Congress-NC Spat Over Vande Mataram Rendition at J&K Film Festival

The rendition of all six stanzas of the national song Vande Mataram at the inaugural ceremony of Jammu and Kashmir’s first International Film Festival in the presence of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah in Srinagar, has triggered a political spat between the NC and its ally Congress. All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal on Wednesday asked the NC to “honour the wisdom and judgement of our freedom fighters” and stand with the Opposition INDIA bloc in singing only the first two stanzas of the national song. “The full version of Vande Mataram sits uneasily with the syncretic and pluralist ethos that our freedom fighters envisioned and nurtured for India,” Venugopal said in a post on X, while sharing a video of the song being sung at the J&K film festival Monday. “For us, the considered judgment of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Acharya Narendra Dev, Maulana Azad, Sarojini Naidu and J B Kripalani — shaped in no small part by the counsel of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore — remains paramount,” he added. Venugopal also appealed to the NC, which is a constituent of the INDIA bloc and a pre-poll partner of the Congress in J&K, to follow what he described as the freedom fighters’ considered position on Vande Mataram. “With respect and humility, we would like our allies to honour the wisdom and judgement of our freedom fighters, and stand with us in singing only the version of this beautiful and historic song that they adopted,” he said. “That version (first two stanzas) was chosen deliberately, to keep the song from being communalised — a threat as real today as it was then. Upholding it is how we uphold the secular, inclusive character of our Republic,” he added. J&K president Tariq Hameed Karra too termed the rendition of the full version by the alliance partner a “matter of concern”. “National symbols, songs and traditions occupy a special place in the heart of every Indian. Their true strength lies in their ability to bind together a nation as diverse as ours,” Karra said. “It is therefore a matter of concern that our alliance partners chose to sing the full version of Vande Mataram, disregarding the considered evolution of the song’s place in India’s national life — not merely during the freedom movement, but through the constitutional journey of the Republic thereafter,” he said. Vande Mataram, written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, became a rallying cry during the freedom struggle. However, the song’s other stanzas after the first two, containing references to Hindu religious imagery, have long been a source of political and religious debate. In 1950, the Constituent Assembly accorded the song the same respect as the national anthem, while its first two stanzas came to constitute the version generally used in national functions. The Congress’s position, however, did not go down well with the NC, which hit back by pointing to Congress leaders who have themselves sung the full version. NC legislator and close aide of CM Omar, Tanvir Sadiq, posted videos of Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy and Karnataka CM D K Shivakumar singing the full version of Vande Mataram apparently at their official functions. “Jenab @TariqKarra Sb, please take a look at your Congress CMs and share your valuable thoughts with everyone. Thank you!” Sadiq wrote on X while posting the videos. The NC’s rival in J&K, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), also attacked the ruling party over the row. “On every key issue, @RahulGandhi took a stand, his J&K ally National Conference caved and rolled out the red carpet for the BJP. No condemnation on Waqf Amendment Bill, no condemnation on SIR fraud, justifying EVM rigging concerns, accepted Vande Mataram’s addition,” PDP legislator Waheed Para said in a post on X. “INDIA bloc in elections, BJP’s silent enabler in practice,” he alleged.