Bankim Chandra Chatterjee composed Vande Mataram.
The Central Government has issued a new guideline on the country’s national song Vande Mataram. It has been said in the new guidelines that now Vande Mataram will be sung in government programs, schools and events. If the national anthem Vande Mataram and the national anthem Jana Gana Mana are sung or played together, then Vande Mataram will be sung first. According to the new rules, all 6 stanzas of the national anthem will be sung. Their total duration is 3 minutes 10 seconds. Till now only the first two parts of the original song were sung.
The reason for this was the controversy that had arisen before independence and it was decided that its two parts would be sung. Know which gap was removed, what arguments were given, what was decided by the committee that investigated the entire matter.
How did the controversy arise?
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee composed Vande Mataram. He mentioned this song in his Sanskrit based Bengali novel Anandamath. This song describes the motherland and its greatness. Vande Mataram was written in the year 1870 and published in the year 1882. In the initial period, this song was sung during the independence movement in Bengal. Gradually it started being sung all over India. Mohammad Ali Jinnah himself liked this song.
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (file photo)
Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore sang it for the first time in the year 1896. Opposition to it started from that very period. The reason for the protest were the words in which the goddess was mentioned. Muslim leaders argued that this song describes a goddess. This is part of idol worship and is unacceptable in Islam. The argument was also given that in Vande Mataram the country has been shown in the form of Goddess Durga. Goddess Durga i.e. Ripudalvarini who was said to be the destroyer of enemies.
These lines written on Hindu goddess became the cause of controversy
Let millions of voices cry out each and every day,
Those who wield millions of weapons,
Said mother, you are helpless,
Bahubaldharini Namami Tarinim,
Ripudalvarini Mataram. Vande Mataram. 3..
You are knowledge, you are religion, you are heart, you are heart,
Tvam hi pranah sharire, bahute tumi maa shakti,
Hridaye tumi maa bhakti, tomaarei pratima gadi mandire-mandire.
Vande Mataram. 4.
Durga is the ten-headed goddess,
Kamla Kamaldalviharini,
Vani Vidyadayini, Namami Tvam,
Namami Kamalam Amalam Atulam,
Sujalan Suphalan Mataram.
Vande Mataram. 5.
What did the committee say?
As opposition from Muslims increased, Congress formed a committee in 1937. Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru were included in that committee so that the dispute could be resolved.
The committee said that the first two stanzas of this song are written in praise of the motherland, the latter stanzas are on Hindu gods and goddesses. Therefore, it was decided that only the first two verses of Vande Mataram should be sung as the national anthem.
Even after that part of the song was removed, the Muslim League leader was not satisfied. Mohammad Ali Jinnah requested Pandit Nehru on March 17, 1938 to abandon it completely. The same demand was made from Mahatma Gandhi in Mumbai (then Bombay). Despite all the controversies, Vande Mataram became the national anthem of the country after independence in 1950. The first President of the country, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, read the statement in the Constituent Assembly on 24 January 1950 to adopt Vande Mataram as the national song, which was accepted.
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