It is now mandatory for all Maharashtra government employees to answer official calls and calls from citizens saying ‘Vande Mataram’ instead of ‘Hello’, as per a mandatory order by the state government that came into effect on Sunday.
With this, ‘Vande Mataram’ has again surfaced in the news, much like many times before ever since it was penned down by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in the 1870s. Here’s a look at all times the National song found itself caught up in controversy.
Vande Mataram, an Aftermath of Insult Meted Out to Bankim Chandra
Researchers Kishanchand Bhakat and Pradip Bhattacharya proposed a theory that suggests that Vande Mataram was born out of an insulting incident with its composer Bakim Chandra Chattopadhyay at Cricket match in 1873, reported India Today.
A British government official Colonel Duffin was playing cricket which was disrupted because some people took a short-cut route that passed through the field. One of those persons was Bankim Chandra, who was then punched by Duffin. Chandra moved court and the matter went on for long, but the researchers say that the incident motivated him to write Vande Mataram, which was published for the first time in 1875 in Bangadarshan.
Mahatma Gandhi’s Refusal to Stand Up in Respect for Vande Mataram
Father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi had refused to stand up when National song Vande Mataram had played out at a prayer meeting in north Calcutta on August 29, 1947, a Telegraph report said. Gandhi believed that doing so would be a gesture as good as “a European import”, said historian Sugata Bose back in 2017.
“Mahatma Gandhi alone remained seated, saying it was not a requirement of Indian culture to stand up and show respect when the national song is performed. This was, he said, a European import,” the historian said.
Refusal of Muslims to Sing Vande Mataram in Chennai
Back in 2006, several Muslims in Chennai refused to sing Vande Mataram. Explaining the Muslim viewpoint, they had said that Islam being a monotheist religion, forbids the apotheosis of any deity, animate or inanimate, except God, the supreme creator, reported Hindustan Times.
The incident had triggered several Hindu ideologues back then, who termed the Muslims who refused to sing Vande Mataram as ‘anti-national’.
Centre’s Plea to Declare Vande Mataram as National Anthem
Back in 2019, the Centre had filed a plea in the Delhi High Court, seeking that ‘Vande Mataram’ be declared the national anthem. However, the plea was rejected by the HC at par with ‘Jana Gana Mana’. “We see no reason to give direction to the respondent (Centre) to declare Vande Mataram as national anthem or national song,”a bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar had held, a PTI report said.
The Centre’s petition also sought a direction to the central government to frame a national policy to promote and propagate both the national anthem and the national song.
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