New Delhi, Sep 8 (PTI) In the wake of all six stanzas of Vande Mataram being played at an official event in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress on Tuesday said it would like its allies to honour the wisdom and judgment of freedom fighters and stand with the party in singing only the version of the song that they adopted.
The party has championed a truncated version of the national song — to much criticism of the BJP-led Centre — in line with its CWC resolution of 1937.
Congress’s blunt assertion came after the full version of the national song played out at Jammu and Kashmir’s international film festival on Monday with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Jammu and Kashmir National Conference president Farooq Abdullah present.
The Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) and the Congress are part of the INDIA bloc at the national level. The Congress also extends outside legislative support to the Omar Abdullah-led government in J-K.
Tagging the video of the full version of the song being sung at the event, Congress general secretary, in-charge organisation, K C Venugopal said on X, “The full version of Vande Mataram sits uneasily with the syncretic and pluralist ethos that our freedom fighters envisioned and nurtured for India.” He added, “For us, the considered judgment of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Acharya Narendra Dev, Maulana Azad, Sarojini Naidu and J B Kripalani – shaped in no small part by the counsel of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore – remains paramount.” The Congress leader urged its allies to honour the wisdom and judgment of the freedom fighters, and stand with the party in singing only the version of the “beautiful and historic song” that it adopted.
“That version was chosen deliberately, to keep the song from being communalised – a threat as real today as it was then,” Venugopal said.
Upholding it is how we uphold the secular, inclusive character of our Republic, he added.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) last month decided to abide by the 1937 resolution of its highest decision-making body on Vande Mataram, saying only two stanzas of the National Song would be sung at all party events henceforth.
The Congress decision came after the BJP accused its leaders of insulting Vande Mataram by not singing the full version at party events.
The row intensified last month with Union Home Minister Amit Shah launching a no-holds-barred attack on the Congress, alleging that its decision to sing just two stanzas of the national song was “anti-national” and aimed at appeasing its vote bank in defiance of the law.
The Congress hit back, with Jairam Ramesh calling BJP leaders “fraudulent nationalists.” PTI ASK 1.0.0 VN VN
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