In New Delhi, on December 12, LatestNewsX reported that Rajya Sabha MP Sudha Murty said she hoped future generations would also embrace the national song and feel proud of it.
Outside Parliament, she told LatestNewsX, “I enjoyed Vande Mataram as a child. It was deeply patriotic and closely connected with India’s freedom struggle. I hope the next generation will also connect with it and enjoy it.”
Three days earlier she had urged the Union government to introduce the anthem into school curricula, arguing that it is vital for fostering patriotism and preserving India’s cultural heritage.
When the Upper House marked the 150th anniversary of the song, Murty clarified that she was speaking “not as an MP, philanthropist or author, but as a daughter of Mother India.” She described the country as “a quilt made of many colours,” adding, “The thread and needle binding them together is Vande Mataram.” She stressed that the idea of the motherland goes beyond borders and flags: “It is not just a piece of land; it is the motherland.”
Murty noted that while children learn the national anthem Jana Gana Mana, Vande Mataram is omitted. “It takes just three more minutes to teach Vande Mataram,” she said.
Recounting the song’s impact during the freedom struggle, Murty said it served as a rallying cry when people felt “lost confidence” under colonial rule. “Vande Mataram rose like a volcano exploding lava… It was a magic touch that made even cowards stand up,” she added, recalling local resistance stories from her hometown of Hubli.
She underscored that the anthem symbolised sacrifice and the hard journey to independence. “We did not get our freedom on a silver plate. People sacrificed. That struggle is associated with Vande Mataram,” she explained.
Encouraging the Education Ministry to act, Murty argued that the song should be taught during children’s formative years. “Patriotism always accompanies compassion, sacrifice, and care for the land. Vande Mataram describes all of this,” she said.
For decades, Vande Mataram—a call of India as the motherland—has been both an emotional and ideological anchor for the freedom movement. Penned by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and later incorporated into his early‑1880s novel Anandamath, the hymn sparked patriotic fervour and helped unify diverse groups against British rule. This year marked its 150th anniversary.
However, the parliamentary sessions this week to honour the milestone took an unexpected turn. Rather than a shared celebration, the debate became heated. Senior BJP leaders, including the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha and Home Minister Amit Shah in the Rajya Sabha, claimed that Congress’s 1937 decision to restrict the song’s use contributed to communal tensions that eventually led to partition. They argued that the political appeasement around the anthem emboldened the Muslim League and strengthened its push for Pakistan.
The opposition rebuffed those claims. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the Lok Sabha and party president Mallikarjun Kharge in the Rajya Sabha contextualised the historical decisions made by national leaders and questioned the need to reopen settled debates. Vadra insisted that Parliament should focus on pressing contemporary issues rather than revisiting the past, while Kharge criticised attempts to weaponise history for political advantage.
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