‘Shameless repetition’: Bankim Chattopadhyay’s descendant seeks Sonia Gandhi’s apology over Vande Mataram row

Sumitro Chatterjee, a BJP MLA and direct descendant of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, has sought an unconditional apology from Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi over an alleged incident during the party's Independence Day event at the AICC headquarters on August 15.

Chatterjee alleged that there was “discomfort” and repeated attempts to stop the singing of the full version of “Vande Mataram” during the event. He described the alleged incident as “not merely unfortunate but a shameless repetition of a historical mistake”, news agency PTI reported.

In a letter to Gandhi, the BJP MLA from Naihati said he was writing as an ordinary citizen, a patriot and a direct descendant of Bankim Chandra, expressing “deep pain, emptiness, and anger” over the episode.

What is the controversy?

A video from the Congress event shows Gandhi speaking to party president Mallikarjun Kharge while “Vande Mataram” is being played. Gandhi and Kharge can subsequently be seen allegedly gesturing to stop the song.

The Congress, however, denied that there was any attempt to stop the singing of the full version of “Vande Mataram”. The party said Gandhi was only asking for a chair for Kharge.

‘Insult to freedom fighters’

Invoking Sri Aurobindo's description of “Vande Mataram” as a mantra that initiated the nation into the “religion of patriotism”, Chatterjee said any reluctance to recite the full song on the soil of free India was an insult to the sacrifices of freedom fighters such as Khudiram Bose.

Chatterjee highlighted the song's role in India's freedom movement, referring to Rabindranath Tagore's rendition of “Vande Mataram” at the 1896 Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress and Sarala Devi Chaudhurani's recitation at the 1905 Benares Congress session.

He also recalled supporters of Bal Gangadhar Tilak singing the song during his 1909 sedition trial and nationalist students at Hyderabad's Osmania University using it as a rallying cry in 1938 despite restrictions imposed by the Nizam.

The BJP MLA alleged that the Congress's “so-called dual policy” towards the song was not new. He referred to the party's decision in 1937 to truncate “Vande Mataram” after objections from Mohammad Ali Jinnah, saying the shadow of that “compromise” was visible again in the party's conduct.

Chatterjee also pointed to the Congress's West Bengal student wing, Chhatra Parishad, which uses the slogan “Mantra moder sanjeevan – Vande Mataram”, and questioned why the party's top leadership would be uncomfortable with the song.

He said “Vande Mataram” was not the property of any political party but part of India's collective memory and Bankim Chandra's legacy. He added that the song was a national symbol earned through the sacrifices of freedom fighters and that respecting it was equivalent to respecting the country's freedom struggle.

Warning that “history forgives no one”, Chatterjee said any leadership that failed to respect its own “mantra of freedom” would eventually be pushed into “the darkness of oblivion”.

He said the alleged incident had deeply hurt the sentiments of people in West Bengal and appealed to Gandhi to introspect and tender an unconditional apology to the country, particularly the people of the state.