The Opposition on Wednesday accused BJP leaders of distorting history during a Rajya Sabha debate on 150 years of Vande Mataram, with Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleging that the discussion was aimed at maligning former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and insulting freedom fighters including Rabindranath Tagore.
Participating in the debate, Ramesh said the BJP was attempting to “distort history” and had “insulte freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for the country”.
He remarked that those speaking from the treasury benches “wanted to be historians, but they have become 'distorions'”.
Ramesh cited letters exchanged between Subhas Chandra Bose, Tagore, Rajendra Prasad and Nehru on Vande Mataram, and highlighted that Rajendra Prasad wrote to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on 28 September, 1937, raising concerns prevalent in large sections of the political system and urging the Congress Working Committee to take a stand.
“Was it appeasement? Are you accusing Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel of appeasement?” he asked.
He said the CWC passed a resolution on Vande Mataram on 28 October, 1937, in the presence of Mahatma Gandhi, Bose, Patel, Nehru, Maulana Azad, Acharya Kripalani and GB Pant.
He added that on 30 October, 1927, Tagore issued a press statement advising the CWC to adopt the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram as the national anthem, which was later adopted as the national song.
Ramesh said a communal environment was created in 1937 by several organisations and claimed that one of them, currently celebrating its centenary, had “spread communal fire”.
He accused the ruling party of “insulting” Tagore and added that the government was attempting to create a Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay versus Tagore narrative.
“They wanted to insult Nehru, but they ended up insulting Tagore,” he said. He also targeted the BJP for its “appeasement” remarks, adding that BJP ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee had formed a government with AK Fazlul Huq, who later presented the Lahore resolution.
Trinamool Congress MP Ritabrata Banerjee recounted that in 1905 when Bengal was being partitioned an anti partition movement erupted with Tagore as the “nerve centre”.
He said Tagore sang the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram at the first mass meeting of the anti partition protest on 7 August, 1905.
He added that during the 16 October, 1905, protest in Calcutta Hindus and Muslims tied rakhis and chanted Vande Mataram as Tagore’s protest poem Amar Sonar Bangla swept Bengal.
“I am speaking in Bengali, would we be called Bangladeshi?” he asked.
Banerjee accused the BJP of insulting Tagore by claiming that Jana Gana Mana was written to welcome George V and said Bengalis would respond politically if the party repeated such claims ahead of the 2026 election.
CPI MP P. Sandosh Kumar demanded a special discussion in Parliament on the contributions of Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar.
“It's all the more important today because Godse is creeping in the social fabric of our lives,” he said. He argued that the debate on Vande Mataram could have been “healthy” but was made controversial by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who spoke first.
Kumar said “All these leaders should be sent to a history hospital... Gandhi Nehru virus is in their heart and brain, it must be deleted. They should go for a treatment” in reference to BJP members.
He further alleged that those “whose slogan is Vande Adani and Namo Trump can't speak more” and reiterated the historical link between Mookerjee and Huq, adding “Don't teach us history, you had no role in the freedom movement. You should not try to divide people in the name of Vande Mataram”.
Biju Janata Dal MP Debashish Samantaray questioned the need for the debate, noting that India had accepted both Vande Mataram and Jana Gana Mana.
He asked why Parliament was discussing the matter when “we have lived with Jana Gana Mana and also Vande Mataram”.
He said it was time to refrain from casting aspersions on history. “Why this debate, first of all? Vande Mataram is our national song, Jana Gana Mana is our national anthem. It is a sentimental thing for all Indians equally,” he said.
