Amit Shah calls Congress Vande Mataram stand ‘anti-national’, links 1937 decision to Partition

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has called the Congress Working Committee’s decision to sing only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram an “anti-national” move, alleging that the party’s 1937 resolution to limit the song had helped lay the foundation for the Partition of India.

Speaking to ANI, Shah accused the Congress of reviving what he described as its “extreme policy of appeasement” and said the party was repeating what he called a historical mistake.

“Yesterday, Congress Working Committee took an anti-national decision,” Shah said, referring to the CWC decision to follow the party’s 1936-37 position on the recitation of Vande Mataram.

Shah alleged that the Congress, by deciding in 1937 to divide the song, had strengthened the two-nation theory and eventually contributed to the Partition and the creation of Pakistan.

“I want to remind the nation that in 1937, by dividing Vande Mataram for the appeasement of Muslims, the Congress laid the foundation for the partition of the country,” Shah said.

He said the Narendra Modi government had sought to correct what he described as a historical wrong by promoting the singing of the complete song and giving the decision a legal framework.

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According to Shah, the Congress decision to follow its 1937 resolution while rejecting the position backed by the Parliament showed that the party continued to pursue “appeasement politics”.

He also accused the Congress of insulting Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s composition as well as freedom fighters who, he said, sacrificed their lives while chanting Vande Mataram during the freedom struggle.

Shah targets Rahul Gandhi-led Congress

Shah also targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying he was surprised that the party was once again pursuing what he described as appeasement politics.

He appealed to people to oppose the Congress stand, arguing that the country had already suffered the consequences of what he called the earlier decision to divide Vande Mataram.

“The country should unite and raise their voices against this decision of the Congress party, that politics of appeasement will no longer work in this country,” Shah said.

He added that the BJP would oppose the Congress decision among the public and in legislative assemblies.

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Congress to sing first two stanzas at party events

The Congress Working Committee decided on Wednesday that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram would be sung at party events, citing the Congress's own 1937 resolution.

The decision came amid a political controversy after the BJP accused Kharge and Congress parliamentary chairperson Sonia Gandhi of conversing while Vande Mataram was being rendered during Independence Day celebrations on August 15. The BJP had demanded a public apology.

After the CWC meeting, Congress MP KC Venugopal said the party's position on Vande Mataram was clear and that it would follow the decisions taken by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1937.

With agency inputs