Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], September 13 : Telangana BJP president N Ramchander Rao on Sunday accused the Congress of “not following the law of the land” over its objection to the full rendition of Vande Mataram at government functions, saying the national song must be respected.
Reacting to the ongoing row over the rendition of all six stanzas of Vande Mataram, Rao said the Congress had failed to learn from its past experiences and alleged that the party was objecting even when the national song was being played by the government in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The Congress has not learnt the lessons from its past experiences. Vande Mataram has to be respected. Parliament has passed a clear-cut order for the entire country to sing and render all the stanzas. But even in Jammu and Kashmir, when the government there plays Vande Mataram, the Congress objects,” Rao told ANI.
He alleged that opposing the full rendition amounted to an insult to the national song and national honour.
“Therefore, this is nothing but an insult to Vande Mataram, as well as to national honour and the national symbol. These are the offences being committed by the Congress Party. They are insulting the national song, which has been a source of inspiration for the freedom movement. They are not following the law of the land because this has been passed by Parliament and therefore becomes the law of the land,” he said.
Meanwhile, Karnataka BJP MLA CN Ashwath Narayan accused the Congress government in the state of trying to politicise a national symbol, saying the full rendition of Vande Mataram should be followed at government functions.
“Congress is always into appeasement politics. They played even with the national song. They want to politicise. They want to have a political agenda in this direction. Once it is decided in Parliament, it is abiding on each and every citizen, particularly on all the State Govts. So, it is the responsibility of the State Govt of Karnataka to sing six stanzas of Vande Mataram. They can't get away with singing just two stanzas,” Narayan said.
The remarks came amid a political row over the full rendition of Vande Mataram after Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said on September 8 that the complete version of the song “sits uneasily” with the syncretic and pluralist ethos envisioned by India's freedom fighters.
Venugopal had urged Congress allies to respect the version of the national song adopted by the party in 1937, when only the first two stanzas were retained for use at official party programmes.
The issue had also triggered a political row in Jammu and Kashmir, where Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that although his party had never adopted Vande Mataram and would not do so in the future, the government would comply with the legal requirement to perform it at official functions.
“A law has been enacted regarding the national song. All verses of Vande Mataram have become mandatory. This applies not just to Jammu and Kashmir, but to the entire country; this is the protocol for government functions nationwide. Failure to comply will result in action,” Abdullah had said.
He also said that the national anthem and national song would be performed at the closing ceremony of the International Film Festival.
“As a party, we have never adopted Vande Mataram, nor will we do so in the future, but we must comply with legal obligations,” the J-K Chief Minister had said.
The remarks came after Omar Abdullah and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah stood through the full rendition of Vande Mataram at the inaugural International Film Festival in Srinagar on September 9.
Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir BJP spokesperson Altaf Thakur had accused the Congress of being “opposed” to Vande Mataram and questioned its criticism of those who stood through the full rendition of the national song.
“The Congress has always been opposed to Vande Mataram; in fact, they were the ones who had certain verses excised because they could not stomach the song,” Thakur had said.
The BJP spokesperson's remarks came after Venugopal said the Congress considered the decision taken by leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Sarojini Naidu in deciding the version of the song to be adopted as significant.
The issue has also drawn criticism from the BJP, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier attacking the Congress over its adherence to the 1937 position and accusing the party of pursuing appeasement politics.