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Vande Mataram
#6
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>First expression of nationhood </b>
Pioneer.com
Sidharth Mishra | New Delhi
A historical study of the national song Vande Mataram establishes that it was the first expression of Indian Nationhood.

Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh and Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi may indulge in selective amnesia to pander to the obscurantist Ulema, but the 'official' history of the country, written in the pre-NDA period, however, makes specific references to Vande Mataram as a tool employed by freedom fighters to stir the nation against British imperialism.

It would be interesting to refer to Modern India' authored by Bipan Chandra for the NCERT. This text has not just been authored by a "non-saffron" historian but also cleared by an editorial board consisting of other eminent names from the non-saffron strand. The board was chaired by S Gopal and had S Nurul Hasan, Satish Chandra and Romila Thapar as members. The last two and Bipan Chandra being votaries of protest against the attempt of HRD Ministry under Murli Manohar Joshi to saffronise history texts.

Coming back to the book, in the chapter Nationalist Movement 1905-1918, states: "The Anti-Partition movement ...was initiated on 7 August 1905. On that day a massive demonstration against the partition was organised in Town Hall in Calcutta... The partition took effect on 16 October 1905. The leaders of the movement declared it to be a day of mourning. There was a hartal in Calcutta. People walked barefoot and bathed in Ganga. Rabindranath Tagore composed a national song for the occasion which was sung by huge crowds parading the streets. The streets of Calcutta were full of the cries of Vande Mataram which overnight became national song of Bengal and which was soon to become the theme song of national movement."

The same chapter also expounds in detail on the role of such leaders who propagated the idea of Muslim nation and distanced themselves from the movement, which later acquired the name of Swadeshi. To quote, "A remarkable aspect of the Swadeshi agitation was active participation of women in the agitation. ...Many prominent Muslims joined Swadeshi movement... Many other middle and upper class Muslims however remained neutral, or, led by Nawab of Dacca (who was given a loan of Rs 14 lakh by Government of India) even supported Partition on the plea that East Bengal would have a Muslim majority. In this communal attitude, the Nawab of Dacca and others were encouraged by the officials."

In an analysis of the role played by Bankim Chandra's Anandamath and the hymn Vande Mataram, Sumit Sarkar in his critically acclaimed Modern India - 1885-1947, writes: "<b>The initial and natural form of expression of the patriotism of the intelligentsia was through literature in regional language... The greatest single influence was Bankimchandra, with his historical novels climaxed by Anandamath (1882) with its Bande Mataram hymn."</b> 
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