Asaduddin Owaisi objects to Centre equating Vande Mataram with Jana Gana Mana: ‘Nation is not a goddess'

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has raised objections to the Union Cabinet's decision to grant 'Vande Mataram' the same statutory protection as the national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana.’ The Hyderabad MP has said that the song cannot be treated on par with the anthem, as it is an ode to a goddess.

The nation does not run in the name of a god or goddess and it does not belong to one god or goddess, owaisi said.

“Jana Gana Mana celebrates India and its people, not a particular religion. Religion ≠ nation. The man who wrote Vande Mataram was sympathetic to the British Raj and despised Muslims. Netaji Bose, Gandhi, Nehru, and Tagore all rejected it,” Owaisi said in a post on X sharing a newspaper report about Union cabinet approving plan to put Vande Mataram on a par with Jana Gana Mana.

Referring to the Constitution of India, Owaisi said the Preamble begins with "We, the People" - not "Bharat Maa". It promises "liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship".

The very first provision of the Constitution, Article 1, describes "India, that is Bharat" as a Union of States, he said.

In the Constituent Assembly, some members wanted the Preamble to begin in the name of a goddess and they specifically invoked Vande Mataram. Others wanted it to begin "In the name of God" and to replace "its citizens" with "her citizens". However, all these amendments were defeated, Owaisi said.

"India, that is Bharat, is its people. The nation is not a goddess; it does not run in the name of a god or goddess, and it does not belong to one god or goddess," he said.

Telangana BJP president N Ramchander Rao took exception to Owaisi's objections to the government's decision and said the AIMIM leadership views any form of cultural integration as a threat to religious exclusivism.

It is not just limited to Owaisi, even Jinnah followed the same trajectory, he said.

Jinnah had not objected to Vande Mataram during the early phase of his political career as a Congress member and his opposition emerged only after he left the Congress, he said.

"What does this tell us? Once politics becomes dependent on religious exclusivism, every civilisational symbol is portrayed as a threat," Rao said in a post on X.

The proposal is to amend the Prevention of Insults to the National Honour Act which would put National Song, Vande Mataram composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee on the same footing as the National Anthem, Jana Gana Mana.

At present, the law with the provision of jail or fine or both are applicable for insults to Indian National Flag and Constitution of India and prevention of Singing of National Anthem. As per the proposal put before the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vande Mataram would be included in this list making non-compliance of norms a cognizable offence.

(With agency inputs)