The vande mataram controversy: why the freedom song was not made India's National Anthem, the 1950 resolution giving it equal status, and later objections.
At a glance
The debate over Vande Mataram's status relative to the National Anthem Jana Gana Mana, and religious objections to its imagery.
Illustrates how symbols from the freedom struggle were reconciled within a secular constitutional framework.
Timeline
Vande Mataram controversy refers to the long-running debate over the status of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's song Vande Mataram — a song central to India's freedom struggle — as against Jana Gana Mana, which was formally adopted as the National Anthem, along with the religious objections some communities have raised to its imagery of the motherland.
Origins: A Song Born in the Freedom Struggle
Vande Mataram was adopted by the Indian National Congress at its 1896 session and became one of the most powerful rallying cries of the national movement. Its significance was so deeply felt that when the Constituent Assembly met for its historic midnight session on 14 August 1947 to mark the transfer of power, the very first item on the agenda was the singing of its first verse, with the entire House standing to listen as it was sung by Shrimati Sucheta Kripalani. This placement — ahead of even the President's own address — signals how central the song was to the Assembly's sense of what independence meant.
The Anthem Debate in the Constituent Assembly
Despite this symbolic weight, Vande Mataram was not adopted as India's National Anthem; that status went to Rabindranath Tagore's Jana Gana Mana. The choice was contested inside the Constituent Assembly itself. Some members argued forcefully that Vande Mataram, not Jana Gana Mana, should be the National Anthem, pointing out that the entire history of India's struggle for independence was bound up with the song, and dismissing the objection that its tune was unsuited to orchestral arrangement as a technical problem that composers could solve. These members also raised a pointed objection to Jana Gana Mana itself — that it had been composed on the occasion of a visit by King George V in 1911 and, in their reading, offered greetings to the Emperor rather than to Mother India, making it an odd choice of anthem for a new Republic. Other members, however, wanted the matter settled by a committee tasked with selecting the best national song, showing that opinion in the Assembly was genuinely divided rather than settled by consensus.
The 1950 Resolution: Equal Status, Not Equal Role
The matter was formally resolved just before the Constitution came into force. On 24 January 1950, the President of the Constituent Assembly announced that the composition consisting of the words and music known as Jana Gana Mana would be the National Anthem of India, while recognising Vande Mataram's historic role in the freedom movement by giving it equal honour and status alongside the Anthem, even though it was not itself designated the National Anthem. This settlement — one song as National Anthem, the other honoured as the National Song — is the constitutional-historical compromise that most references to the "Vande Mataram controversy" ultimately trace back to.
Religious Objections and the 1992 Parliament Resolution
A separate strand of the controversy concerns objections to Vande Mataram on religious grounds. Some sections, including elements associated with the Muslim League, had objected to the song as early as 1938 — objections rooted in the song's personification of the motherland, which some viewed as inconsistent with strict monotheistic religious belief. Only a trimmed, two-stanza version of the original composition — without the fuller, more explicitly devotional verses of Bankim Chandra's original — has been used for official purposes such as broadcast on All India Radio and television. Decades after independence, similar objections resurfaced in Parliament in 1992, prompting Parliament to adopt a resolution on 23 December 1992 that every parliamentary session would henceforth close with the music of Vande Mataram — a symbolic reaffirmation of the song's status even as debate over its religious connotations continued periodically in public life.
UPSC Relevance
Prelims
- Vande Mataram was adopted by the Indian National Congress at its 1896 session.
- Jana Gana Mana was formally recognised as the National Anthem by a Constituent Assembly resolution of 24 January 1950; Vande Mataram was given equal honour as the National Song.
- Parliament resolved on 23 December 1992 that every session would close with the music of Vande Mataram.
Mains
- Discuss the constitutional and historical basis for India having both a National Anthem and a National Song, and the controversy surrounding the latter.
- Examine how symbols of national identity adopted during the freedom struggle have generated continuing debate in independent India's constitutional and parliamentary practice.
FAQ
Q1. Is Vande Mataram India's National Anthem? No. Jana Gana Mana is India's National Anthem, formally recognised by a Constituent Assembly resolution of 24 January 1950. Vande Mataram was given equal honour and status as the National Song but was not designated the Anthem.
Q2. Who wrote Vande Mataram and when was it adopted by the national movement? The song was written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and was adopted by the Indian National Congress at its 1896 session, after which it became a rallying song of the freedom struggle.
Q3. Why is there a religious controversy around Vande Mataram? Objections, first raised as early as 1938, centre on the song's personification of the motherland, which some communities view as in tension with strict monotheistic belief; only a trimmed version of the song is used officially.
Q4. What did Parliament decide about Vande Mataram in 1992? On 23 December 1992, Parliament resolved that every session of Parliament would close with the music of Vande Mataram, reaffirming its symbolic status.
Quick Revision
- Vande Mataram — adopted by INC at its 1896 session; written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.
- Sung as the first item of business at the Constituent Assembly's midnight session, 14 August 1947.
- 24 January 1950 — Jana Gana Mana declared National Anthem; Vande Mataram given equal honour as National Song.
- Religious objections to the song trace back to at least 1938.
- 23 December 1992 — Parliament resolved every session shall close with Vande Mataram.
Sources
- Constituent Assembly Debates, Volume V (14 August 1947) — Official Archive
- Constituent Assembly Debates, 24 January 1950 — Official Archive
Further Reference
For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:
- M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (McGraw Hill) — the standard UPSC handbook.
- D.D. Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of India (LexisNexis) — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
- The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.
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