A Muslim View of "Vandemataram"

[Guest guest]

Sep 24, 2004: The song "Vandemataram" is perhaps more popular in

India than the country's national song "Jono Gono Mono." The song

symbolises a form of Indian nationalism which later turned into Hindu

nationalism. The writer of the song was the great Bengali novelist

Bankimchandra Chatterjee.

 

The song is a part of Bankim's celebrated fiction, "Anandamath."

About this fiction Ramesh Chandra Datta — the noted litterateur,

histonan and high-ranking British Civil Servant — wrote, "The general

moral of the Anandamath . . . is that British rule and British

education are to be accepted as the only alternative to Mussulman

[Muslim] oppression, a moral which Bankimchandra developed in his

Dharmatattwa . . . But though the Anandamath in form is an apology

for the loyal acceptance of British rule, it is nonetheless inspired

by the ideal of the restoration, sooner or later, of a Hindu Kingdom

in India. This is especially evident in the occasional verses in the

book, of which the Bandemataram is the most famous".

 

As a creation, Bankimchandra did not rate "Anandamath" very high. "As

a mark of patriotism the novel may occupy a good position, but it

lacks in artistic qualities," said Bankim. He did not certainly

consider "Anandamath" as one of his greatest fictions.

 

Still, with its first publication in 1882 it had an enviable success

so far as sale was concerned. What was the reason for it? Even the

writer had admitted the novel lacked in artistic qualities, so why

this success? Was it because it roused patriotism? Did the zenith of

patriotism lie in accepting the English as an invincible ally? Or,

was patriotism another name for contempt towards the Muslims? Was the

palace of Hindu nationalism then constructed basing on the contempt

for the Muslims?

 

There have been abundant debates surrounding the song "Vandemataram."

The topic for the debates is the use of idolatrous images and

thoughts. The writer has imagined the country to be the goddess

Durga. Because of the waves of patriotic fervour in those days Bankim-

devoted Bengali Hindus totally overlooked the idol-worship in the

song.

 

Haraprashad Shastri made a significant statement about this, "What

Bankim had done had all led to one road. And that road is the worship

of motherland—to call the motherland the Mother — to love the

motherland — to worship the motherland. In India nobody else has done

what he has. So he is to be venerated, he is to be saluted, he is our

Guru, he is our sage, he has given us the sacred hymn, he is the

seer, divine spirit. And that hymn is 'Vandemataram'."

 

There can be no two opinions about this song's idolatrous

characteristics: The adored country-mother of this song is the

original real image of the Hindu goddess—tripleyed, armed and holder

of ten active arms. Muslim soldiers and the Hindu crowd were about to

be entered into a fight when the song was first pronounced in the

fiction. When the country becomes the mother in the form of the image

of a goddess, then it is no longer the motherland of all countrymen—

irrespective of religions, it starts to belong to that religious

community only.

 

Having been acquainted with its communal-based significance,

Rabindranath Tagore protested against it. It is true, Tagore sang the

song in the conference of the Indian National Congress held in

Calcutta in 1896. At that time he had been under the influence of the

Hindu ideals and thoughts. However, he soon moved away from the

religious and communal boundaries and began to create a secular art.

 

Things happened differently so far as Bankimchandra was concerned.

The rabid communal organisation Rashtriya Sevak Sangha started to

have the song sung daily compulsory in each of its branches after the

organisation was established in 1923. And driving out Tagore's "Jono

gono mono" from the status of India's national song they want it

replaced by Vandemataram.

 

Almost all through his life Tagore was opposed to "Vandemataram." He

tried to explain in more details his original reasons to oppose it

and it was done in his novel "Ghare Baire" (Home and Abroad)

published in 1915. In the book he repeatedly spoke against the

Vandemataram group. He opposed the goddess-idol-centred philosophy of

the state for its communal characteristics.

 

In "Ghare Baire" he had presented Nikhilesh and Sandwip as the

representatives of the two mutually-opposed symbols of the country

and state. To Nikhilesh the country was made of millions of men with

flesh and blood most of whom are illiterate, poor, deprived and

persecuted. Panchu is their representative. To him the most important

problem was how these Panchus could live free from persecution. No

war-mongering leader could be his leader symbolising his philosophy

of the state. His native land was no image of the goddess, rather, it

was the place of the union created by many a man, culture and

community.

