The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday adopted a 10-point resolution against the Congress Working Committee’s (CWC) resolution in 1937 which barred the use of Vande Mataram beyond its initial two stanzas at Congress meetings.
The BJP resolution had harsh criticism against the Congress decision as it demanded that the complete Vande Mataram be declared and acknowledged as the National Song of the India. The party said the song symbolizes the national awareness and has contributed immensely to the struggle for independence of the country.
It also eliminated what the BJP called efforts to “communal pressure, political appeasement or narrow vote-bank considerations” of Vande Mataram. It said that if there is any conflict between the political resolution of 1937 and the constitutional structure set up after Independence and later legislation, then the latter should prevail.
The BJP quoted a 2026 Parliamentary amendment which gave Vande Mataram the same protection given to the National Anthem in the Constituent Assembly’s 1950 statement.
Another aim of the party was to draw attention to the historical background of the ban on the song, consisting of objections raised by the Muslim League and the communal and separatist politics of the time.
The resolution referred to such a wider meaning of Vande Mataram, as Mahatma Gandhi recognized it as an “anti-imperialist cry” linked to the “purest national spirit”, and not just the literary or religious meaning attached to each of its stanzas.
Under its resolution, the BJP has stated that it would launch a pan-India initiative using the BJP workers to propagate the message and meaning of Vande Mataram.
The party also called for teaching the children the entire song of the six-stanza lyrics and their connection with the freedom struggle in India.
The BJP finally stated that one could not “fob-off” the honour and legacy of Vande Mataram because of whatever being of an “appeasement bent.