New Delhi: Days after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ remarks, a top functionary of the organisation has said that ‘Vande Mataram’ is the real national anthem as opposed to the ‘Constitutionally-mandated’ Jana Gana Mana. “Jana Gana Mana is today our 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 at the Deendayal Upadhyay Research Institute here on Friday. “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.
However, within hours RSS chief spokesman Dr Manmohan Vaidya issued a statement issued from its Keshav Kunj headquarters in Delhi, to assert that “no where Shri Bhayyaji has asked for any change in national flag or anthem.” The RSS also mounted its general secretary”s remarks on its official Twitter handle to explain his contentions that clearly dubs the Saffron flag and Vande Mataram as symbols of India”s ancient culture and not the Tricolour and the anthem. The controversy errupted from Joshi stressing that “Jana Gana Mana is our national anthem and should be respected, but it is the national anthem as decided by the Constitution and If one considers the true meaning, then Vande Mataram is the national anthem.”
