PM Modi Says Nehru Felt Vande Mataram Would Irritate Muslims and He Agreed with Jinnah

Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the Lok Sabha discussion on 150 years of Vande Mataram to launch a pointed critique of the Congress, centering his attack on Jawaharlal Nehru's approach to the national song and its connection to the Muslim community.

Modi argued that Nehru's concerns aligned with the views of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who opposed the song on the grounds that it would alienate Muslims.

Nehru, Jinnah and Concerns About Muslim Sentiment

Modi said Nehru had considered Vande Mataram potentially provocative for Muslims and had suggested limiting its usage. He framed this stance as one that echoed Jinnah's longstanding objection to the song. The Prime Minister reminded the House that Nehru had written to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in 1937, suggesting that the song might irritate Muslim citizens and therefore deserved reconsideration.

The political debate over the song traces back to 1937, when the Congress decided that only the first two stanzas should be sung at national gatherings because the later verses mentioned Hindu goddesses. Congress leaders of the time believed these references were unacceptable to some Muslim groups. Modi and the BJP have argued that this decision reflected a willingness to accommodate communal pressure at the cost of national unity.

Historical Decisions and the Partition Debate

The Prime Minister said the 1937 decision to adopt only part of Vande Mataram "sowed the seeds of the nation's division". He recalled how the BJP has accused the Congress of deliberately excluding verses celebrating Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati to appease Muslim sentiment. He reiterated the party's view that such choices played into the politics that later led to Partition.

Modi also linked this episode to the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi decades later. He said that when the song reached its centenary in 1975, "the Constitution was strangled" and patriotism was suppressed. According to Modi, the 150 year milestone offers the chance to fully restore the song's symbolic value.

How the Congress Explained Its Position

The Congress had argued in 1937 that only the first two stanzas should be used at official events but clarified that individuals were free to sing the entire song elsewhere. Nehru himself wrote multiple letters to Bose in which he said the stanzas should not necessarily be read as references to goddesses and that such interpretations were "absurd". He also maintained that Vande Mataram was "harmless" in its entirety.

At the same time, Nehru acknowledged that some grievances among sections of the Muslim community were "real" and not to be ignored. He wrote that while the party should not indulge communal pressure, it had to be alert to the social sensitivities of the time. The BJP, however, claims Nehru's correspondence reveals a willingness to dilute national symbols to satisfy Muslim opinion.

A Continuing Political Flashpoint

The BJP has used these exchanges to intensify its criticism of the Congress. Last month, party spokesperson CR Kesavan posted excerpts of Nehru's letters online, alleging that Nehru had intentionally removed references to goddess Durga. The Congress countered that Nehru's stance was being misrepresented and that he had repeatedly described the song as non religious in character.

Modi placed the current debate within the broader context of national commemorations. He referred to the celebrations of 75 years of the Constitution, the 150th anniversaries of Sardar Patel and Birsa Munda, and the 350th martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur. He said marking the 150 years of Vande Mataram in Parliament was a moment of national pride.