Modi a 'master distorian', insulted Tagore: Congress on Vande Mataram debate

Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi “the master distorian,” the Congress on Monday launched a fierce counteroffensive against the BJP over the ongoing 'Vande Mataram' debate, accusing the prime minister of distorting history and insulting national icons including Rabindranath Tagore.

The party demanded an apology from Modi for “insulting the founding fathers to score political points”. Congress Rajya Sabha MP and general-secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh rebutted Modi’s charge of Jawaharlal Nehru’s “appeasement politics” with three pointed questions:

1.Which Indian leader formed a coalition in Bengal in the early 1940s with the man who moved the Pakistan Resolution in 1940?

Answer: Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, the ideological forefather of the BJP.

2. Who applauded Jinnah in Karachi in June 2005?
Answer: L.K. Advani, the BJP’s tallest leader after Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

3. Who praised Jinnah in his 2009 book?
Answer: Jaswant Singh, a BJP founder-member.

“These are facts, not distortions,” Ramesh said, accusing Modi of weaponising selective history.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha earlier, Assam Congress MP and the party's Lok Sabha deputy leader Gaurav Gogoi, responding on behalf of the party, accused Modi of obsessively dragging Nehru into every political battle.

“During Operation Sindoor, the prime minister invoked Pandit Nehru 14 times and the Congress 50 times. In the Constitution Anniversary speech: Nehru 10 times, Congress 26 times. In the 2022 President’s Address: Nehru 15 times. With great humility, I want to say to Modi ji: No matter how hard you try, you cannot place a single black mark on Nehru’s contributions,” Gogoi said.

"The slogan 'Vande Mataram' was raised in opposition to the British Raj. We used to raise the slogan 'Vande Mataram' to instil fear in the heart of the British Raj — that was its core intent. I want to ask: when did your (BJP-RSS) political ancestors fulfil this intent of 'Vande Mataram'?" Gogoi asked.

"Tagore Ji himself had said that the first two stanzas of (the song) Vande Mataram contain the essence of the entire song and it is very sweet," he added.

Opening the special debate in the Lok Sabha on 150 years of the song Vande Mataram written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Modi accused Nehru of conceding to the Muslim League’s objection that the song’s reference to Hindu goddesses when it was used in Bankim's novel Anandamath might “irritate Muslims”.

Modi claimed Nehru wrote to Subhas Chandra Bose on 20 October 1937, agreeing with Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s concerns. He further alleged that the Congress “knelt before the Muslim League”, bifurcated the song for “appeasement”, and continues to “oppose Vande Mataram” even today — calling the party “Muslim League Congress (MLC)”.

The historical timeline, however, is far more complex than the prime minister’s narrative.

In 1937, the Congress Working Committee — comprising Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhas Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Azad and Sarojini Naidu — resolved that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram be sung at national gatherings. The reasoning: the latter stanzas, which contain explicit references to Hindu goddesses, were considered exclusionary by some Muslim members.

The CWC resolution stated: “Taking all things into consideration, the Committee recommends that whenever ‘Vande Mataram’ is sung at national gatherings, only the first two stanzas should be sung.”

Rabindranath Tagore himself, in a letter to Nehru, supported this decision which Modi has deliberately erased while initiating the debate on Vande Matram.

“For Modi to twist Tagore’s position just to corner the Congress is an insult to the Nobel laureate’s legacy,” a senior Congress leader said.

The Lok Sabha began its special discussion with Modi opening the debate; defence minister Rajnath Singh will conclude it. The Rajya Sabha will take up the debate on Tuesday, with home minister Amit Shah leading it.