TAGORE STRESS ON FIRST TWO VERSES OF VANDE MATARM

NEW DELHI: The Congress Working Committee has decided that party programmes will feature only the first two verses of ‘Vande Mataram’. The decision follows criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the singing of the national song at an Independence Day event and a later programme in Goa.

The grand old party has cited a resolution adopted by its Working Committee in 1937, when several prominent leaders of the freedom movement supported the use of only the first two verses at public gatherings.

The debate involves the composition written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. ‘Vande Mataram’ was first published in the literary magazine Bangadarshan in 1875. Its later verses were included in his 1882 novel ‘Anandamath’. Some of those verses have references to Hindu deities such as Durga, Saraswati and Lakshmi, while presenting the motherland as a revered figure.

The first two verses have a different place in the history of the song. Rabindranath Tagore helped popularise the song during the Swadeshi and anti-Partition movements in Bengal and sang it at the 1896 Congress session.

What did Tagore say about ‘Vande Mataram’?

His views on the song are important to the debate because Congress leaders consulted him when they discussed objections to some of its verses in the 1930s. He wrote the complete poem could be interpreted in ways that might hurt Muslim sentiments. He supported using the first two verses as the national song because they had developed their own identity and inspirational value.

Tagore also argued that the first two verses could be separated from the rest of the poem because they praised the beauty and welfare of the motherland. He saw these verses as acceptable to people across communities.

A 1994 Sahitya Akademi publication, ‘The English Writings of Rabindranath Tagore: A Miscellany’, also records his views. He wrote that the national song should draw from the original composition while naturally being limited to its first two verses. He said the song had acquired an independent identity and inspirational value and did not contain anything offensive to a particular community.

Historian Mridula Mukherjee has also written about the historical debate over the song and Tagore’s role in making it popular. Historical correspondence cited in accounts of the period shows that Subhas Chandra Bose had personally approached Tagore on the issue and asked him to discuss it with Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.

What did Congress decide in 1937?

The issue was formally debated at a Congress Working Committee meeting in Calcutta, now Kolkata, on October 30, 1937. Nehru chaired the meeting, which was attended by several Congress leaders, including Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Bhulabhai Desai, Jamnalal Bajaj, J B Kripalani, Pattabhi Sitaramayya, C Rajagopalachari, Acharya Narendra Dev, Jayaprakash Narayan and Subhas Chandra Bose.

Gandhi was not a CWC member, but attended the meeting as a special invitee. The resolution on ‘Vande Mataram’ was presented by Dr Rajendra Prasad and supported by Patel.

The committee acknowledged the song’s place in the freedom struggle and the emotions it had generated during the national movement. It also considered objections raised by some Muslim leaders over parts of the composition.

The CWC concluded that the first two verses, which had commonly been sung at the Congress and other public gatherings, should be adopted as the national song. It recommended that only those two verses be sung at national gatherings, with Tagore’s version and musical composition being followed.

The decision was backed by Gandhi. In 1939, an issue of ‘Harijan’ carried his support for Tagore’s position on the matter.

How did ‘Vande Mataram’ become a national song?

The history of the song goes back well before Partition. Chattopadhyay wrote it in 1875, and Tagore sang it at the 1896 Congress session. Both events took place before the partition of Bengal.

The song became associated with the freedom movement and was used during protests against the 1905 Partition of Bengal. Its place in public life continued after independence.

The Constituent Assembly also discussed songs that could represent the new nation. Three compositions were considered in the debate – ‘Vande Mataram’, ‘Sare Jahan Se Achha’ and ‘Jana Gana Mana’.

Behind India’s Most Iconic Song

‘Jana Gana Mana’ was eventually chosen as the national anthem, while ‘Vande Mataram’ received the status of national song. The Constituent Assembly adopted the final Constitution in 1949, and ‘Vande Mataram’ was sung by a group in the House two days before the Constitution came into force in 1950.

The Constitution does not have a provision specifically making any national song part of its constitutional structure. The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, also has specific provisions concerning the national anthem, while there was no identical provision dealing with interruption of the national song.

What has the Supreme Court said?

A Supreme Court ruling often cited in debates about national symbols is the 1986 judgment in the Bijoe Emmanuel case. Three schoolchildren in Kerala belonging to the Jehovah’s Witnesses community were expelled after they did not sing the national anthem during morning assembly. They stood respectfully while the anthem was played but did not sing because of their religious beliefs.