A brand new political controversy has erupted in West Bengal over the Centre’s directions on the process for singing and taking part in the nationwide anthem ‘Vande Mataram’, written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
A number of political events in Bengal, together with Mamata Banerjee’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), have condemned the transfer by the Bharatiya Janata Get together-led central authorities, saying it’s an insult to Rabindranath Tagore, the creator of the nationwide anthem “Jana Gana Mana”, which is sung after Vande Mataram.
In a directive dated January 28, the Union Ministry of House Affairs (MHA) has notified the primary set of steps for singing Vande Mataram and directed that each one six verses of Vande Mataram be sung at official features. It is a departure from the apply of Part 2 established by the parliamentary management in 1937 and later adopted by the Constituent Meeting in 1950.
However in Bengal, the directive that Vande Mataram ought to come earlier than Jana Gana Mana precipitated an uproar.
TMC chief and state training minister Bratya Basu claimed in a press convention on Thursday that Hindutva organizations, together with the RSS, had been towards Nobel laureate Tagore.
“The RSS and different Hindutva organizations by no means preferred the generosity of Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore remains to be taught in a number of nations. Now making Vande Mataram obligatory earlier than Jana Gana Mana is a push in direction of stratification,” Basu stated, including, “Tagore is being insulted within the course of.”
Basu additionally linked the timing of the Centre’s order with the upcoming Bengal Meeting elections and claimed that the order can be forgotten “as soon as Mamata Banerjee turns into the Chief Minister for the fourth time”.
State Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for calling Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay ‘Bankim da’ in Parliament through the winter session, drawing harsh criticism from TMC members. Ms Bhattacharyya requested whether or not the notification was meant to behave as a “salt balm”.
Throughout a debate in Parliament Home final December to mark the a hundred and fiftieth beginning anniversary of Vande Mataram, Prime Minister Modi accused President Jawaharlal Nehru of taking strain from Muslim League’s Muhammad Ali Jinnah to “reduce” Vande Mataram, and claimed that this “betrayal” had sown the seeds of India’s partition.
A senior TMC official stated, “In 1937, Congress heeded the recommendation of Rabindranath Tagore and adopted two sections of Vande Mataram to affirm the secular ethos of the nation.”
The CPI(M) additionally criticized the Centre’s directive and occasion central committee member Sujan Chakraborty stated, “The Bharatiya Janata Get together is now making an attempt to create division and hierarchy among the many symbols of Bengal. Earlier, they’d modified the identify of Kolkata port to Netaji Subhash Cha. He modified from Ndra Bose to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. Now he instructions that Bankim Chandra is superior to Rabindranath Tagore. Does Amit Shah know who’s who?” Who’re Rabindranath Tagore and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay? ”
“Within the pre-independence period, the RSS by no means raised the slogan Vande Mataram. It by no means paid homage to the tricolor. How will they perceive who Netaji, Tagore and Bankim Chandra are?” Chakraborty added.
The Congress echoed these accusations, saying the transfer was geared toward “scoring political factors” forward of the meeting elections, with former state occasion chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury calling it a “divisive technique”.
Nonetheless, Bharatiya Janata Get together chief Samik Bhattacharyya stated his occasion’s place was “constant” and never election-driven. “Your complete Vande Mataram track is sung at each Congress of the Bharatiya Janata Get together. This isn’t new. The a hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the track’s composition is a milestone. That is an try to revive the complete dignity of the track,” he stated, dismissing claims of denigrating Tagore as “infantile”.
A two-section model of Vande Mataram, initially written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1875 and later added to his novel Anandmasu in 1882, was adopted by the Constituent Meeting in 1950. The Congress management determined to not embrace different verses of Vande Mataram following objections raised by sections of the Muslim group and the Muslim League towards the references to the Hindu goddess Durga, Lakshmi. And Saraswati amongst them.
Nonetheless, the directive gave the TMC extra ammunition to tackle the Bharatiya Janata Get together within the upcoming meeting elections.
“We’ve a brand new weapon towards the Bharatiya Janata Get together, which is essentially anti-Bengali and an outsider to Bengal,” stated a TMC chief, who had already focused the Bharatiya Janata Get together over the Bengali language and had alleged that it was finishing up assaults on Bengali-speakers within the Bharatiya Janata Get together-ruled states to solid the occasion as an “outsider” in Bengal.
“The Bharatiya Janata Get together doesn’t know the nationwide anthem or the historical past of the nationwide anthem. They’re attacking the emotions of Bengalis principally with out figuring out something, which they are going to use within the upcoming meeting elections towards the saffron camp,” the occasion chief added.
Nonetheless, senior BJP leaders dismissed the TMC’s widespread “anti-Bengali accusations” and insisted that it could not have an effect on the elections. “Our most important goal is to consolidate the Hindu vote financial institution. This order will assist us if the TMC opposes it.”
