Modi Uses Vande Mataram Anniversary to Launch Sharp Attack on Congress, Questions Decisions Leading to Partition

Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a charged tone for the winter session of Parliament, using a special Lok Sabha debate on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram on Monday to launch a cryptic but pointed attack on the Congress and the historical decisions that led to Partition.

Leading the 10-hour debate, PM Modi described the patriotic song as the "emotional and ideological backbone" of the freedom struggle, but immediately pivoted to questioning its treatment in the lead-up to Independence.

The Prime Minister raised a question for the nation: "If Vande Mataram was so popular, why was injustice meted out to it? Why was it betrayed?"

He then directly leveled the historical charge against the Congress party: "On October 26, 1937, Congress compromised on Vande Mataram and broke it into pieces. In Bankim Chandra’s Bengal, Congress compromised on Vande Mataram at the Kolkata session in 1937. Congress kneeled before the Muslim League by sidelining Vande Mataram, which led to the tragedy of Partition.”

PM Modi asserted that this compromise was a calculated move to "appease certain sections," disrespecting the song that "gave strength and direction to our freedom movement," and "sowed the seeds of India’s Partition."

Earlier in his address, PM Modi highlighted how the British, following the 1857 revolt, tried to consolidate control by pushing their anthem, "God Save the Queen," into Indian households. He noted that the British were so threatened by Vande Mataram's unifying power that they eventually banned it.

Claiming that when Nehru saw his throne shaking, he tore Vande Mataram into pieces, said PM Modi in a major attack on Congress, PM Modi stated that Muhammad Ali Jinnah raised slogans against Vande Mataram from Lucknow on October 15, 1937. Then the then Congress president Jawaharlal Nehru saw his throne shaking. History bears witness that Congress knelt before the Muslim League.

PM Modi connected Vande Mataram deeply with India’s cultural heritage, saying, “When we say Vande Mataram, it reminds us of Ved Kaal — this land is my mother, and I am a son of this land.” Citing Mahatma Gandhi’s 1905 words, he noted that the song had become so popular that it emerged as a national anthem.

“What were those forces so powerful that they overruled the wishes of Mahatma Gandhi on Vande Mataram?” He urged the nation to confront these historical realities.

The Prime Minister raised pointed questions about the betrayal of the song in the last century. “If Vande Mataram was so popular, why was injustice meted out to it? Why was it betrayed?” he asked.

Tracing the song's origins, PM Modi stated, “In Bankim da’s Bengal, at a time when it had become fashionable to demean India, Vande Mataram emerged as a powerful force that restored pride and ideological clarity to the nation.”

The Prime Minister also highlighted how Vande Mataram’s legacy extended beyond independence. He linked it to struggles such as the Emergency, demonstrating the song’s enduring spirit of resistance. “Vande Mataram was not just a song. It was the war cry of India’s freedom fighters. It carried the cultural energy of thousands of years and the vision of an independent India,” PM Modi said.

PM Modi called on the nation to restore Vande Mataram’s glory on its 150th anniversary. “Now at 150 years, it is a good opportunity to restore the glory of Vande Mataram that won us freedom in 1947,” he said.

PM Modi concluded by calling for a national opportunity on the song's 150th anniversary to "restore the glory of Vande Mataram that won us freedom in 1947."