Mumbai, 09 January (HS): Describing “Vande Mataram” as a symbol that has been reduced to vote-bank politics by some, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on Thursday accused the Congress of dividing the country in the name of appeasement and political gains.
Speaking at a symposium titled “Vande Mataram and National Renaissance” during the first session of the Rambhau Mhalgi Memorial Lecture Series, Poonawalla said that for certain sections, vote-bank considerations had become more important than national unity. He alleged that the division over singing “Vande Mataram” carried the seeds of the country’s partition.
The Rambhau Mhalgi Memorial Lecture Series, an important platform in Maharashtra’s cultural movement, is being held from January 8 to January 14 at the Saraswati Sports Complex ground in Naupada. The lecture series was inaugurated on Thursday by lighting the ceremonial lamp in the presence of Shehzad Poonawalla, Dr Rajiv Puri, senior journalist Kiran Tare, Milind Bhagwat and other dignitaries. Lecture series committee chairman and MLA Sanjay Kelkar and secretary Sharad Purohit were also present on the dais.
During the symposium, journalists Kiran Tare and Milind Bhagwat interacted with Poonawalla and Dr Puri on various issues. Poonawalla claimed that in 1937, under pressure and to safeguard a particular vote base, Jawaharlal Nehru had written letters leading to the division of “Vande Mataram” into two parts, which he said eventually contributed to the division of the nation. He expressed regret that “Vande Mataram” was later portrayed as being against a particular religion and objections were raised to singing it.
Responding to questions on repeated attacks on Nehru by the BJP, Poonawalla said it was an attempt to present the correct history to the public. Supporting this view, Dr Puri stated that several Congress leaders of that era not only altered history but also presented it in a distorted manner.
Poonawalla further alleged that even today the Congress continued to strengthen its vote bank by dividing Indians on the basis of caste and identity. He termed such politics as vote-bank driven and claimed that this approach continued to harm the idea of Indian unity.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar