Jairam Ramesh Releases 12 Historical Documents on Vande Mataram Row

Updated: Fri, 21 Aug 2026 (09:59 IST)

Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh has released a compilation of 12 historical letters, notes and resolutions related to Vande Mataram, saying the documents would help counter what he described as “misinformation” being spread by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his supporters over the national song.

In a post on social media platform X, Ramesh said the collection brought together correspondence and writings involving several prominent leaders of India’s freedom movement and early Republic, including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, Subhas Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, C Rajagopalachari and J B Kripalani.

“To clear up all the misinformation that the PM and his acolytes have been spreading, this is a compilation of 12 letters and notes penned by many founding fathers of the Indian Republic, documenting their thoughts on Vande Mataram,” Ramesh said.

The documents, dating from September 1937 to July 1939, shed light on an important period when leaders of the national movement were debating the place, interpretation and manner of singing Vande Mataram. The correspondence records discussions surrounding the song’s role in the freedom struggle, its historical importance and concerns raised over certain portions of its original composition.

The compilation opens with a letter written by Rajendra Prasad to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on September 28, 1937. It is followed by correspondence between Subhas Chandra Bose and Rabindranath Tagore, including Bose’s letter to Tagore dated October 16, 1937, and Tagore’s response three days later.

Also included are exchanges between Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru. Bose wrote to Nehru on October 17, 1937, with Nehru replying on October 20. Another letter from Tagore to Nehru, dated October 26, is part of the collection.

One of the most significant documents is a Congress Working Committee resolution on “Bande Mataram”, adopted in Kolkata on October 28, 1937. The resolution recorded the Congress leadership’s deliberations on the song and the circumstances in which it could be sung or used.

The collection then moves to correspondence from January 1939. It includes a letter from J B Kripalani to C Rajagopalachari concerning a note by Mahatma Gandhi dated January 2, followed by Rajagopalachari’s letter to Patel on January 7. A letter from Govind Ballabh Pant to Nehru dated January 8, along with Nehru’s reply on January 16, is also included.

The final document in the compilation is a note by Mahatma Gandhi published in the weekly Harijan on July 1, 1939.

Ramesh’s move comes amid a renewed political debate over the history, symbolism and public use of Vande Mataram, with the Congress and BJP offering sharply different interpretations of decisions taken during the freedom movement.

Written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and included in his novel Anandamath, Vande Mataram became one of the most powerful rallying cries of India’s nationalist movement. After Independence, it was accorded the status of India’s national song, while Jana Gana Mana was adopted as the national anthem.

The debate over Vande Mataram has historically centred on religious imagery contained in some parts of the original composition and questions over how the song should be presented in a religiously and culturally diverse country.

The issue gained fresh political significance after the Congress Working Committee, at its meeting on Wednesday, resolved to adhere to the party’s historic 1937 position and limit the singing of Vande Mataram at official party programmes to its first two stanzas.

The Congress said the decision was based on the guidance and deliberations of leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranath Tagore. According to the party, the first two stanzas, which celebrate and praise the motherland, were considered appropriate for official programmes.

The CWC’s decision is expected to add another dimension to the ongoing political dispute, with the Congress seeking to highlight the historical context in which the song’s use was debated during the freedom struggle. The BJP, meanwhile, has consistently projected Vande Mataram as a central symbol of Indian nationalism.

By releasing the 12 historical documents, Ramesh has sought to place the current political controversy within the context of discussions and decisions made by leaders who were directly involved in the debate decades before Independence. The compilation highlights that questions surrounding Vande Mataram and its public use were subjects of serious deliberation among India’s foremost nationalist leaders long before the country gained freedom.