[nukkad] More on Vande Mataram

["Net Geek" <>]

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Dear Nukkies
            Came acroos this article (with due references) which provides 
insight into Muslim populace's opposition to singing Vande Mataram. Also 
mentioned  is the transalation of the whole poem by Sri. Aurobindo. On a 
personal level, i can understand the opposition to references of Goddess 
Durga and Lakshmi in the third and fourth Stanzas, but see no reason why 
there should be any hesitation in singing the first two stanzas, especially 
taking into consideration the emotional patronage the song commanded during 
the period of freedom struggle. However this is only my personal view. BTW 
this is a long one, but defenitely worth it.

Bye


Netgeek
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Vande Mataram Translation from Bengali by Sri Aurobindo, Sri Aurobindo Birth 
Centenary Library, Vol.8

Hail to The Mother (Vande Mataram)

Mother, I bow to thee!
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
Bright with thy orchard gleams,
Cool with thy winds of delight,
Dark fields waving, Mother of might,
Mother Free.
Glory of moonlight dreams
Over thy ranches and lordly streams,
Clad in thy blossoming trees,
Mother, giver of ease,
Laughing low and sweet!
Mother, I kissd thy feet
Speaks sweet and low!
Mother,to thee I bow.

Who hath said thou art weak in thy lands,
When the swords flash out in twice
seventy million hands
And seventy million voices roar!
Thy dreadful name from shore to shore?
With many strengths who are mighty and strong,
to thee I call, Mother and Lord!
Thou who savest, arise and save!
To her I cry who ever her foemen drave.

Back from plain and sea
And shook herself free.
Thou art wisdom, thou art law,
Thou our heart, our soul, our breath,
Thou art the love divine, the awe
In our hearts that conquers death
Thine the strength that nerves the arm.
Thine the beauty, thine the charm.
Every image made divine
In our temples is but thine.
Thou art Durga, Lady and Queen,
With her hands that strike and her swords of sheen,

Thou art Lakshmi lotus-throned,
And the Muse a hundred toned,
Pure and perfect without peer,
Mother lend thine ear.
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
Bright with thy orchard gleams,
Dark of her, O candid-fair
In thy soul, with jewelled hair
And thy glorious smile divine
Lovliest of all earthly lands.



How secular is Vande Mataram? - AG Noorani

The song 'Vande Mataram' occurs in Bankimchandra Chatterjee's novel Anand 
Math published in 1882.

In 1937 the Congress Working Committee said: "The Committee recognise the 
validity of the objection raised by Muslim friends to certain parts of the 
song." It declared that "only the first two stanzas should be sung". A poem 
which needs surgical operation cannot command universal acceptance.

In his Autobiography of an Unknown Indian, Nirad C. Chaudhuri has aptly 
described the atmosphere of the times in which the song was written.1 "The 
historical romances of Bankim Chatterjee and Ramesh Chandra Dutt glorified 
Hindu rebellion against Muslim rule and showed the Muslims in a 
correspondingly poor light. Chatterjee was positively and fiercely 
anti-Muslim. We were eager readers of these romances and we readily absorbed 
their spirit."

R.C. Majumdar, the historian, has written an objective account of it.2 
"During the long and arduous struggle for freedom from 1905 to 1947 'Bande 
Mataram' was the rallying cry of the patriotic sons of India, and thousands 
of them succumbed to the lathi blow of the British police or mounted the 
scaffold with 'Bande Mataram' on their lips. The central plot moves round a 
band of sanyasis, called santanas or children, who left their hearth and 
home and dedicated their lives to the cause of their motherland. They 
worshipped their motherland as the Goddess Kali;... This aspect of the 
Ananda Math and the imagery of Goddess Kali leave no doubt that 
Bankimchandra's nationalism was Hindu rather than Indian. This is made 
crystal clear from his other writings which contain passionate outbursts 
against the subjugation of India by the Muslims. From that day set the sun 
of our glory - that is the refrain of his essays and novels which not 
unoften contain adverse, and sometimes even irreverent, remarks against the 
Muslims" (emphasis added). As Majumdar pithily puts it, "Bankimchandra 
converted patriotism into religion and religion into patriotism."

The novel was not anti-British, either. In the last chapter, we find a 
supernatural figure persuading the leader of the sanyasis, Satyananda, to 
stop fighting. The dialogue that follows is interesting:3

"He: Your task is accomplished. The Muslim power is destroyed. There is 
nothing else for you to do. No good can come of needless slaughter.

"S: The Muslim power has indeed been destroyed, but the dominion of the 
Hindu has not yet been established. The British still hold Calcutta.

"He: Hindu dominion will not be established now. If you remain at your work, 
men will be killed to no purpose. Therefore come.

"S: (greatly pained) My lord, if Hindu dominion is not going to be 
established, who will rule? Will the Muslim kings return?

"He: No. The English will rule."

Satyananda protests, but is persuaded to lay down the sword.

"He: Your vow is fulfilled. You have brought fortune to your Mother. You 
have set up a British government. Give up your fighting. Let the people take 
to their ploughs. Let the earth be rich with harvest and the people rich 
with wealth.

"S: (weeping hot tears) I will make my Mother rich with harvest in the blood 
of her foes.

"He: Who is the foe? There are no foes now. The English are friends as well 
as rulers. And no one can defeat them in battle. (emphasis added).

"S: If that is so, I will kill myself before the image of my Mother.

"He: In ignorance? Come and know. There is a temple of the Mother in the 
Himalayas. I will show you her image there.

"So saying, He took Satyananda by the hand."

Anti-Muslim references are spread all over the work. Jivananda with sword in 
hand, at the gate of the temple, exhorts the children of Kali: "We have 
often thought to break up this bird's nest of Muslim rule, to pull down the 
city of the renegades and throw it into the river - to turn this pig-sty to 
ashes and make Mother earth free from evil again. Friends, that day has 
come."

The use of the song 'Vande Mataram' in the novel is not adventitious, and it 
is not only communal-minded Muslims who resent it because of its context and 
content. M.R.A. Baig's analysis of the novel and the song deserve attention. 
"Written as a story set in the period of the dissolution of the Moghul 
Empire, the hero of the novel, Bhavananda, is planning an armed rising 
against the Muslims of Bengal. While busy recruiting, he meets Mahendra and 
sings the song 'Bande Mataram' or 'Hail Mother'. The latter asks him the 
meaning of the words and Bhavananda, making a spirited answer, concludes 
with: 'Our religion is gone, our caste is gone, our honour is gone. Can the 
Hindus preserve their Hinduism unless these drunken Nereys (a term of 
contempt for Muslims) are driven away?'... Mahendra, however, not convinced, 
expresses reluctance to join the rebellion. He is, therefore, taken to the 
temple of Ananda Math and shown a huge image of four-armed Vishnu, with two 
decapitated and bloody heads in front, "Do you know who she is?" asks the 
priest in charge, pointing to an image on the lap of Vishnu, "She is the 
Mother. We are her children Say 'Bande Mataram'" He is taken to the image of 
Kali and then to that of Durga. On each occasion he is asked to recite 
'Bande Mataram'. In another scene in the novel some people shouted 'kill, 
kill the Nereys'. Others shouted 'Bande Mataram' 'Will the day come when we 
shall break mosques and build temples on their sites? 4

The song has five stanzas. Of these only the first two are the "approved 
ones". Jawaharlal Nehru was 'opposed to the last two stanzas'. The approved 
stanzas read:

"I bow to thee, Mother, richly watered, richly fruited,

cool with the winds of the south,

dark with the crops of the harvests,

the Mother!

Her nights rejoicing in the glory of

the moonlight, her hands clothed

beautifully with her trees in flowering

bloom, sweet of laughter, sweet of

speech, the Mother, giver of boons

giver of bliss!

The third stanza refers to 'Thy dreadful name', evidently, a reference to 
the Goddess Kali. The fourth is in the same vein. 'Thou art Durga, Lady and 
Queen, with her hands that strike and her swords of sheen'.

