‘Vande Mataram’ row: Cong cites historian’s remarks referring to Tagore’s advice on song, slams PM

Congress highlighted historian Sugata Bose’s remark that Tagore advised singing only the first part of “Vande Mataram” in 1937 to preserve communal harmony, countering PM Modi’s accusations against Nehru. The debate reignited political sparring over history, nationalism, and alleged appeasement politics

New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday cited historian Sugata Bose’s remarks that it was on Rabindranath Tagore’s advice that the party decided in 1937 that only the first part of “Vande Mataram” would be sung at national meetings, and said these comments “further expose” Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared on X a video clip in which Sugata Bose is talking about the relations between Subhas Chandra Bose and India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

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“Subhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru worked very closely at the time of the All India Congress Committee’s meeting in Calcutta in October-November of 1937. At that time both of them consulted Rabindranath Tagore on a very sensitive subject and that was the song Vande Mataram,” Sugata Bose said in the video.

“It was on Rabindranath’s advice that the Congress decided at this AICC meeting that from now on, at national meetings only the first part of the song, which is a beautiful evocation of the national splendour of our country, would be performed,” the historian said.

“And that was because Tagore felt that we needed unity and good sense in our nationalist movement and he did not want a rivalry between different religious communities. So already from that point onwards they were coming close together and Mahatma Gandhi decided that Subhas Chandra Bose would be the president of the Congress, and he would be Jawaharlal Nehru’s successor in 1938,” Sugata Bose said.

So that year was the coming together of the different strands of the Congress, he said.

Posting the video, Ramesh said, “Sugata Bose, one of India’s finest historians, is a Professor at Harvard University and also Director of the Netaji Research Bureau in Kolkata. He was a Lok Sabha MP during 2014-2019.” He is the grandson of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s brother Sarat Chandra Bose and is the author of several definitive books on Netaji, the Congress leader said.

“This conversation further exposes the PM,” he added.

Ramesh’s remarks come a day after Modi tore into the Congress, alleging that Nehru betrayed “Vande Mataram” by bowing to Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s opposition to the national song that led to it being fragmented and pandering to his communal concerns, putting India on the path of appeasement politics.

The day-long debate on the 150th anniversary of “Vande Mataram” saw the treasury and opposition members locked in a verbal duel on a host of issues, including nationalism.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra delivered the Congress’ response in a measured but scathing attack to stoutly defend Nehru and the party. She claimed that the government sought the special discussion keeping in mind the assembly elections in West Bengal next year.

While the Congress and other opposition parties accused the BJP-led NDA government of rewriting history and giving a political colour to the “Vande Mataram” debate, Modi and other members from the treasury benches accused the Congress of resorting to appeasement politics.

Priyanka Gandhi accused the BJP of committing a “big sin” by creating a controversy over “Vande Mataram” and Modi of “selectively” quoting Nehru. She also wanted the government to “understand” the real “Vande Mataram” chronology.