INDIA THAT IS BHARATH

Article 1 (1) of Indian Constitution declares that the liberated British India is a Union of States which is ‘India, that is Bharat.’  This is the only provision in the Constitution on how this country be called for official and unofficial purposes.  Though there were many suggestions to call the country as Bharat, Hindustan, Hind, Bharatbhumi, Bharatvarsh etc., the Constituent Assembly on 18-09-1949 resolved as follows: “Article 1. Name and territory of the Union. 1.1 India, that is Bharat, shall be a union of states.”

Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who was presiding the Constituent Assembly on 24th January 1950, made the following statement which was also adopted as the final decision on the issue of National Song and National Anthem: “The composition consisting of words and music known as Jana Gana Mana is the National Anthem of India, subject to such alterations as the Government may authorise as occasion arises, and the song Vande Mataram, which has played a historic part in the struggle for Indian freedom, shall be honoured equally with Jana Gana Mana and shall have equal status with it.”

The objections raised even during Freedom Struggle by the Muslim Leaders in regard to National Song were duly addressed by the then Congress forming a committee and after India’s Independence, Vande Mataram Song was adopted as national song by the Constituent Assembly which should have been taken as a permanent solution.

But, the issue was raked up quite often by the Muslim Brethren with the same old settled objections – viz. national song is un-islamic and non-secular in content with the prominent Hindu religious sentiments and with obeisance to Goddess Durga and  the plot of Anandamath the novel written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in which the song was originally written had an anti-muslim plot. Though the song was written as a counter move, when the British Raj was trying to promote “God Save the Queen” as the anthem for Indian subjects which Indian nationalists and Freedom Fighters disliked. Chattopadhyay wrote  the poem in a  spontaneous session using words  for the first two stanzas in Sanskrit and the rest in Bengali and the Sanskrit two stanzas were approved as National Song . 

It is also a historic fact that Tagore was against adopting Vande Mataram as national song and he opined: “The core of Vande Mataram is a hymn to goddess Durga: this is so plain that there can be no debate about it.  Of course Bankim Chandra does show Durga to be inseparably united with Bengal in the end, but no Muslim can be expected patriotically to worship the ten-handed deity as the nation. ..The novel Anandamath is a work of literature and so the song is appropriate in it. But Parliament is a place of union for all religious groups, and there the song cannot be appropriate. When Bengal Muslims show signs of stubborn fanaticism, we regard these as intolerable. When we too copy them and make unreasonable demands, it will be self-defeating.”

But the opinions of Gandhiji and Nehru were in favour of choosing Vande Mataram as our national song.

Gandhi’s views are found in an article in Harijan dated July 1, 1939: “No matter what its source was and how and when it was composed, it had become a most powerful battle cry among Hindus and Musalmans of Bengal during the partition days. It was an anti-imperialist cry. As a lad, when I knew nothing of Anandamath or even Bankim, its immortal author, Vande Mataram had gripped me, and when I first heard it sung it had enthralled me. I associated the purest national spirit with it. It never occurred to me that it was a Hindu song or meant only for Hindus… It stirs to its depth the patriotism of millions in and outside Bengal. Its chosen stanzas are Bengal’s gift among many others to the whole nation.”

Nehru’s statement made to the legislative committee of the Constituent Assembly on August 25, 1948 was also in favour of Vande Mataram as national song: ''It is unfortunate that some kind of argument has arisen as between Vande Mataram and Jana Gana Mana. Vande Mataram is obviously and indisputably the premier national song of India, with a great historical tradition, and intimately connected with our struggle for freedom. That position it is bound to retain and no other song can displace it. It represents the position and poignancy of that struggle, but perhaps not so much the culmination of it. In regard to the national anthem tune, it was felt that the tune was more important than the words... It seemed therefore that while Vande Mataram should continue to be the national song par excellence in India, the national anthem tune should be that of Jana Gana Mana, the wording of Jana Gana Mana to be suitably altered to fit in with the existing circumstances.”

Even on such settled issue after due deliberations, considerations, debates and discussions, some Muslim elected representatives were raking up the subject and openly defid in accepting the two stanzas of Vande Mataram as National Song and said “Even if you put a sword on our throat, we will not sing that song!”.

British Government, while granting Freedom, had divided India into two parts – India and Pakistan in the year 1947 and while India was declared as a secular state, Pakistan had preferred to be a religious state and hence it had chosen to be an Islamic State. India had given equal opportunities to all religious sects without any discrimination – rather India was magnanimous  in giving special privileges to Muslims as a minority religious community.  Many Muslims preferred to remain in India, while most of the Hindus in Pakistan territory had crossed over to India during the horrible and ill planned partition of the British India.  

Unfortunately some fundamentalists Muslims in India  are not ready to accept the fact that their religious concepts should be their private affairs and that their loyalties to India should be primary and absolute and the laws of the land need to be obeyed. The outlook of ‘India First and Everything Next ‘ should be embedded in the minds of all Indian Citizens irrespective of their varying religious beliefs. 

Muslims are still against Common Civil Law being implemented in India which is a secular state where there should be no credence or preference to be given on the basis of religious beliefs.  But, any such reforms are labelled as imposition by Hindu majorities on Muslim minorities and India is struck without the courage to reform laws to give equal justice to all irrespective of religions – thus India could not become a true secular state in letter and spirit due to Indian Muslims prepared to subscribe to their religious rather than secular concepts

In this context,  new discussions and narrow definitions on Patriotism, Nationalism, Sedition, Blasphemy , Intolerance are being brought to the forefront as if to give a view that India is moving towards the Hindu’s thoughts and Hindu religious beliefs threatening the secular fabric as guaranteed by the constitution. And after India having elected Modi as its Prime Minister in May 2014 with a clear mandate, the voices of violent protests by some activists and communes students’ leaders against any thing that is Hindu’s faiths and cultures and customs are being encouraged so as to bring disrepute to India in general and Modi in particular.  

‘Bharath Matha Ki Jai and Vanthe Matharam were not mere slogans during freedom struggle, but, they were source of strength and sacrifice for the freedom fighters – soul moving battle cries to keep the powder dry to win the freedom struggle. Now, in the prevailing context of threatening Islamic Terrorism across the world, Love of one’s country and respect and reverence to our national song and national anthem are all the need of the hour and any dissenting voices are real danger to our country.  

Think India Think.