Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah has said that ‘Vande Mataram’ is not merely a national song but the “song of freedom, the spirit of unyielding resolve and the first mantra of Bharat’s awakening.”
In a blog commemorating 150 years of the national song written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Shah described ‘Vande Mataram’ as the soul of India’s freedom struggle and the first proclamation of cultural nationalism. He said that throughout history, songs and art have been at the heart of social and political movements, awakening collective consciousness across Bharat.
The Home Minister wrote that while ‘Vande Mataram’ was not born on a battlefield, it emerged from the mind of a scholar deeply rooted in India’s civilisational ethos. Bankim Chandra, he said, drew inspiration from the Atharva Veda’s verse “Mata bhumih putro aham prithivyah” and the Devi Mahatmya’s invocation of the Divine Mother, expressing Bharat as both mother and deity.
“Bankim babu’s words were both a prayer and a prophecy. They reminded us that Bharat is not just a geographical territory, but a geo-cultural civilisation,” Shah noted, quoting Maharshi Aurobindo who described Bankim Chandra as the sage who reawakened the nation’s soul through his words.
Recalling the impact of ‘Vande Mataram’ during India’s freedom struggle, Shah said the song transcended linguistic and regional barriers. He highlighted how it was rendered in Tamil by Subramania Bharati and sung in defiance of British rule by revolutionaries across the country. Even when the British banned its recitation during the 1905 partition of Bengal, people continued to chant it in defiance, he added.
The Home Minister pointed out that ‘Vande Mataram’ echoed across the revolutionary movements—from the Ghadar Party and Azad Hind Fauj to the 1946 Royal Indian Navy mutiny. “From Khudiram Bose to Ashfaqulla Khan, from Chandrashekhar Azad to Tiruppur Kumaran, the slogan echoed as one,” he said, recalling Mahatma Gandhi’s words that the hymn had “the magical power to stir even the dullest blood.”
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat address on October 26, Shah said the Prime Minister reminded the nation of Vande Mataram’s glorious legacy. To mark its 150th year, the Government of India will hold year-long nationwide celebrations beginning November 7, with the full version of the song being played across the country.
Shah also linked the spirit of Vande Mataram to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s efforts in uniting India, describing it as the living embodiment of the song’s message.
“As we look ahead to Viksit Bharat 2047, Vande Mataram continues to inspire a confident, self-reliant and resurgent Bharat,” Shah wrote, adding that the chant would echo through eternity, reminding every citizen to view India’s history, culture, values and traditions through the vision of Bharatiyata.