Vande Mataram Debate Exposes BJP and Modi’s Shallow Understanding of Freedom Struggle | Aswini K Ray

When New Delhi was gasping for breath because of very severe air pollution and the bomb blast near Red Fort killing seven people, also blasted the "Modi Doctrine" against cross-border terrorism, India’s Parliament spent ten costly hours debating the issue of "NationalSong", Vande Mataram, composed by Bankim Chandra and the " National Anthem", Jana Gana by Tagore. That debate took place on the initiative of the BJP, which was not interested in dealing with the more pressing issue of air pollution.

The more amusing part of the debate was the BJP’s emphasis on recommending equal respect to both, which, anyhow, the Constituent Assembly provided but, admittedly, not always followed, like many other constitutional provisions.

BJP’s purpose behind the debate was to publicise the politically orchestrated allegations of a deliberate step-motherly treatment to Bankim Chandra’s song vis-