December 9, 2025
Sukhendu Sekhar Ray’s speech during the discussion on the 150th anniversary of the national song ‘Vande Mataram’
सभापति जी, वंदे मातरम् गीत के ऊपर जो चर्चा आज यहाँ राज्य सभा में शुरू हुई है, इसके बारे में मैं जरूर बोलूँगा, लेकिन मैं आज बहुत दर्द महसूस कर रहा हूँ। कल देर रात तक लोक सभा में वंदे मातरम् के ऊपर जो चर्चा हुई, उसे हमने सुना, तो हमें उम्मीद थी कि आज सुबह जिन बातों से वंदे मातरम् को चेयर से introduce किया गया, उसको मानते हुए हम लोग वंदे मातरम् पर चर्चा करेंगे, लेकिन अफसोस की बात यह है कि एक ऐसा माहौल पैदा हो गया कि मेरे मन में जो कुछ भी था, वह थोड़ा तितर-बितर हो गया। यह दुख की बात है। हम अलग-अलग विचारधारा से हैं। सभी पार्टीज़ के लोग इसके बारे में बोलेंगे और अपनी विचारधारा के ऊपर निर्भर करके बोलेंगे, लेकिन हमें किसी को भी ऐसा कुछ नहीं बोलना चाहिए कि वंदे मातरम् गीत का अपमान हो। अब मैं शुरू करता हूँ। मैंने पहले ही इत्तला दी कि मैं बांग्ला में बोलूँगा और बीच-बीच में हिन्दी में भी बोलूँगा। “Respected Chairman Sir, on an autumn evening in 1872, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was travelling by train from Sealdah station to his ancestral home in Kanthalpara, Naihati, to spend his holidays. At that time, alongside his literary pursuits, he was a Government employee serving as a Deputy Magistrate. While looking out the window of the moving train at the open expanse, he saw the exquisite beauty of nature.The sky was flooded with the white moonlight of the full moon, the fields were green with crops, nature was churning with the scent of blooming flowers, and the trees were swaying in the breeze. Mesmerized by this magnificent form of the motherland, the chime of music rang out in the strings of Bankim’s heart. In a soft voice, he uttered, “Vande Mataram.” These words are my own writing. Twenty-five years ago, I wrote an essay on Vande Mataram which appeared in a newspaper; I am quoting from that. Upon returning home, Bankim Chandra sat down to write, still humming the tune in his mind. He wrote: “Vande Mataram, Sujalam Suphalam Malayaja Shitalam, Shasyashyamalam Mataram…” Sometime later, he was sitting in the office of Bangadarshan, the magazine he edited. The Press Manager came and said, “There is some empty space in the paper, give me something written, I will put it there.” Then he gave the Vande Mataram poem. The Press Manager said, “The poem isn’t bad!” Bankim Chandra got annoyed, put the paper back in the drawer, and said, “Whether it is good or bad, you won’t understand now; you will understand later. I may not be alive then.” So, in 1875, in the Bangadarshan magazine, Vande Mataram was first published, as various speakers have mentioned. After this, at Bankim Chandra’s request, he asked Yadu Bhatta, the famous musician of the Bishnupur Gharana from whom Rabindranath Tagore also took music lessons—to set the Vande Mataram poem to music. Vande Mataram was not a song initially; it was just a poem. Yadu Bhatta gave it a tune. The Raga of the song was Mallar, set to Kawali beat. In 1882, Vande Mataram was incorporated into the tenth chapter of the novel Anandamath. From the magazine ‘Balak’ published in May of that year, it is known that the song Vande Mataram, composed by Yadu Bhatta, was becoming popular. In 1887, in the Bharati magazine, Balendranath Tagore wrote that by singing Vande Mataram, a song of the heart in their own tune, Bengalis would fly a triumphant flag in the world. The Congress party and the Vande Mataram song have been intimately connected since 1886. Many say Rabindranath sang it first; Rabindranath certainly sang it, he sang it in 1896. But in 1886, when the second Congress Session was held at Calcutta Town Hall, the song Vande Mataram was sung by Bankim Chandra’s friend, the poet and lawyer Hemchandra Bandopadhyay. We have forgotten this history. In that session, Rabindranath sang a song,but it was not Vande Mataram; it was, “We have gathered today at the mother’s call”. Sir, when the novel Anandamath came out, the Vande Mataram song was expanded. Initially, there were 12 lines; Vande Mataram was first written with 12 lines. Later, 15 more lines were added within the Anandamath novel itself. One must think of the context: in what context was Anandamath written and why was Vande Mataram expanded? In 1770 (Bengali year 1176), the Famine of ’76 occurred. One-third of the people of Bengal died of starvation due to the famine. Such a terrible famine had not occurred anywhere else in India. At that time, Company Rule—the East India Company—was running things. In this situation, when over ten million people died, small rebellions started happening here and there: the Sannyasi Rebellion, the Fakir Rebellion,etc. Bankim Chandra was the Deputy Magistrate in Malda at that time. Two years later, when he was writing Vande Mataram, the Sannyasi Rebellion had taken place in Rangpur, Dinajpur, Malda, Purnia in Bihar, and various places in Bardhaman. Based on that, he wrote Anandamath against the backdrop of the Sannyasi Rebellion.Anandamath begins in the village of