to bring it back to its former splendor after 150 years," he continued.

The controversy reappeared last month after BJP leaders cited letters Nehru wrote to Bose in 1937, claiming that his approach indicated a willingness to restrict the song to appease communal sensitivities. The Congress has previously refuted this claim, stating that Nehru insisted the lyrics were "harmless" and should not be interpreted as referring to goddesses.
"Historic moment"
"We recently celebrated 75 years of our Constitution, 150 years of Sardar Patel and Birsa Munda, and the 350th martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur," Modi said, framing the event alongside other significant national celebrations. We are now commemorating Vande Mataram's 150th anniversary.
The Prime Minister came to the conclusion that it was "a great privilege for all of us" to commemorate the song in Parliament today.