Division of Vande Mataram song led to partition of India, says Amit Shah

Home Minister Amit Shah, in his speech in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, said that the partition of the song ‘Vande Mataram’ as “politics of appeasement” led to the partition of India and criticized the Opposition for linking the 150-year-old controversy of the national song with the upcoming West Bengal elections.

Initiating the debate in the House, Mr. Shah said Vande Mataram was the “mantra” that awakened India’s cultural nationalism and remained as relevant today as it was during the freedom struggle.

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He emphasized that the song will remain relevant in taking the country towards Viksit Bharat in the coming days.

Mr Shah also attacked the Congress for questioning the need for a debate on Vande Mataram and accused first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru of “splitting” the poem and limiting it to two stanzas.

“Some MPs in the Lok Sabha yesterday questioned the need to discuss Vande Mataram. The need to discuss… was valid when the song was written, during the freedom movement, is also valid today and will be equally valid in 2047 when Viksit Bharat is achieved,” Mr. Shah said.

“Some say that Vande Mataram is being discussed because elections are approaching in West Bengal… They are trying to reduce the importance of Vande Mataram by associating it with Bengal elections,” he said.

The Home Minister called on the members to carry the spirit of Vande Mataram’s message to the youth of the nation.

He said that the song was written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in Bengal but spread across the country and became the slogan of India’s freedom struggle.

The Home Minister said the song was written years after India tolerated “Islamic attacks” and the British tried to impose a new culture on the country.

“The song re-established the culture of bearing witness to the nation as a mother. Even though the (British) government tried to ban it and people were beaten and jailed for singing Vande Mataram, this song touched people’s hearts and spread from Kashmir to Kanyakumari,” he said.

This is why Maharshi Aurobindo said that Vande Mataram is the mantra of India’s awakening.

Mr. Shah said, “India is the only nation whose borders are not determined by any action, its borders are determined by our culture and culture unites it. So the idea of ​​cultural nationalism, this cultural nationalism was evoked by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.” he added.

He also accused the Congress and Nehru of ‘dividing’ the song.

“Many members of the Congress questioned why it was necessary to debate on Vande Mataram and termed it as a stalling tactic. We are not afraid to engage in any debate. We are not stalling the Parliament, we have nothing to hide, we are ready to discuss any issue,” Mr. Shah said.

“In 1937, on the 50th anniversary of Vande Mataram, Jawaharlal Nehru divided it into two and restricted it to two continents. This is how the Congress honored Vande Mataram,” he said, prompting protests from opposition MPs.

Mr Shah described it as the beginning of the politics of appeasement and said it led to the partition of India.

“If they had not divided India into two for the politics of appeasement, India would not have been divided either,” he said, prompting further reactions from opposition benches.

Mr. Shah added that on the 100th anniversary of Vande Mataram, the country is under a State of Emergency.