Padachinha. The literary journey of Bankim that started in Anandamath from Padachinha village ends when “Immersion came and took away Establishment.” This long journey, various characters, various histories, various descriptions have been depicted in various ways. Standing in today’s era, it feels bad to think that there are many parts that were not to everyone’s liking. But today, we have to think that Bankim Chandra created Anandamath and expanded Vande Mataram in that specific context of that day. Many did not understand the importance of Vande Mataram then, but lying on his deathbed, Bankim told his eldest daughter, “One day you will see Vande Mataram resonating in the heart of the whole country.” On April 8, 1894, Bankim died, leaving behind his priceless literary works and the rejuvenating mantra of Vande Mataram. Subsequently, in the year 1900, from Sarala Devi Chaudhurani’s book ‘Shatagan’, it is known that Rabindranath had composed music for the first seven lines of Vande Mataram as early as 1885. The first composer was Yadu Bhatta; the second was Rabindranath. From the writings of Rabindranath’s biographer Prabhat Mukhopadhyay, it is known—as everyone says—that in the 1896 Congress Session in Calcutta, he himself gave the tune and sang those first seven lines. In this context, he later said, “When I was singing Vande Mataram, a wave of electricity surged through my whole body; my entire existence was overwhelmed by a deep feeling.” Who was the President of that session? Rahimtullah Sayani, a Muslim. He did not object; he did not leave the session. Therefore, it is not possible to tell this long history in such a short time. Now, the slogan, Vande Mataram. Today, we all have been chanting “Vande Mataram” for ages. When and where it was first uttered as a slogan? In Kidderpore, Calcutta. At that time, the AntiPartition movement had just begun. The Pratapaditya Festival was taking
place in Kidderpore, presided over by Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, the father of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee. There, the sound of Vande Mataram first rose as an inspirational mantra. Then it slowly spread everywhere. Vande Mataram Samitis and Societies were formed. Who were the leaders of the Vande Mataram Society? Dr. R. G. Kar, Sir S.N. Banerjee,Rabindranath Tagore, and C.R. Das. Another organization was set up named Vande Mataram Sampradaya. This Sampradaya took out morning processions (Prabhat Pheri) in villages, neighbourhoods, and districts to start propagating the Vande Mataram song among the people. You will be surprised to hear that during this Anti-Partition movement, bangle factories for women were created named Vande Mataram. A match factory was created named Vande Mataram. And who created this match factory? A Congress leader, Rash Behari Ghosh. In
1905, police torture began on the public in various districts including Barisal, Rangpur, and Jalpaiguri for the crime of singing Vande Mataram. Even for the crime of writing Vande Mataram on the walls of houses, homes were demolished. Vande Mataram was banned. But in the 1905 Benares session, Sarala Devi Chaudhurani sang the Vande Mataram song. Who was the President there? Gopal Krishna Gokhale.Sir, in 1906, when the partition movement had taken a massive form, the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee conference was held in Barisal. The President was Barrister Abdul Rasul from Comilla. On the first day of that two-day conference, they saw Vande Mataram being sung. Then what did they do? Sir, they arrested Surendranath Banerjee and fined him. A young man named Chittaranjan was beaten with sticks until his eyes were destroyed. There was a lathi charge. There were 400
women representatives; there was a lathi charge on them. And on the second day, when the session was continuing, they entered, imposed Section 144, and declared the meeting banned. At this time, Ashwini Kumar Dutta’s disciple, the bard (Charon Kobi) Mukunda Das, started a new Vande Mataram. Since Vande Mataram was banned and could not be sung, he started a new song:”Vande Mataram bole nacho re sakole, kirpan loiya hate” (Dance,everyone, chanting Vande Mataram). Through village plays (Jatra), he spread the message of Vande Mataram and patriotism. Mukunda Das was arrested and imprisoned in Delhi jail for three years. While he was imprisoned, his wife died. Even after returning, he could not be suppressed; he continued his practice of patriotism and Vande Mataram. Many did not accept this bright history back then. Our country’s first national flag was named the Vande Mataram Flag. It was raised on August 7, 1906, at Parsi Bagan Square, Calcutta, now named Sadhana Sarkar Udyan. Who designed the flag? Sister Nivedita designed it. She had the flag sewn by students of Bagbazar Girls’ School. That is what was raised in 1906.After that, Madam Cama, as our Honorable Home Minister mentioned, the flag she raised in Stuttgart, Germany on August 18, 