How the Modi Government is Downgrading India’s National Anthem

On August 15, when India celebrates its Independence Day, the official celebrations from the ramparts of the Red Fort in New Delhi will, for the first time in 80 years, mark a departure from tradition. India’s national anthem “Jana Gana Mana” (The Minds of All People), which was penned by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, will be preceded by the singing of the national song, “Vande Mataram” (Hail Mother India)

Singing the national song first was a clear move by India’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to “degrade the national anthem to a secondary status,” The Wire pointed out.

This is significant as the national anthem has constitutional status and, as per official protocol, is considered the highest musical symbol of the republic. However, the BJP and its affiliates in the Sangh Parivar have never been fond of the secular content of the national anthem and have consistently demanded primacy for the more controversial Vande Mataram, which has clear Hindu religious overtones.

Recently, the Narendra Modi government amended the law to bring Vande Mataram on par with the Jana Gana Mana. Previously, while the national anthem was played on state and ceremonial occasions, the national song was largely restricted to cultural events, and even then it was only its first two verses that were sung.

The Defense Ministry, which is in charge of the Independence Day celebrations, announced recently that “in a first,” Vande Mataram would be specially honored to commemorate the song’s 150th anniversary.

Per the new protocol, on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s arrival at the Red Fort, the national song will be played first, the national flag will then be unfurled accompanied by the national anthem.

To the uninitiated, this may seem a needless controversy over a non-issue. It is not. It is, in fact, a part of the Sangh Parivar’s larger Hindutva agenda to replace the anthem, which celebrates India’s diversity and plurality, with the entire six stanzas of Vande Mataram, which specifically invokes the Hindu goddesses Durga, Saraswati and Lakshmi. Moreover, Vande Mataram refers to India as a Mother Goddess who is worshipped in temples.

According to the amended law, the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, which was passed in parliament and received the president’s assent earlier this week, any insult to the national song could be punished with a three- year prison term, just as it was with the national anthem.

Unsurprisingly, Muslim organizations have opposed this imposition, arguing that it is against the basic tenets of their Islamic faith to worship anyone but Allah. In fact, even when the Modi government passed the bill with a token 15-minute debate in parliament, it was opposed by opposition MPs. K Kanimozhi, a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP, lambasted the BJP for bringing in a “Hindutva agenda”  under the guise of nationalism. She said the legislation was “against federalism” and argued that nationalism could not be imposed through law.

Expectedly, the ruling BJP reiterated that the Congress-led opposition was playing “appeasement politics.” Modi has repeatedly accused the Congress party of not giving due recognition to the national song. In fact, Hindu nationalists have long accused the Congress of sowing the seeds of Partition by appeasing minorities.

The BJP’s latest move according the national song parity of status with the national anthem must be seen in the context of promoting unabashed Hindu majoritarianism.

In an earlier article on the eve of the state elections in West Bengal, I had elaborated on the BJP’s polarizing agenda in the state, with its thrust on imposition of Vande Mataram to win the votes of the Hindu majority. The BJP’s allegations against the Congress’ actions during the freedom struggle were historically inaccurate, I had pointed out.

When the Congress party, then led by Jawaharlal Nehru, consulted Tagore in 1937 on the adoption of Vande Mataram as the national song, Tagore opined that those who believe in monotheism (like Muslims, Brahmos, etc.) could find the later paragraphs objectionable as they were an invocation to the Goddess Durga. He advised Nehru to retain only the first two paragraphs of Vande Mataram as the national song for its invocation of the beauty of the motherland.

Written by the Bengali novelist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1875, Vande Mataram’s later paragraphs were incorporated in a larger version of the song in his 1882 novel, “Anandamath.”

Interestingly, it is the longer version of the song that the BJP has been championing vigorously. The 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram provided the BJP with opportunity to accelerate its campaign. The celebrations, which were kicked off last year, will reach their zenith on August 15 at Red Fort, where a floral decoration will showcase Vande Mataram and an Indian Air Force helicopter will carry a banner commemorating 150 years of Vande Mataram and shower flower petals.

Opposition-ruled states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala have already announced they will not obey the central government order. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay announced on Wednesday that “Tamil Thaai Vazhthu,” the state’s official song, will be the first song to be sung at government events and official programs across Tamil Nadu. Tamil Thaai Vazhtu celebrates India’s long-cherished ideal of unity in diversity.

Meanwhile, the Congress government in Kerala has made it clear that all six stanzas of Vande Mataram will not be sung. The protocol of previous years of singing only the first two stanzas will be followed at all events, including Independence Day celebrations in the state.

Since it came to power in 2014, the BJP has been recasting the official Independence Day celebrations in its majoritarian vision by promoting a pro-Hindu brand of nationalism and patriotism. The Har Ghar Tiranga (The Indian Tricolor atop every house) campaign is held for an entire week in the run-up to Independence Day. The central government has integrated this with the Vande Mataram celebrations, making its singing mandatory at all national flag events.

Analysts have observed that the “Tiranga” (Tricolor) campaign is a brand of jingoism, where the thrust is on performative patriotism, not on adherence to constitutional principles of secularism, democracy and federalism.

Since 2014, the government has emphasized Hindu nationalist symbolism. Hindu priests performed rituals at the inauguration of the new parliament building with the prime minister leading the ceremonies in his official capacity. This is a clear departure from the secular moorings of the Indian Constitution.

The government also stresses Hindu civilizational heritage alone. India’s inclusive heritage is ignored. Scholars have argued that post 2014, the BJP regime is fundamentally reinventing the Indian republic from a pluralist, multi-ethnic, multi-religious community to one marked by religious majoritarianism.