The song that Bankim Chandra wrote to paint a picture of Mother India with pure flowing rivers, fruit-laden fields, cool mountain breeze and fertile green land – the same song is today being smeared with poison inside Parliament by both the ruling party and the opposition.
Vande Mataram sings: “Sujalam, Sufalam” → Pure water, bountiful harvests. But the debate is only on Nehru and Indira. Ganga and Yamuna are still vomiting white chemical foam from Kanpur to Prayagraj. Tanneries and factories pump poison 3 billion litres of untreated sewage into our rivers every single day. Yet no MP remembered “Sujalam” (clean water).
Vande Mataram sings: “Sufalam” → Land overflowing with pure fruits and crops. But our vegetables and fruits are so loaded with pesticides that children are reaching cancer wards. Punjab’s Malwa region is called the “Cancer Belt”; the Bhatinda–Bikaner train is nicknamed “Cancer Express”. Still, Parliament only wants to fight over “Nehru did this, Indira did that”.
Vande Mataram sings: “Malayaja Sheetalam” → Cool, fragrant breeze from the mountains. Today breathing in Delhi is like smoking 50 cigarettes a day. AQI regularly crosses 500; schools are shut, old people walk with oxygen cylinders, children cough blood. Yet inside Parliament, the only poison being spread in the name of Vande Mataram is political venom.
The same slogan that revolutionaries sang on the gallows is now being used as a weapon to climb on each other’s chests.
Bankim Babu could never have imagined that his sacred song would one day become just a tool to create noise in Parliament and earn TRP for news channels.
The real Vande Mataram is still gasping for breath:
- in rivers choked with plastic and chemicals,
- in fields turning barren because of poisonous fertilizers,
- in the blackened lungs of millions breathing Delhi’s air.
If Parliament truly respects Vande Mataram, then debate these questions:
- Where did the thousands of crores meant for cleaning Ganga disappear?
- Why are farmers in Punjab and Haryana still forced to burn stubble? Why haven’t stubble-burning machines reached them?
- Why is there no ban on cancer-causing pesticides in fruits and vegetables?
But no. The debate is only on Nehru, Indira, and “who is the bigger patriot”.
This is not Vande Mataram. This is mockery of Vande Mataram. This is not respect for the national song – this is murder of the national song.
Jai Hind. Jai Bharat Mata.
If even a little shame is still left, don’t waste that too.
Sajjadali Nayani ✍
