6 stanzas vs 2: The contested legacy of Vande Mataram, Pg9

Key Highlights:

• The Ministry of Home Affairs on January 28 mandated singing all six stanzas of Vande Mataram during official functions.
• This breaks with the Congress party's 1937 decision to only sing the first two stanzas due to objections from some Muslims.
• Vande Mataram was written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1875 and later included in his novel Anandamath.
• Rabindranath Tagore set the song to tune and sang it at the 1896 Congress session.
• The song became a rallying cry during the Partition of Bengal in 1905 and the broader freedom struggle.

Detailed Insights:

• Anandamath frames Muslim rulers as oppressive and allied with the British, which led to objections to the song.
• The first two stanzas describe the beauty of the motherland, while later stanzas invoke Hindu goddesses.
• In 1937, the Congress Working Committee resolved to only sing the first two stanzas to avoid alienating religious groups.
• Historian Tanika Sarkar notes that objections arose because later stanzas call for war against Muslims and depict the motherland as a Hindu goddess.
• Swapan Dasgupta argues that the Congress's attempt to appear secular led to the appropriation of Vande Mataram by Hindu nationalists.
• The RSS parivar and the BJP view continued attachment to Vande Mataram as an article of faith.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Vande Mataram: India's national song, composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, symbolizing patriotism and freedom.
• Anandamath: A novel by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee that contains Vande Mataram and depicts a rebellion against Muslim rule.
• Secularism: The principle of separation of religion from state affairs and equal treatment of all religions.