Army pays tribute to Vande Mataram, creator Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Kolkata, Aug 12 (IANS) The XVII Mountain Strike Corps, or Brahmastra Corps, of the Indian Army’s Eastern Command, has paid respects to the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ and its creator Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.

The nation is celebrating 150 years of Vande Mataram this year and the Union government has made the playing of all six stanzas of the song mandatory at official events where the national anthem is also played.

The West Bengal government has also made singing of Vande Mataram compulsory at all the schools and recognised madrasas every day in the state.

Chattopadhyay was born at Kanthalpara village in Naihati of North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

The house where he was born in Naihati is now a museum with a library and research centre.

An Army band reached the house during the day and played some soul-stirring music, enchanting members of Chattopadhyay’s descendents and locals.

“The Eastern Command’s Brahmastra Corps presented a soulful Pipe Band Display at Naihati, birthplace of #Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, marking 150 years of Vande Mataram and Independence Day 2026. The display was witnessed by Shantanu Chatterjee, fifth generation descendant of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and students and teachers of nearby schools,” the Eastern Command said on social media platform X.

“A stirring tribute to India’s heritage, unity and enduring spirit of patriotism,” it added.

Vande Mataram was composed by Chattopadhyay in 1876 and used in his novel Anandamath.

In 1905, the song, which salutes the nation as a mother, was adopted by the Indian National Congress to whip up nationalistic fervour among the people during the freedom struggle.

In 1950, Vande Mataram was adopted as the national song. However, only the first two stanzas were to be used.

The present Narendra Modi-led Union government has changed that and made the whole song compulsory at official events.

The Parliament also passed a Bill to provide legal protection to Vande Mataram under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act.

On Tuesday, President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Bill, turning it into a law. With this, Vande Mataram now shares nearly the same status as the national anthem.

People have to rise when it is played and any insult to the song can attract punishment.

People at Kanthalpara have said that they were moved by the Army’s gesture to honour both Chattopadhyay and Vande Mataram.

–IANS

jg/khz

Related Posts

Odisha CM slams Congress for politicising Amit Shah’s statement on Ambedkar

Bhubaneswar, Dec 24 (IANS) Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday lashed out at Congress for politicising the statement made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on B.R. Ambedkar during a recent speech in Parliament.

He condemned the Congress for distorting Home Minister Shah’s statement for political purposes.

“If we look back into history, we realise that the Congress party and its leaders, even Jawahar Lal Nehru, have always neglected and mocked B.R. Ambedkar in all fields, including journalism and politics. In this view, I demand that the Congress party should first apologise for the disrespect it had shown to Ambedkar in the past,” alleged CM Majhi during a press conference held here on Tuesday.

The Chief Minister also alleged that Ambedkar, who had proficiency in economics and industry-related subjects, was made the Law Minister under the Nehru-led first Congress government instead of giving him the Ministry in which he had expertise.

“When the issue of reservations arose, more emphasis was given to providing reservations to Muslims but no special provisions were made for the Scheduled Castes and tribals. The Congress party disrespected Ambedkar when he drew attention towards this unfair act by the party,” CM Majhi alleged.

The CM said that Ambedkar also resigned from his post over several issues.

The Chief Minister noted that former PM Nehru in his letter to B.C. Ray had clearly said that Ambedkar’s resignation would not affect the Congress government.

He alleged that the Congress had fielded candidates against Ambedkar during the 1952 Lok Sabha polls and 1954 by-election.

He said even former PM Nehru campaigned against Ambedkar during both the elections.

He also added that the Congress in 1970 honoured Narayan Sadoba Kajrolkar, who had defeated B.R. Ambedkar in the elections, with the Padma Bhushan.

On the other hand, CM Majhi claimed that the BJP always holds B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, in the highest regard.

He said that former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had inaugurated a memorial constructed at B.R. Ambedkar’s birthplace in Madhya Pradesh.

CM Majhi also said that current PM Narendra Modi also inaugurated an Ambedkar centre in Delhi.

The Congress has launched a nationwide campaign against the alleged disrespectful comment made by Amit Shah on Ambedkar.

The Congress has been demanding the resignation of Amit Shah and a public apology from him over the issue.

