Vande Mataram row: Congress cites CWC statement of 1937, says PM ‘insulted’ Tagore

NEW DELHI: Stepping up its attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Vande Mataram row, the Congress on Sunday claimed that the PM has “insulted” the Congress Working Committee of 1937, which issued a statement on the song, as also Rabindranath Tagore, and said he should fight his political battles on current issues of daily concern.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said that the prime minister insulted the CWC and Tagore is shocking but not surprising “since the RSS had played no role in our Freedom Movement led by Mahatma Gandhi”.The opposition party’s attack came after the prime minister had said on Friday that important stanzas of the national song, “Vande Mataram”, were dropped in 1937, which sowed the seeds of the partition, and asserted that such a “divisive mindset” is still a challenge for the country.

Modi had made the comments after inaugurating the year-long commemoration of “Vande Mataram” to mark 150 years of the national song.The Prime Minister has insulted this CWC as also Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. That he should have done so is shocking but not surprising since the RSS had played no role in our Freedom Movement led by Mahatma Gandhi,” Ramesh said.

The prime minister should fight his current political battles on current issues that are of daily concern to crores of Indians who worry about their present and future, he said.

“His economic policies have sharpened inequalities. Unemployment has scaled new highs. Investment momentum has been lost. His foreign policy has collapsed. He stands thoroughly exposed. Gradually the use of the first two stanzas of the (Vande Mataram) song spread to other provinces and a certain national significance began to attach to them. The rest of the song was very seldom used and is even now known by few persons. These two stanzas described in tender language the beauty of the motherland and the abundance of her gifts,” the CWC statement of 1937 said.

There was absolutely nothing in them to which objection could be taken from the religious or any other point of view, it said.

“‘There is nothing in these stanzas to which any one can take exception. The other stanzas of the song are little known and hardly ever sungBut while there can be no question about the place that Bande Mataram has come to occupy in national life, the same cannot be said as to the other songs, the CWC had said in 1937.

“People have adopted songs of their choice, irrespective of merit. An authentic collection has long been felt as a desideratum. The Committee therefore appoint a sub-committee consisting of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose and Narendra Dev, to examine all current national songs that may be sent to it and those who are so inclined are invited to send their compositions to this sub-committee,” it said.

Modi also released a commemorative stamp and coin on the occasion.

In a post on X, Ramesh said, “The Congress Working Committee met in Kolkata October 26-November 1 1937. Those present included MahatGandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sarojini Naidu, J.B. Kripalani, Bhulabhai Desai, Jamnalal Bajaj, Narendra Deva, and others.”