Days before Vande Mataram is set to be recited in Parliament and from the Red Fort’s ramparts to mark Independence Day, the Congress and the BJP were on Wednesday engaged in a debate over the length of the national song, whose full rendition over 3 minutes and 10 seconds has become mandatory at official functions where Jana Gana Mana is recited.Underlining that he respected both songs, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said the law criminalising insult to the national song was passed without discussion in Parliament and appeared to have overlooked human nature, pointing to the time that Vande Mataram recitation would require.“The President has assented to the #VandeMataram Amendment, passed without discussion in Parliament, which requires the singing of the National Song in full at the start and ending of any official function, in addition to the National Anthem. As one who greatly respects both, and can sing the first two stanzas of the former (but not the other four, which were never required till now) as well as the entire anthem, i would like to point to just one practical consideration our zealots appear to have overlooked: human nature. “Jana Gana Mana” requires audiences to stand respectfully and focus their attention for a reasonable 52 seconds,” he wrote on X.BJP national spokesperson C R Kesavan termed Tharoor’s comments “callous” and alleged that Congress leaders “dishonour and disrespect” the sacrifices of generations of freedom fighters. He also referred to correspondence between Jawaharlal Nehru and Jana Sangh founder Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee regarding the feasibility of Vande Mataram as the national anthem.“The National Song in full takes 3 minutes and 10 seconds. Tamil Nadu has just decided that both will be preceded by the State Song in Tamil for another 2 minutes. Do we really expect audiences to stand still and respectfully for six minutes before and after every function, a total of 12 extra minutes? Can respect and patience be legislated? I fear that the intent of the Bill, to promote greater respect for the National Song , will not be achieved, but its opposite may well be….” Tharoor wrote.In response, Kesavan wrote on X that Nehru had thrown his weight behind adopting Jana Gana Mana as the national anthem, arguing that it had an “element of triumph and fulfilment”, while Vande Mataram “represents poignant longing for freedom”.Also Read | Vande Mataram Bill tabled in Rajya Sabha: How it aims to place the national song on a par with ‘Jana Gana Mana’Taking on Tharoor, the BJP spokesperson wrote, “Senior Congress leader states that the full original rendition of Vande Mataram, which takes 3 minutes and 10 seconds is too lengthy for people to stand through respectfully and patiently. Is this not extremely ironic coming from the servile Congress party, which for more than 75 long years has patiently and sycophantically been kowtowing to the Nehru-Gandhi first family.”Story continues below this ad“Such callous remarks deeply dishonour and disrespect the selfless sacrifices of generations of freedom fighters who patriotically gave up their lives uttering “Vande Mataram” for our nation’s independence. From Nehru’s Congress which truncated Vande Mataram to Rahul Gandhi, bitter disdain and antipathy of the Congress party against Vande Mataram, persists” the BJP leader added.Alleging that the communication between Nehru and Mookerjee underlined “his Macaulay colonial mindset”, Kesavan accused the first prime minister of demeaning Vande Mataram.“We are truly thankful to PM @narendramodi ji for restoring the respect and honour of Vande Mataram and making sure it is rendered in its glorious original form at public events – and for the first time ever at the Red Fort this Independence Day. PM Mod ji has ensured a fitting tribute to the generations of brave heroes and heroines who selflessly sacrificed for our nation’s freedom” he added.Nehru’s June 21, 1948, letter to Syama Prasad MookerjeeNehru, in his communication to Mookerjee on June 21, 1948, wrote that he did “not think Vande Mataram is at all feasible as a national anthem chiefly because of its tune which does not suit orchestral or band rendering”.Story continues below this ad“Our National Anthem has to be played by foreign orchestra all over the world. Jana Gana Mana, on the other hand, has already been greatly appreciated in foreign countries as well as in India and the music of it has a great appeal to people who hear it in India or abroad,” he wrote.Vande Mataram, on the other hand, Nehru said, was “of course intimately connected with our entire national struggle and we are all emotionally attached to it and will continue to be so attached”. “It will in any event remain as a famous national song but I personally think that a song which represents poignant longing for freedom is not necessarily a song which fits in with the achievement of freedom. Jana Gana Mana has an element of triumph and fulfilment about it. But the main consideration is the music,” he wrote to Mookerjee.