NEW DELHI: West Bengal BJP MLA Sumitro Chatterjee on Sunday demanded an unconditional apology from senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi for allegedly disrespecting Vande Mataram.Chatterjee is a direct descendant of renowned poet Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, who wrote the national song.In his letter, Chatterjee described the alleged incident on August 15, as the country celebrated its 80th Independence Day, as “not merely unfortunate but a shameless repetition of a historical mistake.”He stated that he was writing as an “ordinary citizen, a patriot and a direct descendant of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay,” and expressed “deep pain, emptiness, and anger” over the episode.He termed Sonia Gandhi’s alleged reluctance to fully recite “Vande Mataram” on an “insult” to the sacrifices of martyrs such as Khudiram Bose.Chatterjee also cited the song’s role in the freedom movement, including its recitation by Sarala Devi Chaudhurani at the 1905 Benares Congress session, its singing by Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s supporters during his 1909 sedition trial, and its use as a rallying cry by nationalist students at Hyderabad’s Osmania University in 1938 despite the Nizam’s restrictions.He also referred to Rabindranath Tagore’s rendition of the song at the 1896 Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress.Chatterjee further claimed that the Congress’ so-called “dual policy” was not new, recalling that in 1937, the party had “bowed” to Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s objections and truncated the song that October. He argued that the shadow of that “compromise” was visible again in the party’s conduct.Asserting that Vande Mataram was not the property of any one political party but the country’s collective memory, Bankim Chandra’s eternal legacy and a sacred national symbol earned through the blood and sacrifice of martyrs, Chatterjee maintained that respecting the song was tantamount to respecting the history of India’s freedom struggle.He warned that “history forgives no one” and that any leadership which fails to respect its own mantra of freedom would be pushed by history into “the darkness of oblivion.”Chatterjee added that the incident had “deeply” hurt the sentiments of the people of West Bengal and appealed to Gandhi to introspect and tender an unconditional apology to all countrymen, particularly the people of West Bengal, without any conditions.
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The incident he referred to took place during Independence Day celebrations at the Congress party headquarters in Delhi. A video from the event went viral, with several BJP leaders and social media users alleging that there was “discomfort” and repeated attempts to stop the full version of Vande Mataram from being sung.The 80th Independence Day marked the first time since independence that the national song was played at the official August 15 celebrations at Delhi’s Red Fort. Vande Mataram was played before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation from the ramparts of the iconic monument.(With PTI inputs)
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