Bankim Chandra’s descendant writes to Sonia Gandhi, expressing anguish over Vande Mataram ‘insult’

BJP MLA Sumitro Chatterjee wrote to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi expressing anguish over an alleged incident involving Vande Mataram at the Congress headquarters on Independence Day. He demanded an unconditional apology, highlighting the song’s historical significance and association with India’s freedom movement

New Delhi: BJP MLA from West Bengal and direct descendant of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Sumitro Chatterjee, has written to Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi expressing “deep anguish” over what he described as an insult to Vande Mataram at the Congress headquarters on Independence Day.

In his letter, Chatterjee, who is an MLA from the Naihati Assembly constituency in North 24 Parganas district, demanded an unconditional apology to the citizens of India, particularly the people of West Bengal, over the alleged incident involving the singing of the full version of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s iconic composition.

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Chatterjee wrote that while the country was observing the 80th anniversary of Independence, “when the entire nation is devoted to the worship of the Motherland”, the events at the All India Congress Committee headquarters were “not merely unfortunate, but a shameless repetition of a historical mistake”.

He said that when Congress workers were singing the full version of Vande Mataram, he was deeply distressed by what he described as Sonia Gandhi’s “visible discomfort, displeasure and repeated attempts to stop it”. “As an ordinary Indian citizen, a patriot and, above all, a direct descendant of Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s family, I am writing this letter today with deep pain, emptiness and anguish,” Chatterjee wrote.

Referring to the historical significance of the song, Chatterjee cited Sri Aurobindo, writing: “The mantra was given, and within a single day an entire nation was initiated into the religion of patriotism.” He added that Aurobindo had described it as “not merely a mantra, but a religion of patriotism”.

Chatterjee said the mantra inspired countless fearless revolutionaries, including Khudiram Bose, to face the gallows and embrace death. “Today, in the land of independent India, your intolerance towards the full recitation of that very mantra, Vande Mataram, appears to be a grave insult to the sacrifices of millions of martyrs,” he wrote.

He also recalled the role of Vande Mataram in the freedom movement, citing nationalist leader Bipin Chandra Pal, who wrote that after the Partition of Bengal, the song was on the lips of every revolutionary. Chatterjee said “Swadeshi”, “Boycott” and “Vande Mataram” became living synonyms of the freedom movement.

The BJP MLA further referred to Sarala Devi Chaudhurani’s rendition of the full song at the 1905 Banaras Congress session, Bal Gangadhar Tilak hearing supporters chant it during his 1909 sedition trial, and the nationalist student movement at Osmania University in 1938.

He also highlighted Rabindranath Tagore’s 1896 rendition of Vande Mataram at the Indian National Congress session in Calcutta, quoting Tagore’s description of the song’s “magical words” and their power to break barriers and move hearts.