Cry of defiance
S. THEODORE BASKARAN
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What is the story behind the two words that became a cry of defiance for Indians during the freedom struggle?
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The words "Vande Mataram" spread throughout the country as a slogan of freedom struggle and were used as a greeting phrase.
PHOTO: KIRAN BAKALE
LOVE FOR THE MOTHERLAND: The song continues to inspire feelings of patriotism.
When freedom fighter Tirupur Kumaran was beaten up by the police, he held on to the Tricolour flag and kept shouting "Vande Mataram" till he fell unconscious. He later died due to head injuries. What is the story behind these two words that became a cry of defiance for millions of Indians during the freedom struggle?
For unity
"Vande Mataram" meaning, "I bow to you, Mother", is the first line of a song written in Bengali by nationalist writer Bankim Chandra Chatterji in 1876. Six years later, he wrote a novel centred on a group of sanyasis leading a movement of protest against the British. The title of the novel was Anand Math, an imaginary place where they met secretly. Bankim brought in a scene in which the sanyasis sing this song.
Years later, in 1906, the Indian National Congress met at Barisal (now in Bangladesh) near Kolkata. The British government in India had decided to divide Bengal in two — Hindu and Muslim. People were agitated by this proposed separation. So in that Congress, to emphasise the unity of the country, "Vande Mataram" was chosen as the national song. Tagore composed the music and sang it at the conference. Alarmed at the popularity of the song, the British banned it. However, the two words "Vande mataram" spread throughout the country as a slogan of freedom struggle and was used as a greeting phrase.
Bepin Chandra Pal, the nationalist leader, ran a Bengali journal named Bande mataram. At one stage, these two words were featured in the centre of the Congress flag. Bharathi makes a reference to these words in the flag in his famous poem "Thayin manikodi pareer" (Behold, the flag of the mother). V.O Chidambaram Pillai used this slogan in the struggle against the British in Thoothukudi in 1911. This episode has been documented in the Tamil film "Kappalotiya Thamizhan".
When India became a Republic, this was adopted as the National Song. In 1997, music composer A.R.Rehman set the song to a new tune and sang it on the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi. All India Radio opens its programme daily with the tune of this historic song.
Patriotic fervour
Large rallies, fermenting initially in West Bengal, in the major metropolis of Calcutta (Kolkata), would work themselves up into a patriotic fever by shouting the slogan "Vande Mataram", or "Hail to the Mother(land)!". The British, fearful of the potential danger of an incited Indian populace, at one point banned the utterance of the motto in public forums and jailed many freedom fighters for disobeying the proscription.
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