'Aim of Vande Mataram debate not to defame...but to keep record of India's history straight': Nadda in Rajya Sabha

Nadda claimed that the Congress right from the beginning has compromised with India’s culture, ethos and thought process.

New Delhi: Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha J P Nadda said Thursday the objective of the debate on 'Vande Mataram' was not to defame but to keep the record of India's history "straight" even as he accused the country's first Prime Minister of succumbing to the pressure of communal elements to alter the national song.

Concluding the 'discussion on the 150th year of national song Vande Mataram', Nadda said the national song was a mantra of uniting the country, which the British feared.

"I want to say with a sense of full responsibility that the respect and status that Vande Mataram was to be accorded, it did not receive the same and those in power at the time are fully responsible for it," he said alleging Nehru negated its link to India's cultural heritage.

He claimed that the Congress right from the beginning has compromised with India’s culture, ethos and thought process. He said the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act 1971 does not have any provision for a penalty if one disrespects or does not sing Vande Mataram.

"The country is not run by making compromises. This is our ideology. Vande Mataram song is linked to our nationalism, and one should move forward keeping nationalism at the forefront," he said.

"Meaningful discussion on 150th anniversary can take place only if we take resolve that Vande Mataram has the same status as national anthem and national flag in the Constitution and it should be added," he said, to which Congress Rajya Sabha Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh said both the national song and national anthem always had the same status.

Ramesh recalled the statement made by Rajendra Prasad in the Constituent Assembly as its Chairman on January 24, 1950 after adopting Vande Mataram as national song.

Nadda alleged that Nehru came under pressure from communal elements in 1937 and allowed discarding of stanzas that invoked Bharat Mata as Maa Durga.

He said the Congress always cites the Nehruvian age to take credit when the situation suits the party but it does not take responsibility when the situation is adverse and seeks to put the blame on others.