 

Late in life Tagore once again expressed his opposition

to "Vandemataram" and this time he did it more directly and clearly

in a letter written to the poet-writer Buddhadev Bose. The letter was

written on 28th December, 1937. He wrote in the letter, "I cannot

imagine and it goes beyond my intelligence how this mad

tumultuousness was possible in the Bengali Hindu society

centering 'Vandemataram.' My days of sorrow have probably ended, but

my feeling for astonishment has not yet become blunt. I must admit I

was astonished to read your writing in favour of the Vandemataramists

in Shreehorsho.

 

The debate is what should be the national song for India and that it

should be such a song in which not only Hindus, but also the Muslims

and Christians — and even the Brahmmos — could participate with

dignity and respect.

 

Do you want to say, 'Thou are the goddess Durga', 'Kamala, the deity

being carried by lotus', 'Bani, the givergoddess of learning' and

host of other goddesses whose 'idols we worship in the temples'

should be devoured by the Muslims, because it was a universal song!

 

The Hindus argue those were only ideas. But this will cut no ice to

those in whose religion idol-worship is prohibited [i.e., Muslims].

Can you declare shaking your head we should not abide by this

attitude.... Those who possess this attitude are a part of our

nationality . . . Will the sorrow and loss be so unbearable if we

stop pronouncing the name of Durga to express the song of devotion

for the universal India!"

 

They who believe in the philosophy of the Hindutva are head over

heels to accept "Vandemataram" as India's main song. We see here the

attitude, consciousness and patriotism of the anti-non-Hindu Sangh

family are flowing in the same stream as those of Bankimchandra. To

Savarkar, the Guru of the Rashtriya Sevak Sangha, India is only their

country whose birth, work and holy places are confined to the

boundaries of India. It means the Indian Christians and Muslims whose

holy places are outside India are not Indians. The symbol of this

state of India easily becomes the symbol of the Hindu society and

Hindu state.

 

According to the writer-researcher Tanika Sarker,

Vandemataram "imagines such a feeling of patriotism which is

impossible to be accepted by the Indian Muslims. Neither they can

worship the goddess nor can they set aside the anti-Muslim words of

Anandamath. This patriotic fervour is completely Hindu state-ism.

Just as there is no place for the Muslims here, so also there is no

place here for the ordinary men.

 

"Even the soil of the country goes out of sight slowly. In the

beginning Vandemataram contains a beautiful picture of nature—watery

and fruity. In the middle of the song, however, the country turns

into a war-mongering image of the goddess. Vanishes the soil, plants,

sky, moonlight, crops and food. There only remains a vast blood-bath

in front of our eyes: dreadful image of the goddess Kali and the ten-

armed saviour. Language also changes: It was long—winding stresses at

the start, but, later that turns into the sound of a harsh, fast,

loud clashes of weapons."

 

Bankim's role was that of a talented, well-educated philosopher and

hymn-supplier for the nurturing of a nationalism groomed in a

religion in India—not to speak of Bengal. In this matter Bankim's

unhesitant admission was, "I have certainly no hope of progress in

India except in Hinduism, in Hinduism reformed, regenerated and

purified. The impatience of Bankimchandra and the similar-thinking

well-educated high and middle class Hindus is no less responsible for

the two-nation theory that made the division of India inevitable

later. He had not been alone in the path. Rangalal, Hemchandra,

Nabinchandra, Akshayakumar Datta, Bhudevchandra were his companions.

They were all more or less anti-Muslim. Only exceptions had been

Vidyasagar and Madhusudan. And exceptions only prove the rule."

 

Source: © Copyright 2003 by The New Nation,

Bangladesh. "Vandemataram" and Indian Hindu Nationalism, by Mahmud

Hasan, Sep 24, 2004, 12:39

URL: http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/publish/article_12597.shtml

[Guest guest]

Thank you for posting this, DB.

 

I greatly appreciate the recognition of music as a primary

spiritual force in India. It is possible that the popularity of the

song in question upholding the "Motherland" might just have

appealed on the basis of the land being considered "Mother," not

necessarily claiming that it belonged only to one culture.

