[pmarc] The "National Song" of India Changed Overnight through an Administrative Order! And also the inter-se relation between the "national anthem" and the "national song".

[PM...@dgroups.org]

Yet another fraud on history!

The first two stanzas of the song "Vande Mataram" were adopted as the National Song unanimously by the Congress Working Committee back in 1937, in Calcutta, when the epic independence movement was nearing its peak. Accepting the sought-for recommendations made by Tagore in this regard in toto.

The CWC included Gandhi, Nehru (as president), Vallabhbhai Patel, Subhas Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Azad, Sarojini Naidu, J.B. Kripalani, Bhulabhai Desai, Jamnalal Bajaj, and Narendra Deva.

After Independence, the same norm was formalised via a Presidential statement on January 24 1950 and its endorsement by the Constituent Assembly in its final sessions where the focus was on the adoption of Jana Gana Mana as the National Anthem.

Now all this is being changed via the issue of "guidelines" by the Ministry of Home Affairs!

No discussion. No debate. In the parliament. Or in any other public space.

Done by the political-ideological legatees of those who had nothing to do with the epic independence movement. And at times their revered forefathers actually opposed it -- especially when it was at its very peak.

Interestingly, the version of the complete song as put out by the MHA is actually an edited version.

In the original version, as incorporated in the 1882 novel 'Anandamath', the third stanza begins with: ""Sapta-koṭi-kanṭha-kala-kala-nināda-karāle" (सप्तकोटिकण्ठकलकलनिनादकराले), followed by "Dvi-sapta-koṭi-bhujai-dhṛta-khara-karavāle" (द्विसप्तकोटिभुजैधृतखरकरवाले).

In the MHA version, the "sapta koṭi" is changed to "koṭi koṭi" (कोटि कोटि). In line with later practices.

So, this version is not even the "original".

To sum up:

I. A decision taken through wide consultations by a body leading the epic freedom movement and then subsequently endorsed by the Constituent Assembly is changed, almost surreptitiously, via a mere administrative order.

II. By those whose ideological ancestors had scrupulously stayed away from the freedom movement which was inspired by the song.

III. The original song, as penned by Bankim Chandra was about Bengal. Not India. That stands modified.

IV. The move is very much a part of its constant endeavour to foment and keep alive a low-key civil war across religious divides -- especially between the majority Hindus and minority Muslims -- in order to mobilise Hindus as "Hindus" by drowning out their all other identities like language, culture, ethnicity, class, gender etc. 

Towards its defining goal of an utterly inegalitarian, obscurantist, homogenised and, of course, authoritarian "Hindu Rashtra".

[Reproduced below is, reportedly, the verbatim text of Tagore's recommendation to the Congress Working Committee:

An unfortunate controversy is raging round the question of suitability of ‘Bande Mataram’ as national song. In offering my own opinion about it I am reminded that the privilege of originally setting its first stanza to the tune was mine when the author was still alive and I was the first person to sing it before a gathering of the Calcutta Congress. To me the spirit of tenderness and devotion expressed in its first portion, the emphasis it gave to beautiful and beneficient aspects of our motherland made special appeal so much so that I found no difficulty in dissociating it from the rest of the poem and from those portions of the book of which it is a part, with all sentiments of which, brought up as I was in the monotheistic ideals of my father, I could have no sympathy.

I freely concede that the whole of Bankim’s ‘Bande Mataram’ poem read together with its context is liable to be interpreted in ways that might wound Moslem susceptibilities, but a national song though derived from it which has spontaneously come to consist only of the first two stanzas of the original poem, need not remind us every time of the whole of it, much less of the story with which it was accidentally associated.

It has acquired a separate individuality and an inspiring significance of its own in which I see nothing to offend any sect or community.]

<https://theprint.in/politics/centre-revises-vande-mataram-version-adopted-by-constituent-assembly-oppn-slams-rewriting-of-history/2851749/>

Politics

Centre revises Vande Mataram version adopted by Constituent Assembly, Oppn slams ‘rewriting of history’

MHA order states that when both national song and anthem are played together, Vande Mataram will be played first, with everyone required to stand at attention.

Sushil Manav

11 February, 2026 02:12 pm IST

Bankim Chandra's Vande Mataram was first sung by poet Rabindranath Tagore at the 1896 Congress Session in Calcutta | Commons

What You Need to Know

The Modi government revised "Vande Mataram," mandating a six-stanza version instead of the truncated one adopted by the Constituent Assembly. This move, which includes previously omitted Hindu goddess references, has sparked a political row. The Opposition accuses the BJP of "rewriting history" and political opportunism ahead of West Bengal elections, while the government defends its decision. The new order specifies playing the full song at official functions.

Gurugram: The Modi government’s decision to revise the national song, Vande Mataram, as adopted by the Constituent Assembly, has triggered a political row again, with the Opposition accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “rewriting history” with an eye on the West Bengal elections.

In a 10-page order, issued to all states and union territories on 28 January, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) released the “official version” of the song written by Bengali novelist-poet Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. The official version includes the four stanzas that the poet had added to his original two-stanza soliloquy but which were not included in the song adopted by the Constituent Assembly.

The Congress had dropped these lines, which appeared in Chatterjee’s novel Anandmath, in 1937 following objections by the Muslim League to idolatrous references. On 24 January 1950, the Constituent Assembly had adopted the truncated version, which left out four stanzas with references to Hindu goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati.

What new order says

The MHA order provides the complete lyrics of all six stanzas of Vande Mataram in both Sanskrit and Hindi transliteration. The disputed stanzas contain invocations such as ‘Tvam hi Durga dasa-praharana-dharini (You are Durga, wielder of the ten weapons)’ and references to other Hindu goddesses.

At schools, the day’s work may begin with community singing of the national song, and authorities should make adequate provision for popularising it alongside the national anthem and respect for the national flag, according to the order.

The directive clarifies that when the national song appears in newsreels or documentaries, the audience is not expected to stand, as doing so would interrupt the film and create disorder. However, during formal occasions, standing at attention is mandatory.

It permits mass singing of the national song on ceremonial occasions other than parades, with printed lyrics to be circulated if needed. On occasions of significance because of the presence of ministers or dignitaries, singing accompanied by mass participation is described as desirable.

The guidelines do not apply to private functions or non-governmental events. The mandatory requirement extends only to official government programmes, state schools, and formal occasions involving constitutional functionaries.

With inputs from Sourav Roy Barman

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