ניטין

This single video has stripped away the carefully cultivated veneer of congeniality and exposed something far more troubling. The impulse to disrupt or diminish Vande Mataram, a song that stirred generations of freedom fighters and became one of the most powerful expressions of India’s national awakening, will not sit well with Indians. Vande Mataram is an emotion. It is the sound of a civilisation awakening to its own strength. It stirred the hearts of revolutionaries, gave courage to those who stood up to colonial rule, and became inseparably woven into India’s freedom struggle. When its words are sung, they evoke not just the land, but the rivers, fields, soil and spirit of Bharat. It carries the memory of sacrifice and the unmistakable yearning for freedom. Few songs possess the power to turn patriotism from an idea into an emotion felt deep within the soul. Perhaps Sonia Gandhi will never fully understand the profound Indianness of Vande Mataram. But she must understand why India has embraced it: because it reflects our civilisational ethos, our history, our collective memory and, ultimately, who we are. You can debate politics. You can disagree on ideology. But treating a song that has stirred the patriotic imagination of generations with anything less than reverence is a different matter altogether. Vande Mataram. 🇮🇳