Division of Vande Mataram song led to partition of India: Home Minister Amit Shah

New Delhi: The division of 'Vande Mataram' song marked the beginning of "politics of appeasement" which led to partition of India, Home Minister Amit Shah said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, as he slammed the Opposition for linking the debate on 150 years of the national song with the upcoming West Bengal elections.

Initiating the debate in the House, he said Vande Mataram was the "mantra" that awakened India's cultural nationalism, and remains as relevant today as it was during the freedom struggle.

He stressed that the song will remain relevant in the coming days as well, in taking the country towards 'Viksit Bharat'.

Shah also attacked Congress for questioning the need for a debate on Vande Mataram, and accused first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru of "dividing" the poem and limiting it to merely two stanzas.

"When Vande Mataram completed 50 years in 1937, Jawaharlal Nehru ji divided it into two parts, and limited it to two stanzas. This was how they honoured Vande Mataram on its Golden Jubilee," Shah said, triggering uproars from Opposition benches.

He said many like him believe that the nation would not have been partitioned if the hymn Vande Mataram was not "divided into two", alleging that appeasement politics began ever since.

"That is where appeasement politics started... and that appeasement resulted in partition of the country. Many like me believe, whether Congress accepts or not, if Vande Mataram was not divided into two due to appeasement politics, this nation would not have been partitioned," Shah said.

Targeting the Opposition, he said many members of the Congress were considering the discussion on Vande Mataram as a political manoeuvre or a weapon to divert attention from issues.

"We do not fear discussing issues. We do not boycott Parliament. If Parliament is not boycotted and allowed to function, then discussion on all issues will take place. We do not fear, nor do we have anything to hide. We are ready to discuss, be it any issue," he said.

He further added that when the song completed 100 years, the country was under Emergency.

He also targeted Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, saying they both were absent in the Lok Sabha when the debate started on Monday.

Shah also accused several Opposition leaders of not according respect to Vande Mataram when sung in Parliament.

"Look at the situation of the Congress party, which used to start its sessions with Vande Mataram, it was a mantra of the freedom movement ...when the debate started in Lok Sabha, both members of Gandhi family were missing... The opposition to Vande Mataram is in the blood of the Congress leadership, from Jawaharlal Nehru to present day Congress leadership..." he alleged.

"I am using facts, a Congress leader said in the other House there is no need to discuss Vande Mataram..." Shah said, prompting Congress leader Jairam Ramesh to object.

Shah said in 1992, BJP MP Ram Naik demanded that Vande Mataram be sung in Parliament, and the demand was supported by Leader of Opposition LK Advani. He claimed several leaders of the INDIA bloc had opposed it at that time.

"I have seen with my own eyes, there are many opposition members who leave before Vande Mataram is sung," Shah said, amid objections by Opposition members.

After Ramesh demanded that Shah authenticate his statement, Shah wrote to the Rajya Sabha chairman providing a list of opposition leaders in Parliament or state assemblies who showed disrespect to Vande Mataram by walking out of the house when it was sung or did not sing the national song and justified it.

"There is not one BJP member who would not stand respectfully during Vande Mataram... I will lay a list of who all left the House before Vande Mataram. I would request, make the names a part of this discussion. It should be recorded in this house that congress members oppose Vande Mataram," he said.

Shah said the song, written against the backdrop of centuries of "Islamic attacks", and the British trying to impose a new culture, led to cultural nationalism being reestablished, and a cultural awakening.

He slammed opposition members over questioning the relevance of the discussion.

"Yesterday some MPs in the Lok Sabha questioned what is the need to discuss Vande Mataram. The need for discussion...was as relevant when the song was written, during the freedom movement, today, and will be as relevant in 2047 when the Viksit Bharat would be achieved," Shah said.

"Some people are saying Vande Mataram is being discussed because elections are coming in West Bengal... They are trying to reduce the importance of Vande Mataram by linking it with Bengal elections."

Shah urged members to take the spirit of the message of Vande Mataram to the younger generation of the nation.

"The song reestablished the culture of witnessing nation as a mother. Even though the (British) government tried to ban it, and people were beaten and jailed for chanting Vande Mataram, it touched people's hearts and spread from Kashmir to Kanyakumari," he said.

"India is the only nation whose boundaries have not been decided by any act, its borders have been decided by our culture, and culture has united it. That is why the idea of cultural nationalism, this cultural nationalism was awakened by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay."