I love my nation and i salute those who fought for it's freedom

Vande Mataram – Being made as a national song almost five decades before, it was not hitting the headlines for good reasons and even this time, things has not changed. I’ve crossed many bad and embarrassing moments where in I’ve started or took part in some argument that will start well, but on the course will disturb one of the participant’s personal, communal or religious feelings/beliefs. Instead of learning lessons from them I yearn to do those more. But this time, let me be mature enough to just collate facts and happenings and the respective feelings for those facts/happenings.

It was a period where the atrocities of the British rulers were reaching its pinnacle and the need for the a national patriotic song was also at it’s height. Influenced by the song 'Jai Bharat, Jai' and its content, writer poet-Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay started thinking on a need of a universal, patriotic message to fellow Bharatiyas. In 1875, when he was quietly meditating in a house on the banks of Ganga, he heard the folklore of Bengal's fishermen. It was saying that "for us, the river Ganga is nothing else but mother Durga. Easily will we sacrifice our lives for her, within her." That was the right tone, the right feeling Bankimchandra was looking for. Durga is the warrior goddess, with the lion as the chariot. Although a mother, a woman she is, destroying the enemy with a weapon in hand. This stance of the mother was what was needed. A powerful song was born.

After it’s birth, it did not acquire the fame and did not spread across even Bengal. Only after the release of the book “Anandmath” by Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay, the song inspired the fellow Bengalis. It was so powerful that it stopped the partition of Bengal which was planned by Lord Curzon to split Bengal based on community, religion and caste. It was in 1905 that the British understood the power of the song and began opposing it and in the very next year, there was bloodshed at the regional youth convention of the Congress for singing the song. From 1906, the song crossed the Bengal borders, spread across the country like a fire, lighting the minds of fellow Indians for the need to struggle for freedom and fuelling the thirst for freedom. Subash Chandra bose chose this song as the anthem for his Indian National Army and it was played in their programs from Singapore radio station.

Now, in the centenary year celebration of the song (Is it or is it not?), it has again hit the news. The muslim community and the sikh community have opposed the resolution passed by the ministry making the song mandatory in school prayers during it’s centenary celebrations. The reason that they give here is simple. It is against their religious beliefs. For muslims, prophet is the only god and they cannot worship anything or anyone apart from him. Also idol worship is not allowed in their religion. They allege that the words “Vande mataram” means to worship the nation. The centenary celebrations have been celebrated with majority of the muslims ignoring it.

Some of the hindu leaders has reacted strongly for these muslim allegations. One of the VHS leaders have said that those do not respect the nation, should leave it. Many other strong words have been exchanged between top-tier leaders of both communities. Now, care should be taken before you read further. If you are a strong follower of any of the communities and if you feel by any chance you’ll be disturbed, please for heaven’s sake QUIT, yes I mean it.

There has been politics running through out the issue. The congress known for it’s incapability of taking bold decisions at the right time and for it’s appeasing tendency towards the minorities have once again tried to cajole the minorities and immediately seeing the allegations they made it out clear that no body will be compelled to sing them. They have recently released a press-release that this year is not the centenary year of the “Vande Mataram” song. I’m not fool enough to read the details further after reading the headline.The BJP, in need of a case to prove itself as one of the major contenders for the nation leadership and to repair its further repaired image (due to the Jharkhand miners issue and the need to prove majority in the assembly) has once again taken in its hand a communal issue.

It is not the first time for congress to go back when a decision is pending on their side. Earlier when the same agitations were raised by the muslims towards singing the national song, one of the congress stalwarts who has grown hearing the song in a period where it’s lines had the magic potion to ignite the freedom in one’s soul, the then Prime minister Mr.Jawaharlal Nehru instead of taking a strong decision, appointed a commission which advised the goverment to have two versions of a national song (How bad it sounds!!) which was later implemented. The new version did not have the last two stanzas. Again it is not the first time for BJP to blow-up a issue for its own benefit. Who can forget the bad communal clashes in Ahmedabad or ayodhya?

Is politics the reason for this and many more issues that disturb the nation’s harmony and peace frequently? Is this “Secular” status for India, a bane? Are we giving out too much for the minorities and totally neglecting the majorities’ feelings? Is the common man westernized to a limit that he is ashamed of asking these questions?
If you expect me to answer which question’s answer poses the real threat or if you expect answers for these questions from this blog, quit at least here.

In one of the scenes from the dungeon of mani ratnam’s classics “Kannathil Mutthamittal” , Madhavan puts in fromt the same question before another lay man Prakash raj. Being a singalese, (having seen in reality the truths and killings in the war)he will put forth the solution: “The entire world’s ammunitions should be dumped in the ocean”. Though it may seem to be a “Super-hero” sort of solution, among these crazy times it looks to be a feasible solution to all. The same Vikramasinghe (Prakash raj) puts forth another solution, in fact a belief to be perfect: “It will all stop in the Amudha’s (Madhavan’s kid) generation”.

I have nothing else to say but to believe the same. Only time and proper education can end this.

The full text of Vande mataram(The newer version) is as follows:

vandE mAtaraM vandE mAtaram
sujalAM suphalAM malayaja shItalAm
shashya shyAmalAM mAtaraM vandE mAtaram.h
subrajyOtsnA pulakita yAminIm
pulla kusumita drumadala shObhinIm
suhAsinIM sumadhura bhAShinIm
sukhadAM varadAM mAtaraM vandE mAtaram.h

Note : All the facts are collected from www.vandemataram.com