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Guwahati: Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fierce attack on Jawaharlal Nehru on Vande Mataram, Congress Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi on Monday said that the BJP, despite its all-out effort, cannot demean the first PM of India. Gogoi said that in a Congress Working Committee （CWC） meeting in 1937, it was decided to spread mass awareness on Vande Mataram among the general public of the country. “That CWC meeting in 1937 was attended by many great intellectuals, including Rabindranath Tagore. In the meeting, Tagore asserted in his speech that the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram carry the main spirit of the song,” he added. The Congress MP also asserted that it was Jawaharlal Nehru who, in the CWC meeting, emphasised that the Vande Mataram must be widely publicised and it must be used as a tool to uphold the spirit of the freedom movement. “The words Vande Mataram became a slogan of power that inspired our people and a greeting that ever reminds us of our struggle in the freedom movement,” Gogoi mentioned in his speech. The opposition leader further said that the historical significance of Vande Mataram must be studied in a diligent manner. He said, “Vande Mataram was written in West Bengal and gradually in a year the song was transcended across the country and uplifted the spirit of freedom fighters.” Gogoi further stated, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned the role of the gramophone in spreading the Vande Mataram in different parts of India. However, pamphlets also played a vital role while the song was scattered not only among the freedom fighters but also among ordinary people.” Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while commemorating the 150th year of Vande Mataram in the Lok Sabha, launched a sharp attack on the Congress, alleging that the party once fractured the national song under pressure from the Muslim League and “knelt before them”. “Why was injustice done to Vande Mataram?” PM Modi asked. He recalled that after Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s objections in 1937, Jawaharlal Nehru wrote to Subhas Chandra Bose, warning that the song’s background could spark anger among Muslims. Congress then convened a meeting in Kolkata to review its use. Despite nationwide protests, PM Modi said, the party compromised in October 1937, restricting the hymn to its first two stanzas under the guise of secularism and communal harmony. “History is testament to the fact that Congress knelt before the Muslim League and did this under pressure. This was the politics of appeasement. Because Congress bowed to the division of Vande Mataram, it later bowed to the division of India,” PM Modi said, adding that the party continues the same politics of appeasement today. IANS |
