Vande Mataram is the real national anthem: RSS leader

Mumbai

“Jana Gana Mana is your national anthem. It has to be respected. There is no reason why it should evoke any other sentiment,” RSS General Secretary  Bhaiyyaji Joshi said. “But it is the national anthem as decided by the Constitution. If one considers the true meaning, then Vande Mataram is the national anthem,” he said on Friday at the Deendayal Upadhyay Research Institute.

“We consider things created due to the Constitution to be national,” Joshi said. “When was Jana Gana Mana written? It was written some time back. But the sentiments expressed in Jana Gana Mana have been expressed keeping the state in view,” he said. “However, the sentiments expressed in Vande Mataram denote the nation’s character and style. This is the difference between the two songs. Both deserve respect,” Joshi said. ‘Vande Mataram’, literally, “I praise thee, Mother”, is a poem by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. A hymn to the ‘Mother Land’, it played a vital role in the Indian independence movement.