New Delhi [India], August 20 : Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury on Thursday hit out at the BJP over the ongoing controversy surrounding the singing of Vande Mataram and rejected Union Home Minister Amit Shah's allegations of minority appeasement.
Speaking to ANI, Chowdhury backed Congress' position on the "two stanza" version of Vande Mataram and said that party leaders had sacrificed their lives while singing the national song in the fight against colonial rule.
"Our ancestors sacrificed their lives while singing 'Vande Mataram'. Where were you people (BJP) then? For so many years, you were also singing this same version. You have been in power for 12 years, and you were singing the very same version. Did you suddenly remember this overnight?" she said.
Referring to police action on student protesters during the July 20 Delhi protests, the Congress MP also accused the BJP of using its power against children and questioned its conduct in Parliament.
"People who cannot even come to Parliament, who cannot give answers in Parliament, use their power against children and have them beaten up... and you are trying to lecture us on who we are?" she said.
Chowdhury defended the Congress' position, saying the decision regarding the version of Vande Mataram was taken by leaders who framed the Constitution and guided the country during the freedom struggle.
"If you have ever read the history of this country and possessed any knowledge, you would know that this decision was made by the very leaders who framed our Constitution and by Mahatma Gandhi, who guided our country toward independence. This is not appeasement--in English, it is called being inclusive. You don't know the meaning of 'inclusive', do you? Go look it up in a dictionary!" she added.
Rejecting the BJP's allegations of minority appeasement, Chowdhury said, "Oh, what are you talking about with this 'Muslim' narrative? Muslim appeasement, Christian appeasement... what on earth are you talking about?"
On Wednesday, the Congress Working Committee also decided that only the first two stanzas of the national song would be sung at party events, citing the party's 1937 resolution.
The decision followed days of controversy after the BJP accused Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party parliamentary chairperson Sonia Gandhi of conversing while the national song was being rendered during Independence Day celebrations on August 15, and demanded a public apology.
After the CWC meeting, Congress MP KC Venugopal said the party's stand on the recitation of Vande Mataram was clear and that it would follow the decisions taken by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1937.
Criticising Congress' stance, Amit Shah on Thursday launched a sharp attack, accusing the opposition party of reviving its "extreme policy of appeasement".
Shah told ANI that the decision was not merely symbolic but a repetition of a historical error that had contributed to the partition of India.
"Yesterday, the Congress Party Working Committee took a surprising and anti-national decision. Following their party's resolution of 1937, they have decided to sing only two stanzas of the great song, Vande Mataram. I want to remind the entire country that in 1937, for Muslim appeasement, the Congress party laid the foundation for the partition of the country by dividing Vande Mataram into two. From there, the two-nation theory gained strength and eventually, the country was partitioned, and Pakistan was born. Today, the Narendra Modi government has corrected that historical mistake in the 150th year of Vande Mataram's composition and tried to strengthen national integration by singing the entire song. The decision to sing it in full in all government functions has been given legal form as well. Yesterday, Congress decided to ignore it. This decision by Congress only confirms their extreme policy of appeasement. For vote-bank appeasement, they have not only insulted the immortal work of the late Bankim Babu, but also millions of martyrs who went to the gallows for the country's independence while chanting Vande Mataram, and spent many years in jail," he said.