New Delhi:Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a sharp attack on the Congress after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) decided to recite only two stanzas of Vande Mataram in line with the party’s 1937 resolution.
Speaking to ANI, Shah termed the decision anti-national and stated that it was a repetition of a historical mistake that contributed to the country’s partition. He said that in 1937, the Congress laid the foundation for partition by dividing Vande Mataram into two stanzas for Muslim appeasement, which gave strength to the two-nation theory and led to the creation of Pakistan.
Shah credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government with correcting the historical wrong during the 150th year of the song’s composition. He noted that the decision to recite the full national song at all government functions has been given legal backing through an Act of Parliament.
Criticizing Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Shah accused the party leadership of actively promoting appeasement politics for vote banks. He stated that the move insults author Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay as well as freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives chanting the song. Shah appealed to citizens to unite against the CWC decision, adding that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongly condemns it and will protest against it in public forums and legislative assemblies.
Meanwhile, the Congress defended its decision. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge responded by questioning the contribution of the BJP and RSS to India’s freedom struggle. Pointing to his political career, Kharge remarked that he was already an MLA before Amit Shah was born. He challenged the ruling party to name leaders from their ideology who fought for the country’s independence, dismissing claims that Congress leaders lack patriotism.
The CWC decision came after recent controversy over a video showing Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi speaking during the rendering of the national song on August 15, which drew sharp demands for an apology from the BJP.
Clarifying the party’s position after the CWC meeting, Congress MP KC Venugopal stated that the party’s stand on Vande Mataram is clear and aligns with the decisions taken by historical figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1937.
