Political Diary
New Delhi,
8 November 2022
Vande Mataram Parity
WHAT’S IN A SONG?
By Poonam I Kaushish
Much ado about nothing! That is the
sum total of another petition in Delhi High Court last week to grant equal
respect to the beautiful and melodious national song Vande Mataram as given to
national anthem Jana Gana Mana.
But like the proverbial bad penny it continues to pop up intermittently,
notwithstanding, that this issue has been dealt with thrice earlier.
Albeit with a rider: Frame
guidelines for the national song, giving it the same honour and status at par
with the national anthem. In its response, the
Centre underscored the national song occupies a unique and special place in peoples’
emotions and psyche and both have their sanctity and stand on equal footing.
It’s reply was
based on Supreme Court's order February 2017, which averred Article 51A (a)
does not refer to 'national song' but only to the national flag and national
anthem and the court would not enter into debate on the national song. Pointing
out that in November 1950, President of the Constituent Assembly adopted Jana Gana Mana as the national anthem
and orders were issued regarding the manner and circumstances in which it has
to be played or sung.
However, similar
penal provisions were not made vis-à-vis
Vande Mataram and no instructions
issued laying down circumstances in which it may be sung or played, In fact, in
1971 the action of prevention of singing of national anthem or causing
disturbances to any assembly engaged in such singing was made punishable
offence by way of an Enactment of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act,
1971.
To be fair, perhaps, the petitioner
was only taking a leaf from the Constituent Assembly debate on 24 January 1950
which resolved that Vande Mataram
would enjoy “equal status” with Jana Gana
Mana. Given it ignited patriotism, galvanised Indians to gang up against
the British, threw out the firangis
and won India its freedom
But many assert that the national
song is just another prop to celebrate the nation State and undue importance
mustn’t be given to it. Others aver that singing Vande Mataram must neither be made a test case of patriotism nor
should people be obstinate about not singing it. Though it is compulsorily
played at the end of every Parliament session.
Remember, the UPA Government had got
into an unseemly controversy when the Education Ministry issued an innocuous
order to all State Governments in August 2006, making singing of Vande Mataram compulsory in all schools
on 7 September to mark completion of its centenary celebrations as national
song. Little realizing, that it would have Muslims up in arms and lead to a
cacophony of discordant political notes.
UP’s Muslim clerics opposed it by
asserting singing it was anti-Islamic and amounted to worshipping the motherland.
This went against the concept of tawheed
(oneness of God), according to which a Muslim cannot supplicate to anyone
except Allah. Expectedly, the Government retracted the order, making the song's
recitation voluntary.
Again in 2009 the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind
(JUH) out of the blue issued a fatwa
against singing Vande Mataram. In a
resolution at UP’s Deoband clerics reiterated their 2006 position. Adding,
patriotism didn't require singing it in schools.
Pertinently, set in 19th Century
India, Vande Mataram was written in 1875 and published for the
first time in Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s novel, Anandamatha in 1882. The story
starts with a group of sadhus who
call themselves santan, the children
of Bharat Mata whose leader Satyanand is imprisoned by the Nawab. The sadhus vow to set their guru free, shout
that they would throw the Muslims into the river and set their houses on fire.
They not only succeed in freeing their guru but welcome British rule in India. Succinctly,
atrocities against Muslims, is a recurrent theme in the novel.
When Bengal was ravaged by 1770 famine,
then under de facto rule of East
India Company, it forced farmers to cultivate neel (cloth whitener) instead of food grains as it was a big export
earner. But its cultivation made fields uncultivable for the next crop,
triggering an anti-gora peasant
revolt.
From fields to streets, Vande Mataram soon became the popular
battle cry for freedom from British Raj. Large rallies were held shouting it across
the country, many were jailed and the song was banned. But it failed to stop
the patriotic fervour. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore sang it in 1896 at
the Calcutta Congress Session and Lala Lajpat Rai started a journal called
Vande Mataram from Lahore.
The Congress formally adopted it as national
song at its Varanasi Session on 7 September 1905. Thereafter, it became the
opening note for all Congress meetings and sessions. Subhash Chandra Bose made
it the Indian National Army's principal song and his Singapore-based radio
station regularly broadcast it.
In October 1937, some Muslim leaders
objected to Vande Mataram on grounds
that it contained verses that were in direct conflict with Islam. True, the
first two stanzas of the hymn eulogise Mother India and its beautiful natural
bounties with “hurrying streams, gleaming orchards…..”
But the fourth stanza addressed
Mother India as, "Thou art Durga, Lady and Queen, with her hands that
strike and her swords of sheen, Thou art Lakshmi lotus-throned…." which
was against Islamic tenets.
Nehru understood Muslims religious
predicament even as he accentuated the hymn’s national importance in the
freedom struggle. The Congress Working Committee in Kolkata in 1937 under
Nehru’s Presidentship adopted a resolution, whereby only the first two stanzas
of Vande Mataram would be sung. Alongside,
organisers had freedom to sing any song of unobjectionable character, in
addition to, or in the place of Vande
Mataram.
Interestingly, while Vande Mataram was treated as India’s
national anthem for long, Jana Gana Mana
was chosen as national anthem following Independence as Muslims felt offended
by India’s depiction as Goddess Ma Durga— thus equating the nation with the
Hindu concept of Shakti. Also objectionable was it was part of Anandamatha, a
novel with an anti-Muslim message.
In the ultimate we need to realize
that India’s multi-pluralistic character, pulsating democracy and civil society
is neither rigid nor frozen in time. It is constantly evolving. True, two songs
cannot make or mar the future of a nation or its people, even as we respect Vande Mataram as our national song and
symbol of national pride, on par with Jana
Gana Mana. High time this frivolous and needless controversy is put to rest
once and for all. There are more pressing issues which need our leaders and
judiciary’s attention. What says you? ---- INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature
Alliance)
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