November 12, 2025 06:47 AM IST First published on: Nov 12, 2025 at 06:47 AM ISTIt was 1905. During the annual session of the Indian National Congress, held in Benaras and presided over by M K Gandhi’s political mentor, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, one not-yet-prominent political figure became the centre of attention — Sarala Devi, a singer and Rabindranath Tagore’s niece. Buoyed by her presence, the massive crowd began demanding that she sing ‘Vande Mataram’, which had become a cry for Independence and drew the wrath of the British administration. Gokhale thought it might disrupt the session. To avoid this, he instructed Sarala Devi to sing only the first stanza. But once she started, there was no turning back — she had to sing the full song.That was the popularity of those verses, written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1875 and included in his novel Anandamath in 1882. The same year, when the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, announced the partition of Bengal, another song took centre stage: ‘Amar sonar Bangla, ami tomay bhalobashi’, written by Tagore, who not only carried on Chattopadhyay’s legacy by editing Bangadarshan magazine, where ‘Vande Mataram’ was first published, but also sang the song for the first time in a public forum at the Congress’s 1896 annual session.AdvertisementThese songs had much in common — a patriotic framework, (sub)nationalist imagination, description of a bountiful land. But the most significant was the imagination and celebration of motherhood, where the land transcends its physical reality and becomes an affectionate mother in need of her children’s protection. After 120 years, however, the two songs have invoked two different imaginations. On the one hand, the nation is celebrating 150 years of ‘Vande Mataram’ with much gusto; on the other, ‘Amar sonar Bangla’, now the national anthem of Bangladesh, is being vilified by Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, who, referring to a Congress member humming the song during a party session, said, “This is somehow an endorsement of the claim of various Bangladeshi people that the Northeast is their part and parcel.”This proclamation is ahistorical and demeans the nation’s past. ‘Amar sonar Bangla’ was adopted as Bangladesh’s national anthem 66 years after it was written. India’s relationship with its neighbour, or concerns about illegal immigration, cannot rewrite its significance during the freedom movement. One can differ on the imagination of the motherland — sometimes portrayed as an affectionate “Bharat mata”, seeking her colonised children’s protection, or in the framework of warrior Kali, who, in the words of poet Mukunda Das, “wants to drink the blood of her children, unless you awake”. But the mother has always been celebrated. ‘Vande Mataram’ is not much different, when put in context, from ‘Amar Sonar Bangla’. They don’t deserve different treatment.The writer is senior assistant editor, The Indian Express.abhik.bhattacharya@expressindia.com