Amidst all the controversy over 'Vande Mataram', the complete full national song was played at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi on Saturday, as the country celebrated its 80th Independence Day.
The complete 'Vande Mataram' was sung in presence of Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Rahul Gandhi, and Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
A video is also being shared on social media that showed the entire 'Vande Mataram' being played at the party headquarters, with some users pointing out that Rahul and Sonia had signalled it to stop. However, the party later clarified that Sonia was only asking for a chair for Kharge, who continued standing during the flag hoisting ceremony.
'Vande Mataram', composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, has been at the heart of a controversy after the government announced that all its six stanzas will be sung at all official government functions, schools, and major national ceremonies.
The government also launched a year-long celebration to mark 150 years of 'Vande Mataram' in November last year. However, the Congress has criticised the move and accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of politicising a national symbol.
Full 'Vande Mataram' played at Red Fort
As India celebrated its 80th Independence Day, the full 'Vande Mataram' was played at the Red Fort on Saturday. It was played by an Army band after which PM Modi hoisted the national flag, and then the national anthem was recited.
'Vande Mataram' was initially composed independently and later included in Chatterjee's novel 'Anandamath'. It was first sung by Rabindranath Tagore at the 1896 Congress Session in Calcutta (now Kolkata). The chant 'Vande Mataram' as a political slogan was first used on August 7, 1905, according to a note '150 Years of Vande Mataram: A Melody That Became a Movement', shared by the government on November 6 last year.
'Vande Mataram' was first published in the literary journal 'Bangadarshan' on November 7, 1875. Later, Chatterjee incorporated the hymn in his novel 'Anandamath', which was published in 1882. It was set to music by Tagore, it said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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