–IANS

gyan/khz

India, China offer contrasting styles in dealing with neighbours amid oil crisis

New Delhi, May 1 (IANS) The energy crisis triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the Middle East conflict has also brought out the contrasting styles in which India and China deal with their neighbours in an hour of need.

When China offers energy, as it did with Taiwan, the offer arrives bundled with a political price tag attached to it. When India supplies fuel to Nepal or Sri Lanka, it does so through existing intergovernmental frameworks, with no conditions on sovereignty or political alignment, according to an article in Daily Mirror Online.

The article highlights that China’s response to the crisis was swift and self-serving.

China ordered a suspension of new fuel export contracts and attempted to cancel existing shipments as global fuel markets tightened due to the Middle Eastern war. As a result countries such as Australia, Bangladesh and the Philippines that had come to depend on fuel imports from China were left in the lurch.

With large crude stockpiles and an extensive renewable energy sector, China is better positioned to weather the energy crisis than its Asian neighbours. But Beijing calculated that allowing scarcity to spread across the region served its interests better than relieving it, the article said.

It points out that China took advantage of the situation to arm-twist its neighbours and tried to drive hard political bargains. It offered to supply oil to Taiwan if the island nation agreed to peaceful reunification, with mainland China. However, Taiwan rejected the proposal straightaway.

The article highlights that India’s behaviour under the same circumstances was markedly different.

Rather than pulling back, India supplied around 38,000 metric tonnes of fuel to Sri Lanka, addressing a significant portion of its immediate requirement.

Fuel deliveries to Nepal and Bhutan, both of which are entirely dependent on India, continued without interruption.

Similarly, additional diesel shipments were delivered to Bangladesh, with more supplies assured through the cross-border pipeline route.

“These were not isolated gestures made for political optics. They reflected a consistent pattern of supply rooted in India’s broader “Neighbourhood First” doctrine, which was now being tested under genuine crisis conditions,” the article noted.

–IANS

sps/khz

Coded messages in phones of 2 arrested JMB men in Bengal show links with other fundamentalist groups

Kolkata, May 10 (IANS) The West Bengal Police recovered several coded and encrypted messages from the mobile phones of Aazmal Hossain and Saheb Ali Khan, the two Indian associates of Bangladesh-based Islamic fundamentalist group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) who were arrested on Friday from Nalhati in Birbhum district, which hint at their links with other fundamentalist groups.

Sources said that some of these coded messages had references of groups like Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HUT), and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), all being identified as fundamentalist groups with the last two entities being very active in the recent past to open sleeper cells in the Indo-Bangladesh bordering and minority dominated districts in West Bengal like Murshidabad and Malda.

While Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind has its roots in Jammu and Kashmir the main bases of the other two are in Bangladesh, with a focus on spreading their network in bordering districts of West Bengal.

State police sources said that the investigating officials are currently trying to crack all the coded messages on their mobile phones to get a clearer picture of their exact links with different fundamentalist groups.

At the same time, marathon interrogations of Hossain and Khan are on, with both being remanded to 14 days of police custody by a district court in Birbhum district on Friday.

At the same time, the investigating officials have tracked details of some suspicious online transactions.

Already, in the face of interrogation, said sources, Hossain admitted of his failed attempts to go to Bangladesh in the recent past amid increased border surveillance by different central and state security-cum-Intelligence agencies amid the ongoing political crisis in Bangladesh.

Recently, the Union Home Ministry received information from Intelligence agencies about the alleged role of illegal Bangladeshi intruders behind the violence and vandalism at the minority-dominated Murshidabad district over violent protests against the newly-promulgated Waqf (Amendment) Act.

The names of JMB, HUT and ABT surfaced in that Intelligence input.

However, considering the geographical locations of the pockets where the tension and violence had been maximum this time, especially Samserganj, the possibility of ABT playing some role in the latest violence sounded more logical.

On the eastern side of the International Borders at Samserganj and Dhulian, is the Bangladeshi district of Chapai-Nawabganj, which is considered the stronghold of ABT.

Sources added that because of this geographical proximity, the chances of ABT’s involvement in the latest developments at Murshidabad are most likely.

–IANS

src/rad