OPINION | RSSFACTS: ‘Vande Mataram’ at 150: A prayer to the motherland; not a call to idolatry

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Around a week before the nation on 7 November started celebrating the 150th anniversary of India’s national song ‘Vande Mataram', , the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) called upon the nation and the society to celebrate the spirit of this song over the next year.

Spelling out the official stand of the RSS on this issue after the three-day meeting (30 Oct-1 Nov) of one of its highest decision-making bodies, Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal(ABKM) at Jabalpur,  its general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said, “At the auspicious moment of 150th year of commemoration of a divine (an immortal) song Vande Mataram - a prayer to Motherland that awakened all round national consciousness; Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh offers its respectful tributes with gratitude to Shraddheya (revered) Bankim Chatterjee in the humble remembrance of his composing this national song. The song, written in 1875, was rendered in a melodious tune by Rashtrakavi (national poet) Ravindranath Tagore in the Congress session of 1896 which mesmerized the audience. Since then, it not only became the patriotic pledge but also a voice of nation’s soul, proclamation and consciousness.”

‘Vande Mataram’ has an interesting history and even before independence it was associated with the religion of Hindus. In fact, the same Congress which took ‘Vande Mataram’ as a battle cry during the partition of Bengal in 1905 surrendered to Muslim League's demand and in 1938 decided to adopt a truncated version of this national song.  It was decided that only the first two stanzas of this song will be recited in Congress sessions.

However, organisations like RSS never agreed to this. In all the major RSS events, full-version of ‘Vande Mataram’ continued to be recited and it has been doing so since its inception in 1925.

After India’s independence also, this remained an issue of contention. Many radical Muslim outfits and leaders opposed this song and continue to do so till date. The detractors of ‘Vande Mataram’ associate certain stanzas of it with idolatry or idol worship and hence oppose it. However, their contention is unfounded and baseless.

A Muslim scholar on Vande Mataram  

Noted freedom fighter and Islamic scholar Maulana Reza Ul Karim published a book ‘Bankim Chandra O Mussalman Samaj’(Bankim Chandra and Muslim society) in 1944 in which he countered the disrespect of Muslims towards ‘Vande Mataram’.

Maulana Karim argued (pp.90 102): “There are some amongst us who raise the bogey of idol- worship and thereby try to vitiate the stream of normal life of ordinary Muslims. To touch the feet of the parents with hands with reverence is also a form of idol-worship. To convey sentiments of regards by lowering one's head before a respectable figure is also idol-worship. To add to the grace (of a room) by hanging a picture is also idol worship. Thus, people are threatened by a continuous persuasion that it is against the tenets of Islam. It is difficult for such type of persons to indicate as to what is ‘non-lslamic'. The pressure and dictates of such types of arguments confuse the Muslims. This closed-door attitude is arresting the growth of their independent thinking.”

He added: “People with such a mentality dub the comprehensively beautiful song ‘Vande Mataram’ as communal. But those having a broad vision should have an integrated view of ‘Vande Mataram'. They will find that the cult of idol worship is nowhere to be found in the song.”

Maulana Karim further explained: “The main objective of ‘Vande Mataram’ is not to proclaim the victory of Idol-worship, but to consider the Goddess- the country as bigger than the Goddess of Idol-worship i.e., Durga. Laxmi or Saraswati.”

‘Will it suffice to express astonishment at the words ‘Durga’, ‘Kamala’, ‘Saraswati’? We have to consider whether these words have any symbolic description in the prayers. On a study of the history of comparative philology, it would be seen that similar words are to be found in all the languages of the world connoting idol-worship so much so that even Muslim writers have also done so.”

Maulan Karim raised a pertinent question in this context, “The Muslim writers have accepted such symbolic expressions as Cupid- the God of Love, Zohra - the Goddess of Music, Azrael - the Messenger of Death, and Mechael- the Harbinger of Rains. If one does not become an idol worshipper merely by using the symbols viz. Cupid, Zohra, Azrael and Mechael then similarly it will not reflect idol worship by using the words Kamala, Durga. and Saraswati.”

He summed it up well as he apparently referred to Jinnah and his colleagues in Muslim league as well as some other Muslim politicians and intellectuals, “The prohibitive directive against ‘Vande Mataram' has been given not by the authoritative spokesmen of Islam nor by the erudite scholars of Islamic thought and philosophy but by those who patronize western style attire and are barristers or politicians. These people had no time in their life to reverentially touch the precincts of the Mosque. ‘Vande Mataram' has been opposed by those who had no practical or direct relation with Islam.”

The official stand of the RSS   highlights the significance of this civilisational anthem of India that also reflects the sentiments of most Indians. According to the organisation, Vande Mataram is the song of the nation’s soul that inspires everyone. Even after 150 years, Vande Mataram, with its divine endowment, can inspire the society to dedicate itself for the nation. In these times, when the tendency to fragment the society on the parochial bases of caste, language, geography is on the rise, Vande Mataram is a thread that can bind us together. It is easily accepted in all the regions, languages and communities of Bharat. Today also, it remains a solid foundation of national awakening, cultural identity and national integrity of our society. At this propitious hour of nation building and rejuvenation of our national consciousness, there is a need that the spirit of this supreme mantra resonates in every heart.