New Delhi, Dec 8 (IANS) As Parliament debates the 150-year-old Vande Mataram, BJP MP Anurag Thakur on Monday targeted the Opposition and said that the British had a problem with Vande Mataram, Jinnah had a problem with it, and now he wants to ask whether the ‘Munna of Jinnah’ also has an issue with it.

Speaking in Lok Sabha, Anurag Thakur said, “This year is quite special as we are celebrating the 150th anniversaries of Birsa Munda, Sardar Patel, and also Vande Mataram. I am grateful to the Speaker and my party leadership, including Prime Minister Modi, for initiating this debate. It was PM Modi who started this.”

He added, “When Vande Mataram completed 100 years, the Emergency was imposed and then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi violated the Constitution. There was no discussion then. Today, PM Modi has spoken about its history and cultural impact. I believe Vande Mataram will become an inspirational document.”

“Vande Mataram is not just a song, it is a ‘Maha Mantra.’ I want to clarify that it is neither a religious nor a party or individual song. Vande Mataram represents national pride and Indian culture. It is a tradition of national devotion — and that is why the Congress fears it,” he said.

“They fear it so much that two of their members were not present in the House during PM’s speech. Nehru shortened Vande Mataram and divided the nation. He limited it to two stanzas, and now Rahul Gandhi limits it to one line. Today, during the debate, they were absent,” Thakur said.

He added, “I heard they were planning to recite Vande Mataram without reading it. We are still waiting. The stanzas removed by Nehru included references to Maa Durga — removing them was like destroying the soul of India.”

Calling it sacred, he said, “Vande Mataram is pure like verses of the Vedas, pure like the Quran, and pure like the Bible.”

“On the 150th anniversary, I repeat: The British opposed Vande Mataram, Jinnah opposed it — and I now ask whether the ‘Munna’ of Jinnah opposes it too,” he said.

He further added, “Vande Mataram is the most sacred mantra — uncompromising, unsilenced, and unshaken. It has no end; it is eternal and immortal.”

Concluding, he said, “They say we defame Nehru, but we are only revealing facts. In a rally in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi asked people to sing only one line of Vande Mataram. Nehru limited it to two lines. I don’t understand why they criticise it — or what the real reason behind it is.”

–IANS

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