Sixteen years before he wrote Jana Gana Mana in 1911, Rabindranath Tagore had sung Vande Mataram – ‘Mother, I bow to thee’ – at the 1896 Indian National Congress session in Calcutta. The song went on to inspire generations of freedom fighters, becoming the anthem of India’s awakening and a symbol of unity during the country’s struggle for independence. Vande Mataram had made its first appearance in the literary journal Bangadarshan as part of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel Anandamath on 7 November in 1875. Therefore, yesterday, marked 150 years of this timeless composition which inspired India’s freedom movement and continues to evoke national pride and unity.
When Curzon took the unpopular decision to partition Bengal in 1905, Vande Mataram was transformed from a song to a slogan of protest as forty thousand citizens gathered at the Town Hall of Calcutta on 7 August of that year to oppose the partition. Chanting it during processions, students and workers turned it into the anthem of the Swadeshi movement. Morning marches (Prabhat Pheris) echoed with the hymn as citizens pledged loyalty to the motherland. Rabindranath Tagore often joined these gatherings, turning them into a blend of spiritual devotion and political protest. Its influence was so strong that Lord Curzon ordered police to arrest anyone who sang it, highlighting its political impact.
In 1907, Madam Bhikaji Cama raised the tricolour flag for the first-time outside India in Stuttgart, Berlin. The words Vande Mataram were written on the flag. Two years later, when Madan Lal Dhingra was hanged in England, his last words before he went to the gallows were “Bande Mataram”. In 1909, Indian patriots in Paris undertook the publication of a magazine called Bande Mataram from Geneva. In October 1912, Gopal Krishna Gokhale was welcomed in Cape Town with a grand procession chanting “Vande Mataram”.
The first two verses were adopted in 1937 as India’s National Song by the Congress Working Committee. Contrary to the perception that Muslims were opposed to the singing of this song, it bears recall that the authorised Urdu translation of Vande Mataram – Tasleemat Ma, Tasleemat, Tasleemat, was sung at every Congress session till 1946. On 24 January 1950, Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, announced that while Jana Gana Mana would be the National Anthem, Vande Mataram, for its key role in the freedom movement, would be honoured equally as the National Song. India’s Constitution does not explicitly mention a national song. However, Article 51A(a) asks citizens to respect the Constitution, National Flag, National Anthem and the National song.
Let us therefore join hands in celebrating the anthem of protest which is now the National Song of India.
