New Delhi: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has drawn criticism from both the BJP and INDIA ally Congress by claiming that the slogan ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ was coined by Azimullah Khan, a key strategist of the First War of Independence.
At a CPI(M) rally against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Malappuram Monday, Vijayan said the Sangh Parivar and the BJP are insisting that citizenship be denied to people with Muslim names and attempting to erase the syncretic cultural history of India.
While talking about the contributions of Muslims towards the Indian independence movement, the CM said, “Some Sangh Parivar members come to certain programmes and ask the people to repeat after them, ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. Who coined this ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ phrase? Is it somebody from the Sangh Parivar? No. I don’t know if the Sangh Parivar knows, but his name is Azimullah Khan.”
He further said, “I don’t know whether they will stop chanting this just because a Muslim coined a phrase.”
BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi at a press conference said the Kerala CM had “overlooked” the fact that the slogan was raised by an Indian, and instead “perceived the Hindu-Muslim divisiveness”.
Referring to the Rigveda, Trivedi said, “‘Bhumi: Putro Aham Prithivyah’, which means ‘Earth is our mother, and we are her children’. India is also a mother, and the Earth is also a mother, but the communists see something else in it.”
Former Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) secretary Anoop Antony also slammed the Kerala CM for “painting Bharat Mata Ki Jai with communal colours”.
“Historical records say that it was first mentioned in Kiran Chandra Bandopadhyay’s play in 1873,” he wrote on social media platform X.
Kerala CM @pinarayivijayan stoops to a new low by painting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' slogan with communal colors, insinuating that it was coined by a Muslim. Historical records say that it was first mentioned in Kiran Chandra Bandopadhyay's play in 1873.
However, for the sake of… pic.twitter.com/khMfy1laQ1
— Anoop Antony (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AnoopKaippalli) March 26, 2024
Senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar accused the Kerala CM of viewing society through the “prism of caste, creed and religion”.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor too called out Vijayan over his remarks. “Quite ironic. I wonder whether he doesn’t even have a staff member who can Google and find out the truth,” he told ANI.
Azimullah Khan, also known as Dewan Azimullah Khan, was the prime minister to Maratha Peshwa Nana Saheb II. According to the culture ministry website, Azimullah played a significant role during the 1857 revolt against British rule. “His powerful poetic expressions brought about an atmosphere of closely integrated coexistence of Hindu and Muslim communities. At the same time, he held the reins of the revolution in his hands and controlled most of the events himself,” it said. However, two historians ThePrint spoke to said it is still unclear who had coined the slogan ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.
Khan penned the revolutionary song ‘Hum hain iske malik, Hindustan hamara’ during the independence movement.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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