Amit Shah Says ‘Appeasement Politics’ Over Vande Mataram Contributed to Partition

Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday delivered a forceful address in the Rajya Sabha during a discussion marking 150 years of Vande Mataram, claiming that the division of the song for “appeasement politics” played a role in India’s partition. He also criticised Opposition parties for suggesting that the debate was linked to the upcoming West Bengal elections.

Opening the discussion, Shah described Vande Mataram as the “mantra” that awakened India’s cultural nationalism during the freedom movement. He said the song’s significance remains unchanged today and will continue to guide the country toward the goal of Viksit Bharat.

Shah questioned why some MPs doubted the need for a debate in Parliament, arguing that Vande Mataram was relevant when it was written, during the independence struggle, and will remain equally relevant in the future.

Responding to allegations that the government was raising the issue due to the Bengal polls, Shah said such claims were an attempt to downplay the national song’s historical importance. He urged Members of Parliament to help take its message to the youth.

Tracing its origins, he said the song—written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in Bengal—quickly spread across the country and became a rallying cry against colonial rule. He noted that despite British attempts to suppress it, Vande Mataram resonated from “Kashmir to Kanyakumari,” which is why Sri Aurobindo called it the mantra of India’s awakening.

Shah also linked the song to India’s civilisational identity, saying the nation’s boundaries have been shaped not by legislation but by culture, which historically united the country. This, he said, was the cultural nationalism awakened through Vande Mataram.

Targeting the Congress, Shah accused former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru of “dividing” the poem and limiting it to two stanzas in 1937, which he described as the beginning of appeasement politics. The remark triggered strong protests from Opposition MPs.

“If they had not divided the song for appeasement, India would not have been partitioned,” Shah said, prompting further uproar in the House.

He also noted that during the 100th anniversary of Vande Mataram, the country was under Emergency another example, he claimed, of Congress distancing itself from cultural nationalism.