Amit Shah accuses Congress of ‘anti-national’ decision over Vande Mataram

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday launched a sharp attack on the Congress, accusing it of reviving its "extreme policy of appeasement" after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) decided to sing only two stanzas of Vande Mataram, in line with the party's 1936-37 resolution.

“Yesterday, Congress decided to ignore it. This decision by Congress only confirms their extreme policy of appeasement. For vote bank appeasement, they have not only insulted the immortal work of the late Bankim Babu, but also millions of martyrs who went to the gallows for the country's independence while chanting Vande Mataram, and spent many years in jail," he said

Shah said the decision by the Congress was a repeat of the historical error that contributed to the partition of India.


"Yesterday, the Congress Party Working Committee took a surprising and anti-national decision. Following their party's resolution of 1937, they have decided to sing only two stanzas of the great song, Vande Mataram. I want to remind the entire country that in 1937, for Muslim appeasement, the Congress party laid the foundation for the partition of the country by dividing Vande Mataram into two. From there, the two-nation theory gained strength and eventually, the country was partitioned and Pakistan was born,” said the Home Minister.

The Union Minister, highlighting the significance of the ceremony, credited the incumbent government for reversing what he claims to be a decades-old wrong.

“Today, the Narendra Modi government has corrected that historical mistake in the 150th year of Vande Mataram's composition, and tried to strengthen national integration by singing the entire song. The decision to sing it in full in all government functions has been given legal form as well,” he said.

He criticised Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, urging people to unite in raiing their party’s stand.

Read more: Congress to stick to 1937 resolution on Vande Mataram

"Today, the Congress party is accepting its party resolution of 1937 and rejecting the Act of Parliament. I'm quite surprised that under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party is once again vigorously promoting the politics of appeasement in this country. I want to appeal to the people of this country that once this country made the mistake of letting Vande Mataram be divided into two, and we have suffered grave consequences of that mistake. Now the people of the country should unite and raise their voices against this decision of the Congress party, that politics of appeasement will no longer work in this country,” said the Union Minister.

Read more: Vishwa Hindu Parishad slams Congress over singing only two stanzas of Vande Mataram

Shah said 80 years after independence, the people of India would not tolerate any opposition to the incumbent government’s decision and further said that the Bharatiya Janata Party condemns the earlier decision by the Congress.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge defended the party’s stance by questioning the BJP-RSS’s role in India's freedom struggle.

Kharge said the incumbent party leaders repeatedly talk about Sonia Gandhi and the Gandhi family. He said he has been an MLA even before the Home Minister was even born, highlighting the contrast in political experience.

“When I became an MLA, Amit Shah was not even born yet. How old is he? How old is he? Is he 57 or 58? These people are 56 or 57 years old. Our people fought for the freedom of the country. You fought? Tell me. Which BJP man fought for the freedom of this country? Which RSS man fought for the freedom of this country? And we are not patriots? These people are against the country. Anti-India. You are anti-India,” said Kharge.

The Congress Working Committee on Wednesday decided that only the first two stanzas of the national song would be sung at party events, citing the party's own 1937 resolution.

Controversy grew over the decision after the BJP accused Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party parliamentary chairperson Sonia Gandhi of conversing while the national song was being rendered during Independence Day celebrations on August 15, demanding a public apology.

Congress MP KC Venugopal, following a CWC meeting, said the party's stand on the recitation of Vande Mataram was clear and that it would follow the decisions taken by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1937.