New Delhi, Dec 8 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday accused India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of “betraying” the national song Vande Mataram by accepting Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s objections, a move he said set India on the path of appeasement politics that ultimately culminated in Partition.

Speaking during a debate in Parliament on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram, Modi said the song had energised the freedom struggle, inspired unity, and was held in the same esteem as the national anthem by leaders like Mahatma Gandhi. Written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1875, Vande Mataram had become a symbol of resistance against British rule, he said.

Modi argued that the national song “suffered grave injustice” in the last century and questioned why it was dragged into cont

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