Vande Mataram !!
Bankin Chandra composed the song Vande Mataram in an inspired moment, Rabindranath sang it by setting a glorious tune to it and it was left to the genius of Shri Aurobindo to interpret the deeper meaning of the song out of which India received the philosophy of new Nationalism.
The English translation of Vande Mataram rendered by Shree Aurobindo, is considered as official and best as per Bhavan’s book, Vande Mataram by Moni Bagchee.
September 7th was the 100th anniversary of “Vande Mataram” (”Hail to the Mother (land)!”), which was used often during campaigns to free India (and pre-partition Pakistan, for that matter) from British colonial rule.
A campaign to urge schoolchildren across India to sing the song has stirred controversy, with some Muslim schools, supported by Muslim institutions, refusing to sing it on the grounds that it invokes the worship of Hindu deities, specifically Durga. Although “Vande Mataram” mostly praises India’s geography, the title can be translated to “I bow to thee, mother,” which clashes with Muslim traditions of bowing only to God.
A lot of debate has been going on and it has now become a political issue with BJP voting for making it compulsory in states where it governs. “There should be no compromising attitude on the national song,” said BJP leader LK Advani. Perhaps, this has contributed to one of the many factors for poor performance in elections.
However, despite all the concerns, leading Muslim institutes and bodies such has Darul Uloom Deoband have steered clear of the issue until today, where in it issued a fatwa to against singing Vande Maataram by Muslims.
Now, there are various questions being raised and this has fire balled into a big issue. My views:
Firstly, India is a secular country and the decision to sing the song should be left to the individual just like the national anthem. Though, the people of India should be encouraged to sing it by educating them about the right meaning to the song and the need to maintain unity in diversity. The present government has made it clear that it would not make singing this song or any song for that matter, compulsory.
The Muslim institutes need to answer one simply question. Vande Maataram, has been an integral part of India’s freedom struggle which was fought shoulder to shoulder by all religions united. Why didn’t they find the need to impose a fatwa then? Perhaps, the cause to free the nation was more important than the song itself. However, isn’t the cause more important today as well, where the world is filled with violence and religious divides, wherein we are fighting a different kind of freedom struggle?
However, all said. It is important that singing a song or not should not be equated to the patriotism of the entire community. It will only cause further confusions among the young minds. Therefore, it is very important for our politicians and religious leaders to stop giving this issue a political color and start calling a spade, a spade. If someone doesn’t want to sing, fine no problem. I have no doubt that they are as patriotic as anyone else and they love their country as much as others. Not touching the elders feet should not be considered as a sign of disrespect. If at all there is love and respect, let it be in our hearts and deeds. At the same time it is necessary to understand that the boundary separating absolute honesty and arrogance is a very thin delicate line. Each and every one of us needs to acknowledge that. Therefore, I am steering clear of the how one religion should look at God.
My fellow blogger Sai once commented, “I prefer direct communication. No hidden meanings etc. We all seem to convolute this communication and the reader is stuck on the words rather than the wisdom.” Perhaps Sai was absolutely right. There is no hidden meaning. I didn’t even know the meaning of each word of Vande Maataram until today. However, when it is sung, my heart would fill with joy and pride. Joy of being someone and being free yet responsible. Such is the tune.
Perhaps, this could be well summarized by remembering the fact that, Vande Mataram was sung by Lata Mageshkar. Vande Mataram was also sung by A.R Rahman. Now, that is what I mean by secularism and respecting the soul of the song instead of being hung up on words.
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