Vande Mataram cut short by Cong, says Amit Shah

Kolkata: BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday claimed that there would not have been division of the country had the Congress not cut short the National Song Vande Mataram penned by famous Bengali writer Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.

His attack on the Congress came while delivering the first Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay Memorial Lecture organised by Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation at G D Birla Sabhaghar in the evening.

Mr Shah alleged, “When India became independent in 1947, Vande Mataram was given the recognition but not the entire song. Just the first two stanzas of the song were recognised. Appeasement policies of the Congress led to the division of the country.”

He continued, “It was not the two-nation policy by the Muslim League which was responsible for the division of the country. The Congress leaders failed to realise that it is not a religious song but an effort to bind the nation with a nationalistic feeling.”

Clarifying his stand Mr Shah added, “I have not come here to deliver a political speech. But it is part of our history. We should study our history in order to take our country ahead.”

Vande Mataram was declared the National Song in 1950 while Jana Gana Mana was accorded the status of the National anthem.

At the programme Mr Shah also met a section of intellectuals who included eminent writers and academicians.