India’s national anthem is Jana Gana Mana and not Vande Mataram. The writer of Vande Mataram, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, was not a nationalist. He was a staunch British loyalist and rabidly anti-Muslim. Bankim glorified the British rule in India. In his pro-British and anti-Muslim novel Anand Math he writes, “Without the British rule there is no chance of resurgence of Hindu Dharma. It is our duty to make the British our rulers. The British are our friends.”
The song Vande Mataram was taken from his novel Anand Math. It depicted the armed struggle of a terrorist organisation “SANATAN” against Muslim rule. It contains venom and hatred against Muslims. According to Anand Math, Hindus would be happy in the British regime. In Anand Math a militant chanting Vande Mataram shouts, “When shall we raise mosques down to the ground and build Radha Madhav’s temples in the place?” One character in the novel has been quoted to have stated to Satyanand, the main militant leader: “Today your task is over since the Muslim rule is destroyed.” In this anti-Muslim background Vande Mataram was recited by the rabidly communal and terrorist organisation “SANATAN” as their devotional song. Apart from Anand Math’s and Vande Mataram’s idolatrous, un-Islamic and unconstitutional character, their background and contents are anti-Muslim and Pro-British imperialists. Is it patriotism and Indian nationalism?
G. Hasnain Kaif
Bhandara, Maharashtra