It is essentially a religious homage to the country conceived as a deity, 'a 
form of worship' as Majumdar aptly called it. The motherland is "conceived 
as the Goddess Kali, the source of all power and glory."

This, in the song itself. The context makes it worse. "The land of Bengal, 
and by extension all of India, became identified with the female aspect of 
Hindu deity, and the result was a concept of divine Motherland".5 How 
secular is such a song? The objection was not confined to mere bowing and it 
was voiced early in the day.

In his presidential address at the Second Session of the All-India Muslim 
League held in Amritsar on December 30, 1908, Syed Ali Imam said:

"I cannot say what you think, but when I find the most advanced province of 
India put forward the sectarian cry of 'Bande Mataram' as the national cry, 
and the sectarian Rakhibandhan as a national observance, my heart is filled 
with despair and disappointment; and the suspicion that under the cloak of 
nationalism Hindu nationalism is preached in India becomes a conviction. Has 
the experiment tried by Akbar and Aurangzeb failed again? Has 50 years of 
the peaceful spread of English education given the country only a revival of 
denominationalism? Gentlemen, do not misunderstand me. I believe that the 
establishment of conferences, associations and corporate bodies in different 
communities on denominational lines is necessary to give expression to 
denominational views, so that the builders of a truly national life in the 
country may have before them the crystallised need and aspirations of all 
sects...

"Regard for the feelings and sentiments, needs and requirements of all is 
the key-note to true Indian nationalism. It is more imperative where the 
susceptibilities of the two great communities, Hindus and Musalmans, are 
involved. Unreconciled, one will be as great a drag on the wheel of national 
progress as the other. I ask the architects of Indian nationalism, both in 
Calcutta and Poona, do they expect the Musalmans of India to accept 'Bande 
Mataram' and the Sivaji celebration? The Mohammedans may be weak in anything 
you please, but they are not weak in cherishing their traditions of their 
glorious past. I pray the Congress leaders to put before the country such a 
programme of political advancement as does not demand the sacrifice of the 
feelings of the Hindu or the Mohammedan, the Parsee or the Christian."

The Congress Working Committee, which met in Calcutta on October 26, 1937, 
under the presidentship of Nehru, adopted a long statement on the subject.6 
It asked that the song should "be considered apart from the book." Recalling 
its use in the preceding 30 years, the resolution said:

"The song and the words thus became symbols of national resistance to 
British Imperialism in Bengal especially, and generally in other parts of 
India. The words 'Bande Mataram' became a slogan of power which inspired our 
people and a greeting which ever remind us of our struggle for national 
freedom.

"Gradually the use of the first two stanzas of the song spread to other 
provinces and a certain national significance began to attach to them. The 
rest of the song was very seldom used, and is even now known by few persons. 
These two stanzas described in tender language the beauty of (the) 
motherland and the abundance of her gifts. There was absolutely nothing in 
them to which objection could be from the religious or any other point of 
view... The other stanzas of the song are little known and hardly ever sung. 
They contain certain allusions and a religious ideology which may not be in 
keeping with the ideology of other religious groups in India.

"The Committee recognise the validity of the objection raised by Muslim 
friends to certain parts of the song. While the Committee have taken note of 
such objection insofar as it has intrinsic value, the Committee wish to 
point out that the modern evolution of the use of the song as part of 
National life is of infinitely greater importance than its setting in a 
historical novel before the national movement had taken shape. Taking all 
things into consideration, therefore, the Committee recommend that, wherever 
Bande Mataram is sung at national gatherings, only the first two stanzas 
should be sung, with perfect freedom to the organisers to sing any other 
song of an unobjectionable character, in addition to, or in the place of, 
the Bande Mataram song."

'National' songs do not need political surgery; the songs which do, do not 
win national acceptance. Against this was the fact of history that, however 
ill-advised, the song had come to be associated with the struggle for 
freedom. Gandhi advised Muslims to appreciate its historic association but 
counselled against any imposition. "No doubt, every act... must be purely 
voluntary on the part of either partner," he said at Alipore on August 23, 
1947.

