New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that the Congress of breaking national song Vande Mataram into pieces under the guise of social harmony, it was still following the politics of appeasement.

He also targeted former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for agreeing with the suggestion that Vande Mataram could antagonise Muslims. Modi in his address at a special debate on the occasion of 150 years Vande Mataram song in the Lok Sabha on Monday. He cited a letter written by Nehru to Subhash Chandra Bose claiming that the background of Vande Mataram could antagonise Muslims. The letter was written following a protest by Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Lucknow, he added.

He said that Nehru had written that he had read the background of the song and it could spark anger amongst Muslims. Later Congress convened a session in Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s Bengal to review the use of Vande Mataram, he added.

But, on October 26, Congress compromised on Vande Mataram. They broke it into pieces under the mask of social harmony, but history is witness. This was Congress’ attempt at politics of appeasement.

Under pressure of politics of appeasement, Congress agreed to divide Vande Mataram. This is the reason Congress also bowed to the demand for partition, he alleged. He said history is a testament to the fact that Congress knelt before the Muslim League and did this under pressure.

Because it bowed to the division of Vande Mataram, it bowed to the division of India later on, he said. Congress has maintained the same politics of appeasement even today, he asserted amid thumping of desks by treasury benches.

Modi recalled that the British were forced to ban Vande Mataram even though they brought in laws to prevent printing and propagation of the poem. Vande Mataram was written at a time when, after the uprising of 1857, the British government was alarmed and unleashing various forms of oppression.

A campaign was underway to push the British national anthem ‘God Save the Queen’ into every household. Through Vande Mataram, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay responded to this challenge with great strength and resolve. British divided Bengal in 1905, but Vande Mataram stood like a rock and inspired unity, he said.

Modi remembered that Mahatma Gandhi wrote in 1905 that Vande Mataram has become so popular that it has emerged as national anthem and wondered that why was injustice meted out to it. If Vande Mataram was so popular, why injustice was meted out to it, why was it betrayed in the last century. What were those forces that were so powerful to overrule the wishes of Mahatma Gandhi on Vande Mataram, he added.

He lamented that the Constitution was throttled and the nation chained by the Emergency when national song Vande Mataram completed 100 years.

Modi noted that the mantra of Vande Mataram gave power and inspiration to the entire country during freedom struggle.

Remembering that sacred Vande Mataram today is a great privilege for all of us in this House, he said. It is a matter of pride for us that we are witnessing the historic occasion of Vande Mataram completing 150 years,” he added.