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The Rajya Sabha Tuesday saw a seven-hour-long debate on the national song Vande Mataram. While the Opposition benches claimed the government was trying to divert attention from critical issues facing the country, the treasury benches accused the Opposition, especially the Congress, of appeasement politics.
Sanjay Singh of AAP said the BJP was hiding its misdeeds and crimes under the garb of nationalism. He said Vande Mataram talks about respecting the motherland and by selling off national assets such as railways, ports and airports, the BJP was disrespecting the country.
IUML’s Haris Beeran said discussing a settled issue like Vande Mataram was done with the intent of diverting attention from genuine issues, and to distort history where former PM Jawaharlal Nehru was blamed for everything bad.
“The other day I saw a troll saying on social media that the real reason for the IndiGo crisis is Nehru,” he said. “We cannot go out and sing Vande Mataram at India Gate when the AQI is 400 and 500. This is a priority issue…let this Vande Mataram discussion be an inspiration to fight against air pollution in Delhi, falling rupee, unemployment and price rise,” he said.
The discussion also saw heated reactions over the speech of National Conference MP Chowdry Mohammad Ramzan, who said that standing up during the rendition of the song was not an issue but a Muslim cannot sing it because bowing before other gods is not allowed in Islam.
Attacking the NC MP, BJP’s Radha Mohan Das Agrawal said statements like the one made by him was the reason for having a discussion on Vande Mataram.
Agrawal said while the Constituent Assembly considered the National Song to be on par with the National Anthem, the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act of 1971 prescribed a punishment for disrupting the national anthem but not the national song. “This is the reason people can say they don’t want to sing it,” he said.
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Agrawal claimed that in 1923 during the Indian National Congress Kakinada session, a rendition of Vande Mataram by Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar was interrupted by the then party president Maulana Mohammad Ali, who objected to its recitation. Congress’ Jairam Ramesh contested Agrawal’s claim as a lie. However, Agrawal stuck to his claims, and said, “I will leave my membership if I am wrong. If he is wrong, he should give up his membership.”
DMK’s Tiruchi Siva asked how many freedom fighters from Tamil Nadu were popular in north India, and urged that unsung heroes from the state be popularised. “We, the Tamils have been neglected in the history of the freedom movement. Our role has not been inferior to anyone’s struggle, but it has not been mentioned in the textbooks,” he said.