THE Government of India acquired this emotion-charged legacy. Its stand was 
defined in a statement by Prime Minister Nehru to the Constituent Assembly 
(Legislative) on August 25, 1948:7 Nehru said:

"The question of having a national anthem tune, to be played by orchestras 
and bands became an urgent one for us immediately after 15th August 1947. It 
was as important as that of having a national flag. The 'Jana Gana Mana' 
tune, slightly varied, had been adopted as a national anthem by the Indian 
National Army in South-East Asia, and had subsequently attained a degree of 
popularity in India also... I wrote to all the provincial Governors and 
asked their views about our adopting 'Jana Gana Mana' or any other song as 
the national anthem. I asked them to consult their Premiers before 
replying... Every one of these Governors, except one (the Governor of the 
Central Provinces), signified their approval of 'Jana Gana Mana'. Thereupon 
the Cabinet considered the matter and came to the decision that 
provisionally 'Jana Gana Mana' should be used as the tune for the national 
anthem, till such time as the Constituent Assembly came to a final decision. 
Instructions were issued accordingly to the provincial governments...

''It is unfortunate that some kind of argument has arisen as between 'Vande 
Mataram' and 'Jana Gana Mana'. 'Vande Mataram' is obviously and indisputably 
the premier national song of India, with a great historical tradition, and 
intimately connected with our struggle for freedom. That position it is 
bound to retain and no other song can displace it. It represents the 
position and poignancy of that struggle, but perhaps not so much the 
culmination of it. In regard to the national anthem tune, it was felt that 
the tune was more important than the words... It seemed therefore that while 
'Vande Mataram' should continue to be the national song par excellence in 
India, the national anthem tune should be that of 'Jana Gana Mana', the 
wording of 'Jana Gana Mana' to be suitably altered to fit in with the 
existing circumstances.

"The question has to be considered by the Constituent Assembly, and it is 
open to that Assembly to decide as it chooses. It may decide on a completely 
new song or tune, if such is available."

A MORE definitive statement was made by the President of the Constituent 
Assembly, Rajendra Prasad, on January 24, 1950. He said: "There is one 
matter which has been pending for discussion, namely, the question of the 
national anthem. At one time it was thought that the matter might be brought 
up before the House, and a decision taken by the House by way of a 
resolution. But it has been felt that, instead of taking a formal decision 
by means of a resolution, it is better if I make a statement with regard to 
the national anthem. Accordingly, I make this statement... The composition 
consisting of the words and music known as 'Jana Gana Mana' is the national 
anthem of India, subject to such alterations in the words as the Government 
may authorise as occasion arises; and the song 'Vande Mataram', which has 
played a historic part in the struggle for Indian freedom, shall be honoured 
equally with Jana Gana Mana and shall have equal status with it. (Applause) 
I hope that will satisfy the Members."8

Mutual understanding will lead to the Gandhian formula - respect for the 
song but no imposition. But even more than that, if the problem were 
understood in depth, what would emerge is a far better appreciation of the 
reasons why the Muslims and the Congress drifted away from each other. Those 
reasons have many a lesson for us today as we build a secular India. 
Attempts at imposition reflect a conscious decision to break with the 
national secular ideal.

REFERENCES

1. Jaico; page 235.

2. British Paramountcy and Indian Renaissance, Part II: Bharatiya Vidya 
Bhavan, 1965; page 478.

3. Sources of Indian Tradition compiled by William Theodore de Bary and 
others; Columbia University Press; 1958; page 715.

4. Vide his essay "The Partition of Bengal and its Aftermath; The Indian 
Journal of Political Science; Volume XXX, April-June 1969, Number 2, pages 
120-122.

5. D.F.Smith: India as a Secular State; Princeton University Press; 1963; 
page 90

6. Indian Annual Register, 1937, Volume II, p. 327.

7. Official Report on "Constituent Assembly Debates"; Third session, Part I, 
Volume VI, August 9-31, 1948.

8. Constituent Assembly Debates, Volume XII; January 24, 1950.



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