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Two controversies dominated this Independence Day. The first was over ‘Vande Mataram’. The second was over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s use of the phrase “Dimagi Naxal”. They may appear unrelated, but they point to the same larger question: how far can political disagreement be turned into a test of patriotism and loyalty?

The ‘Vande Mataram’ controversy began with a BJP claim that Sonia Gandhi tried to stop the song while it was being sung at the Congress headquarters. Congress said she was asking for a chair for Mallikarjun Kharge, who had been standing for some time. The Congress went on to sing the complete six-stanza version. The BJP nevertheless interpreted Gandhi’s gesture as evidence of disrespect. The controversy has now moved to a more consequential stage.

The Congress Working Committee has decided that the party will sing only the first two stanzas of ‘Vande Mataram‘ at its events, reaffirming a position adopted by the Congress in 1937. The BJP has strongly objected. Amit Shah has called the decision “anti-national”, while accusing the party of appeasement. Other BJP leaders have accused Congress of insulting the national song. Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hit back, saying it is the version decided by India’s national leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

This is no longer simply a dispute about the history of ‘Vande Mataram’. It is about who gets to decide what constitutes sufficient respect for a national symbol. In January, the Union government issued guidelines prescribing the full six-stanza version for specified official functions. The later stanzas contain religious imagery. That was one reason the shorter version had historically been used in public and national gatherings. The Congress’s 1937 decision was itself an attempt to address the objections surrounding those later verses.

The BJP is now changing the........

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