Congress on Thursday criticised the BJP after the Rajya Sabha Secretariat reminded MPs not to use slogans like Vande Mataram and Jai Hind in Parliament to maintain decorum, with the party accusing the BJP of objecting to expressions deeply rooted in the freedom movement.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said earlier the British had problems with these slogans which were used in the freedom struggle and now the BJP is having problems.
Shrinate said those who did not lose anything in the freedom movement and sided with the British were the ones objecting to slogans associated with the fight for independence.
She noted that the British had once been troubled by these very expressions and alleged that the BJP now appeared to share that discomfort.
The controversy began after the Rajya Sabha Secretariat on November 24 reminded members not to use slogans such as Vande Mataram and Jai Hind inside or outside the House, citing these as a breach of parliamentary etiquette and urging MPs to maintain decorum.
“I am shocked. What on earth is the objection to these slogans, the British had a problem with them and now the BJP folks have too. What kind of people are they made of, those who find it difficult to utter the two most famous slogans of the freedom struggle in the House,” Shrinate said in a video message.
She said Jai Hind means the victory of Hindustan and that this slogan was one of the most powerful rallying cries of the freedom struggle.
"It was composed in 1907 by the revolutionary Chempakaraman Pillai from Travancore, Kerala. Between 1914-1918, Pillai was active in the Indian freedom movement in Germany. He was the first to use 'Jai Hind' as a greeting and slogan among Indian revolutionaries living abroad.
She added that in 1943 and 1944 Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the Azad Hind Fauj adopted Jai Hind as their official greeting and slogan, which made it even more popular.
Netaji would end all his speeches and radio messages broadcast from South East Asia and Germany with Jai Hind. She said Netaji chose it because it was secular and united everyone.
Shrinate said that after independence in 1947 the Indian armed forces adopted Jai Hind as their official greeting and salute and that even today it instills a sense of patriotism in the army, paramilitary forces and every Indian.
She added that Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru made it even more popular by often concluding his speeches with Jai Hind.
On Vande Mataram she said it is a glorious slogan and song in Indian history that gives the country the status of a mother and offers homage to her.
Written in 1870 by Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay it was first sung by Rabindranath Tagore at the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress. In 1905 during the Swadeshi movement it became a political and nationalist slogan of the masses.
She said that between 1906 and 1910 the British regime repeatedly banned Vande Mataram leading to arrests for singing it.
Whether in protests for Swaraj or marches for independence Vande Mataram remained on the lips of freedom fighters.
She recalled that revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and Khudiram Bose raised the slogan during their trials and at the time of hanging. On January 24 1950 the Constituent Assembly declared Vande Mataram as the national song of India.
“Now think about it. Who could possibly have a problem with these slogans. Only those who did not even lose the tiniest bit of a little fingernail in the freedom movement. Those who were slaves and informants to the British,” Shrinate said.
The advisory appeared in the Handbook for Members of Rajya Sabha and was issued ahead of the parliamentary session beginning December 1.
It stated that the decorum and seriousness of House proceedings required that there should be no Thanks, Thank You, Jai Hind, Vande Mataram or any other slogans raised in the House and reminded MPs to observe parliamentary customs and conventions.
Sources in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat said this was not the first such instruction.
A similar circular was issued during the UPA led government in November 2005 also emphasising that raising slogans like Jai Hind and Vande Mataram was inconsistent with parliamentary customs and etiquette.