Zürcher Nachrichten - 'Vande Mataram': Why is India's freedom song in spotlight?

Before Sunday's T20 game between India and Afghanistan in New Delhi, players and spectators stood as "Vande Mataram" was sung before an international cricket match in India for the first time -- ahead of the national anthem.

The six-stanza rendition lasted more than three minutes, putting the 19th-century song at the centre of a modern debate over nationalism and religion in constitutionally secular India, home to 1.4 billion people.

Some Indian players sang the opening lines, but most stood silent before singing the national anthem that followed.

AFP breaks down what the song and dance is about.

- What is 'Vande Mataram'? -

"Vande Mataram", meaning "Mother, I Bow to Thee", was a poem written by Bengali author Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and first published in 1875.

The verse is in Sanskrit -- the root language of Hindi -- making it hard for many to understand or sing.

"The development of the hymn from a poetic composition to a national song exemplifies India's collective awakening against colonial dominance," the government said in a 2025 statement.

"Vande Mataram" was officially adopted as India's National Song in 1950. But it is not India's national anthem.

That is "Jana Gana Mana", or "the Minds of all the People", which was also formally adopted as the anthem in 1950.

Britain's colonial rule ended in the bloody 1947 partition that created Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.

- Why is the song contentious? -

The dispute centres on the song's later verses.

While the opening two stanzas praise the motherland, subsequent verses invoke Hindu deities including Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati.

In 1937, the Congress party endorsed only the first two stanzas for public use, seeking to accommodate India's religious diversity, including its large Muslim minority.

Many Muslims object to the song's portrayal of the nation as a goddess, arguing that such veneration conflicts with Islamic teachings.

- Why has the debate returned? -

The issue has been revived by a series of government measures elevating the song's official status.

In February, the home ministry directed that "Vande Mataram" be sungor playedin its musical versionat the start of government functions, before the national anthem.

Parliament in July passed legislation imposing fines or jail terms of up to three years for those who intentionally disrupt or obstruct its rendition.

The directive was applied to international cricket in India for the first time before Sunday's match.

- How has the dispute played out? -

The ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the opposition Congress of weakening a symbol of the freedom struggle.

Congress maintains that only the first two stanzas should be sung, in keeping with a long-standing political compromise.

The argument has spilled into television studios, parliament and public events, with commentators and politicians debating whether singing the full version should be considered a test of patriotism.

"If patriotism and love for Mother India are feeling beyond words, then 'Vande Mataram' is the song that gives a concrete expression to those feelings," Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leader of the BJP, said in a message on a special website created for the song last year, to mark its 150th anniversary.

- Why does it matter? -

The controversy has become part of a broader debate over nationalism and religious identity.

Supporters regard "Vande Mataram" as an enduring symbol of the anti-colonial struggle and national pride.

Critics argue that a song containing explicit Hindu religious imagery should not be used to define patriotism in a nation of many faiths.

Modi's BJP espouses "Hindutva" -- the belief that Hindus represent not only a religious group but are India's true national identity.

Delhi University professor, Apoorvanand, who uses one name, said the current push marks a departure from the pre-independence consensus that limited public renditions to the first two stanzas.

"With the ascendance of 'Hindutva', they want to break that consensus. And they want to create a new consensus... by the force of numbers," he told AFP.

R.Schmid--NZN