As India commemorates the 150th anniversary of the national song, Vande Mataram, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (December 9) addressed a special discussion on the topic in the Lok Sabha. He called the song the “mantra that energised and guided India’s freedom movement” and a timeless symbol of the country’s cultural and spiritual unity.
The archives include a ‘Note for Cabinet’ written by Nehru on May 21, 1948, and a letter written to then West Bengal Chief Minister, Dr BC Roy, on June 15, 1948. In both letters, he argued that Jana Gana Mana was better suited to be the national anthem.
In the ‘Note for Cabinet’, Nehru wrote that the government had settled on the National Flag and the Emblem and would soon decide on the National Anthem. “But some temporary arrangements at least are necessary on the official plane as occasions arise daily when a National Anthem has to be played… Every Embassy and Legation of ours in a foreign country has to play a National Anthem on special occasions. Foreign authorities have to play our National Anthem occasionally and they want to know what to do.”
How Nehru viewed Jana Gana Mana and Vande Mataram
Nehru wrote that the choice seemed to be between Jana Gana Mana and Vande Mataram. “To a large extent Jana Gana Mana is being played today by military bands and on all official occasions, both in India and consulted the various Governors of Provinces and asked them to confer with their Premiers. Their replies almost unanimously support Jana Gana Mana. The one exception is the Governor of the Central Provinces, who prefers Vande Mataram,” he said.
However, he pointed out that the aim was to seek wider acceptance.
“Vande Mataram is of course a popular song and with it is associated with the struggle for our freedom. Hence it is bound to continue as a favourite national song which revives poignant memories. A National Anthem is, of course, a form of words, but it is even more so a tune or a musical score. It is played by orchestras and bands frequently and only very seldom sung.
The music of the National Anthem is, therefore, the most important factor. It is to be full of life as well as dignity and it should be capable of being effectively played by orchestras, big and small, and by military bands and pipes. It is to be played not only in India but abroad and should be such as is generally appreciated in both these places. Jana Gana Mana appears to satisfy these tests,” Nehru wrote.
He said about the tune of Vande Mataram, “It is rather plaintive and mournful and repetitive. It is particularly difficult for foreigners to appreciate it a piece of music. It has not got those peculiar distinctive features which Jana Gana Mana has. It represents very truthfully the period of our struggle in longing and not so much the fulfilment thereof in the future.”
Nehru also felt that the lyrics had to be fairly simple. “The language of Vande Mataram is very difficult for the average person. Jana Gana Mana is simpler though it is capable of improvement and some changes are necessary in the present context,” he said.
The PM noted that Jana Gana Mana owed part of its popularıty to a variation made by the Indian National Army (INA). “Bearing all these considerations in mind, I suggest that we might provisionally accept Jana Gana Mana as the National Anthem which should be played on all suitable occasions,” he said.
He advocated that competent people should attempt some modifications to change the language to simple Hindustani. “It has also been suggested that instead of Sind, Assam might be included in the list of provinces mentioned in it. Once a general musical rendering of it has been accepted provisionally, the rest will follow, and we shall have something immediately for official use,” he said.
What points did Nehru raise with Dr BC Roy on the national anthem?
In his 1948 letter, Nehru said the Constituent Assembly must decide the National Anthem. “There is no question of some Muslims objecting to Vande Mataram. That has not influenced many people here, but many of us, and I feel strongly about it, think that in the present context Vande Mataram is completely unsuited as a national anthem. It is and it will continue to be a national song which is intimately connected with our struggle for freedom, and which will be revered accordingly,” he said.
Nehru again stated that a national anthem should be about victory, and not past struggle.
“Jana Gana Mana has come into prominence as such without any effort on our part to begin with. It was played at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel last October before an international gathering. This was at the time of the United Nations meeting. It produced a sensation, and the representatives of the foreign nations said that it was one of the finest things as a national anthem they had heard. There was a tremendous demand for it among Americans as well as many others who were present”.
“We have consulted numerous eminent musicians including some of the biggest orchestra conductors in foreign countries. Vande Mataram does not yield itself to good orchestration or to military playing. Jana Gana Mana has an ideal lilt about it which is greatly approved,” he said. He wrote that Vande Mataram did not fulfil this essential musical qualification, and “From the point of view of the foreign countries it is undoubtedly a flop. Whether Jana Gana Mana is adopted or not I doubt very much if Vande Mataram could be adopted.”
Lyrically, too, he said that Vande Mataram contained language “which most people do not understand. Certainly, I do not understand it.”
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. (Express archives) 
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