Learned experts may disagree, but it is possible that the need

for Mother goes far deeper than cultural trappings. And this

brings another song to my mind, by Woody Guthrie: "This land is

your land, this land is my land / From California to the New York

Island ...." It would be nice if Woodie Guthrie's sentiments could

become the world anthem...

 

This "Muslim View" does echo my own feeling that there is much

violence in Hindu goddess imagery. However, there is a great

deal of violence in religions worldwide.

 

This article also reminded me of something I read online awhile

ago about Gandhi's favorite song. I searched for that this

morning, and found this article I want to share. Here is partial

text; the link for the full text is below it.

 

"My Experience With Non-violence

By Devika Malhotra

March 3, 2002

 

 

Thanks for inviting me and sharing your Sunday morning . It is

time for reflection, meditation and hopefully for planning some

action. I am delighted to be here. Although officially I am not a

member of this church I feel like I am, because I have been here

quite a few times and I know so many of you through WVUP, film

club and the community.

 

What can I say that you already do not know. Many of you are

probably wiser and more knowledgeable than I am. But I can

offer my personal and cross-cultural experiences as a

sociologist, a woman and the roles I play as mother, wife,

daughter, sister, educator, that have led me to the path of social

justice and have provided me with a deep awareness of the

importance of nonviolence in an increasingly violent world.

 

We all have had one or more experiences in our life that has had

an earthshaking effect on our identity and our life. I would like to

share some of the experiences in my life that have had an

impact on me with regard to non-violence.

 

The very first profound experience that I recall is when I was

around six years old, my grandmother told me a story. She said

that in ancient times when there was no formal schooling,

students usually, boys, went and lived with their teacher to get

education. So, the teacher or guru could not take more than two

or three boys at a time. After a few years when guru felt that they

were ready to graduate, he asked them to come and sit down

next to him. He said that the three of you are ready to graduate

but to be sure I have to give you the final test.

 

Students were excited and were ready to take the test. The

teacher gave a frog to each and told them to find a place where

no body could see them and then kill the frog. He repeated and

emphasized, make sure that no one is watching when you kill

the frog. Students answered that they understood and they would

make sure that no one was watching their act of killing the frog.

 

One student came back in an hour with the dead frog and

announced to his teacher that here is the dead frog and he is the

first to get back so he really deserves an "a." The second student

came back in about four hours with the dead frog and told the

guru that he wanted to make sure that no one was watching so

he walked miles and miles into the thickest part of the forest to

kill the frog and since he put an extraordinary effort and time he

should get an "a." The two students and the guru waited and

waited for the third student and it started getting dark so the guru

got worried and took the two students with him to look for the

third one. They found him sitting alone in the woods looking

worn out and stroking the frog. Guru got mad and asked what is

wrong with you? We have been worried sick about you. The

student said I was following your instructions to make sure that

no one was watching when I killed the frog. I went to so many

spots but I could not find any place where no one was watching.

The other two students were jumping and shouted, well we

found the place where no one was watching. You failed the test.

The tired student said, "you are right, I could not, I failed the final

test because god was watching every where." This was my first

lesson in non-violence.

 

I asked my grandmother how can God be watching every where.

She answered you think about it and you will find the answer. I

found the answer in many different forms at different points in my

life.

 

The second profound experience that I can recall is partition

when India was divided into Pakistan and India in 1947. My

family happened to be Hindu but lived in Punjab where civil war

broke between Hindus and Muslims. My parents had nailed

wooden boards on the windows for safety against gun shots.

They had drilled small holes on the windows to look outside. As

a child I would sneak and look through those holes and what I

saw I will never forget. I saw a man with a long spear that he

pierced into another man who happened to be going through the

street. I saw blood gushing out and when the person fell, a

group of men stuck the spear again and again until he did not

move. I started crying and asked my mom why were they doing

this and she said because Hindus and Muslims do not like each

other. But why I asked her. Answer was because their religion

was different. This was very confusing to me because my

parents had very close Muslim friends as well as Hindu friends. I

could not figure out why they would kill each other because they

had different religions. My parents tried to answer my questions

the best they could and simply said you will understand when

you grow up."

 

http://www.fuusm.org/refl020303.htm