Congress Accuses PM Modi of “Insulting” Tagore and 1937 CWC Over Vande Mataram Remarks

Stepping up its attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the “Vande Mataram” row, the Congress on Sunday alleged that the PM has “insulted” the Congress Working Committee (CWC) of 1937 — which issued a statement on the song — as well as Rabindranath Tagore, and said he should focus his political battles on contemporary issues that affect people’s daily lives.

Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said the prime minister’s remarks were “shocking but not surprising since the RSS had played no role in our Freedom Movement led by Mahatma Gandhi.”

The opposition’s criticism followed Modi’s comments on Friday, when he claimed that key stanzas of the national song, “Vande Mataram”, were dropped in 1937 — an act which, he said, “sowed the seeds of partition” and reflected a “divisive mindset” still affecting the country today. Modi made the remarks while inaugurating a year-long commemoration of “Vande Mataram” to mark its 150th anniversary, during which he also released a commemorative stamp and coin. In a post on X, Ramesh cited the CWC’s 1937 meeting in Kolkata, attended by prominent leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhas Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, and Sarojini Naidu.

He said, “The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi Volume 66, page 46, reveals that on October 28, 1937, the CWC issued a statement on Vande Mataram, and this statement had been profoundly influenced by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and his advice.” “The Prime Minister has insulted this CWC as also Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. That he should have done so is shocking but not surprising since the RSS had played no role in our Freedom Movement led by Mahatma Gandhi,” Ramesh said.

He added that Modi should “fight his current political battles on current issues that are of daily concern to crores of Indians who worry about their present and future.” “His economic policies have sharpened inequalities. Unemployment has scaled new highs. Investment momentum has been lost. His foreign policy has collapsed. He stands thoroughly exposed. And all he does is abuse and defame India’s first Prime Minister (Jawaharlal Nehru),” Ramesh said.

The Congress leader also shared screenshots of the 1937 CWC statement, which noted that “gradually the use of the first two stanzas of the (Vande Mataram) song spread to other provinces” and that these stanzas, written in “tender language,” described “the beauty of the motherland and the abundance of her gifts.” The statement said there was “nothing in these stanzas to which any one can take exception,” while the remaining stanzas contained “certain allusions and a religious ideology which may not be in keeping with the ideology of other religious groups in India.” It therefore recommended that “wherever the Bande Mataram is sung at national gatherings only the first two stanzas should be sung.”

The 1937 CWC also appointed a sub-committee comprising Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, and Narendra Dev to curate suitable national songs and to “consult and take the advice of poet Rabindranath Tagore.” On Saturday, Ramesh shared excerpts from the Bengali biography Rabindra-Jeebanee by Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay, published by Visva-Bharati in 1994, to support his claim. “The Master Distorian of a PM must render an apology. He has insulted our founding fathers and most of all Tagore himself,” Ramesh had said.

The Congress had already rebuked the prime minister on Friday, asserting that Tagore himself had suggested limiting “Vande Mataram” to its first two stanzas and calling it “shameful” of Modi to accuse the Nobel laureate of promoting a divisive ideology. According to historical records, a shortened version of “Vande Mataram” — keeping only the first two of six original stanzas — was officially adopted by the Congress in 1937 after consultation with Tagore. The poet had advised that “while the first two stanzas were entirely acceptable,” he could not agree with “the sentiments in the latter stanzas.”

In a letter to Nehru, Tagore wrote, “To me, the spirit of tenderness and devotion expressed in its first portion, the emphasis it gave to beautiful and beneficent aspects of our motherland made a special appeal, so much so that I found no difficulty in dissociating it from the rest of the poem... with all the sentiments of which, brought up as I was in the monotheistic ideals of my father, I could have no sympathy.”

(with inputs from PTI)