7 Sepember,2006: The first centenary of “Vande mataram” – a song which is a reminder of our struggle during the pre-independence era.
Debate: To sing or not to sing it.
Participants: Politicians and religious leaders and the media.
Observers: Do "We, the people" even care???
The whole drama has been going on in full media glare for more than 2 weeks now and today is when the whole issue will reach it’s culmination point. Frankly, how many of us actually care about who sings the national song or not. Okie, fine, agreed, there are people amongst us who have been tracking the whole issue and have some very strong opinions about the whole fuss being created about the song. This stand of mine might be of some interest to those people.
I get goose bumps every time I hear the song “Vande mataram” being played, whether it be Rehman crooning away a spiced up version of the song or the original version, rendered in the soulful voice of Lata (again, a Rehman creation). There is something awfully inspiring about this song, the lyrics and the tune, everything just fits. Then, why was “Jana gana mana” chosen as our national anthem and not “Vande Mataram”?
I read this engaging piece in The Hindu editorial which explained in detail that during the pre-independence era, the overt hindu overtones in the song alienated the minorities who were otherwise eager participants in the freedom struggle. Perhaps, Nehru described the whole issue surrounding the song aptly when he said,” indisputably the premier national song of India with a great historical tradition and intimately connected with our struggle for freedom ... It represents the position and the poignancy of that struggle, but perhaps not so much the culmination of it”. This statement made by Nehru showcases the fact that somewhere, even the constitution framers realized that making Vande mataram the national anthem would amount to violating the secular fabric of the country given the strong cultural nationalism reflected in the song.
From where I see it, no body is interested in the song as such, the only point here is to make headlines and scandalizing ones at that. The players in the whole drama are the religious heads and the politicians. I really don’t care about their stand. The way I think, if am living in a democracy, the only person who gets to decide whether I sing the song or not is ME. No one else has the right to tell me what I should and should not do. Why should the Muslims prove their patriotism to their motherland by singing a song? Why should the Hindus insist that the Muslims not singing the song is an insult to the country? How many of us actually go for the flag hoisting on 26 January and 15 August?
The only reason the whole thing is being blown out of proportion is to create a divide between Hindus and Muslims. Yet another interesting anecdote in the vote bank politics archive of our “democratic and secular” country.
My only question to these “zealous” patriot-cum-politicians of our country is that when attending the flag hoisting on Independence Day and Republic Day has not been made compulsory till date, why so much fuss about a song? Will I get an answer? Knowing the political scenario of this country, I am sure I won’t.
Debate: To sing or not to sing it.
Participants: Politicians and religious leaders and the media.
Observers: Do "We, the people" even care???
The whole drama has been going on in full media glare for more than 2 weeks now and today is when the whole issue will reach it’s culmination point. Frankly, how many of us actually care about who sings the national song or not. Okie, fine, agreed, there are people amongst us who have been tracking the whole issue and have some very strong opinions about the whole fuss being created about the song. This stand of mine might be of some interest to those people.
I get goose bumps every time I hear the song “Vande mataram” being played, whether it be Rehman crooning away a spiced up version of the song or the original version, rendered in the soulful voice of Lata (again, a Rehman creation). There is something awfully inspiring about this song, the lyrics and the tune, everything just fits. Then, why was “Jana gana mana” chosen as our national anthem and not “Vande Mataram”?
I read this engaging piece in The Hindu editorial which explained in detail that during the pre-independence era, the overt hindu overtones in the song alienated the minorities who were otherwise eager participants in the freedom struggle. Perhaps, Nehru described the whole issue surrounding the song aptly when he said,” indisputably the premier national song of India with a great historical tradition and intimately connected with our struggle for freedom ... It represents the position and the poignancy of that struggle, but perhaps not so much the culmination of it”. This statement made by Nehru showcases the fact that somewhere, even the constitution framers realized that making Vande mataram the national anthem would amount to violating the secular fabric of the country given the strong cultural nationalism reflected in the song.
From where I see it, no body is interested in the song as such, the only point here is to make headlines and scandalizing ones at that. The players in the whole drama are the religious heads and the politicians. I really don’t care about their stand. The way I think, if am living in a democracy, the only person who gets to decide whether I sing the song or not is ME. No one else has the right to tell me what I should and should not do. Why should the Muslims prove their patriotism to their motherland by singing a song? Why should the Hindus insist that the Muslims not singing the song is an insult to the country? How many of us actually go for the flag hoisting on 26 January and 15 August?
The only reason the whole thing is being blown out of proportion is to create a divide between Hindus and Muslims. Yet another interesting anecdote in the vote bank politics archive of our “democratic and secular” country.
My only question to these “zealous” patriot-cum-politicians of our country is that when attending the flag hoisting on Independence Day and Republic Day has not been made compulsory till date, why so much fuss about a song? Will I get an answer? Knowing the political scenario of this country, I am sure I won’t.
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