1907, also had Vande Mataram written on it. That year, Madam Cama published a pamphlet named Vande Mataram. In 1909, the monthly magazine she published in Paris was also named Vande Mataram. In 1914, Ghadar Party leader Lala Har Dayal started editing the Vande Mataram magazine in Geneva, Switzerland. From the time of the Swadeshi and Boycott movements, Vande Mataram was elevated from a national level to an international level.Vande Mataram was the mantra of Indian revolutionism. Sir, when Nehruji was studying in England at that time, Motilal Nehru wrote him a letter on November 16, 1905, stating that we are passing through a critical juncture in the history of British India. He wrote, “Now even in Allahabad, we greet each other saying, Vande Mataram. If this movement continues, you will return to see a new India instead of the India you knew.” Sir, on April 16, 1907, Sri Aurobindo wrote in the Vande Mataram newspaper: “32 years ago when Bankim Chandra composed this song, it came to the notice of very few people. But when, after a long inertia of error, in a sudden moment of awakening, the people of the country cast their eyes in search of truth, then, in that auspicious moment, Vande Mataram was sounded.” The British had turned the entire race into a herd of sheep; from that cowardice, timidity, foolishness, and tamasic state, only the Vande Mataram sound awakened a new light, courage, and vigor in the soul. Sir, Mahatma Gandhi became President of the Congress party only once, at the Belgaum session in 1924. At the end of his speech, he said, “Vande Mataram.” Similarly, Vithalbhai Patel, at the Karachi conference in 1931, said “Vande Mataram” at the end of his speech. Therefore, from 1905 until later times, Vande Mataram was sung at Congress sessions. Damodar Paluskar, the famous classical singer of India, sang Vande Mataram at every Congress session from 1915 until he was alive. M.S. Subbulakshmi recorded Vande Mataram in a duet with Dilip Roy. These things must be told to today’s generation – the emotion, through which Vande Mataram was able to attract the whole country to itself. Sir, no one ever objected to the first seven lines of Vande Mataram being sung. But in 1937, Muslim League leader Jinnah raised allegations of anti-Muslim activities against the Congress. As long as Jinnah was in the Congress, he never raised even a strong objection regarding Vande Mataram. Suddenly, why did he raise it in 1937? I am a student of Political Science; I started digging into history. I saw that after the Government of India Act 1935, when elections were held in 11 provinces of India in 1936 and 1937 to form provincial governments, the Congress party won the maximum number of seats in that election. Out of 11,seven states went into the hands of the Congress party. The remaining states went to the Muslim League. This time, Jinnah got scared. There were reserved seats separately for Muslims. Despite this, he thought that the mass base the Congress party had, needed to be weakened. For that, he raised this slogan that Vande Mataram… The Congress Working Committee decided — he was in the Muslim League then – and the Congress said, “You have a separate resolution in your party.” He said, “No; Vande Mataram cannot be kept at all.” And the Hindu Mahasabha
and RSS said, “The entire Vande Mataram must be kept.” That is, the British ‘Divide and Rule’ policy that was applied to Bengal in 1905, which we had stopped, was now brought back afresh. A Plan-2 to divide and rule. That is why the seeds of Partition were created anew in this 1937,where Muslim communalism and Hindu communalism raised their heads n the same way. Sir, it is being said that Vande Mataram has been truncated. The people do not think it has been amputated. In various countries of the world, amputation of National Anthems has occurred. Jana Gana Mana has five stanzas; out of them, one stanza is the National Anthem, five were left out. No one objected; there is nothing to object to. It has to be sung in 52 seconds; in no country in the world is the National Anthem sung for 5 minutes. This was the main reason. It has been said repeatedly by Mr. Nehru. The British National Anthem, American National Anthem, Russian National Anthem, French National Anthem, German National Anthem, compared to the original, only one stanza or two stanzas are kept elsewhere. This “truncation” was done consciously because of the time factor I mentioned. Thirdly, Denmark and New Zealand still have two separate national anthems.” I am concluding. A poll was conducted online by BBC World Service. The survey was done in November, 2002. The poll received over 1,50,000 votes for around 7,000 different songs from listeners in 155 countries and the result was Vande Mataram came in second place. हम उसका पोस्टमार्टम कर रहे हैं, यह बहुत दुख की बात है, यह नहीं होना चाहिए। वंदे मातरम् का उस ढंग से honour किया जाए, जिस ढंग से हमारे क्रांतिकारियों ने वंदे मातरम् बोलते हुए अपनी जान कुर्बान की थी। वंदे मातरम् !
