STATE TIMES NEWS

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said first PM Jawaharlal Nehru betrayed Vande Mataram by echoing Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s communal concerns and fragmenting the national song that put India on the path of politics of appeasement, leading to its Partition.

Initiating a debate on the ‘150th anniversary of national song Vande Mataram’, Modi highlighted how Vande Mataram inspired the nation, energised the freedom struggle and became a symbol of national resolve which prompted Mahatma Gandhi to liken it to the national anthem.

Penned by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1875, Modi said Vande Mataram challenged the British Empire that was unsettled by the freedom struggle of 1857 and heaping injustices upon India and forcing its people into submission.

“Vande Matara

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