Written during the period of slavery, ‘Vande Mataram’ is relevant to every era, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday on the 150 years of the country’s national song. Emphasising how ‘Vande Mataram’ achieved “immortality”, the Prime Minister explained its role in India’s freedom struggle and how the song boosted the revolutionaries to make India free from British rule.

“We have to make this century India’s century. This capability exists in India, and it exists in 140 crore Indians. And for this, we will have to believe in ourselves,” he added while commemorating 150 years of the National Song.

PM Modi also mentioned how some stanzas of the song were removed, ultimately “sowing the seeds of partition“.

As part of the celebration, mass singing of the song is taking place across the country and the year-long celebration will witness several other initiatives by the government.

Key takeaways from PM Modi’s speech

  • PM Narendra Modi said that the removal of “significant verses” from the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ in 1937 led to India’s partition. He further stated that “the same divisive mindset” continues to pose a significant challenge to the nation even today. “In 1937, significant verses of ‘Vande Mataram‘, the very essence of its spirit, were removed. Stanzas of ‘Vande Mataram’ were broken up. This removal sowed the seeds for the eventual partition of the country. Today’s generation needs to understand why such injustice was committed against this great mantra of nation-building. Because that same divisive mindset continues to pose a major challenge for the nation even today,” the Prime Minister said.
  • This was after BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan accused the Congress party of deliberately modifying the national song Vande Mataram, alleging that stanzas praising Goddess Durga were removed in 1937 under Jawaharlal Nehru’s rule. The reason – tto appease certain communal groups, he claimed.
  • The PM said that when “Bankim Babu (Bankim Chandra Chatterjee) published ‘Vande Mataram’ in ‘Bang Darshan’, some people thought it was just a song. But in no time, ‘Vande Mataram’ became the voice of India’s freedom struggle.” He said the song was on the tongue of every revolutionary, a voice that expressed the emotions of every Indian. “When freedom fighters like Veer Savarkar, living outside Bharat, met each other, their greeting was always Vande Mataram. Many revolutionaries, even while standing on the gallows, said Vande Mataram,” the PM added.
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  • Explaining the journey of ‘Vande Mataram’, the Prime Minister reiterated the Viksit Bharat 2047 (developed India) dream, adding that the country has resolved to become Atmanirbhar (self-reliant).
  • He also recalled Rabindranath Tagore’s remarks about Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and said that he once called Bankim Chandra’s ‘Anandmath’ not just a novel, but a dream of an independent India. “Every word written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, not Bankim Babu, had deep meaning,” he said.
  • The PM added that though the song was “created during the time of slavery, but it is not limited to that time… The Vande Bharat song is relevant in every era. It has attained immortality. One-fourth share of global GDP was held by India just a few centuries ago”.