‘Apologise’: Bankim Chandra descendant writes to Sonia Gandhi over Vande Mataram ‘insult’

Co g ess
leade
So ia
Ga dhi
( ight)
a d
Co g ess
p eside t
Mallika ju
Kha ge
at
I depe de ce
Day
celeb atio s
at
Co g ess
headqua te s
i
Delhi

NEW
DELHI:
West
Be gal

BJP
MLA
Sumit o
Chatte jee
o
Su day
dema ded
a
u co ditio al
apology
f om
se io
Co g ess
leade

So ia
Ga dhi
fo
allegedly
dis especti g

Va de
Mata am.Chatte jee
is
a
di ect
desce da t
of
e ow ed
poet
Ba kim
Cha d a
Chattopadhyay,
who
w ote
the
atio al
so g.I
his
lette ,
Chatte jee
desc ibed
the
alleged
i cide t
o
August
15,
as
the
cou t y
celeb ated
its
80th
I depe de ce
Day,
as
” ot
me ely
u fo tu ate
but
a
shameless
epetitio
of
a
histo ical
mistake.”He
stated
that
he
was
w iti g
as
a
“o di a y
citize ,
a
pat iot
a d
a
di ect
desce da t
of
Ba kim
Cha d a
Chattopadhyay,”
a d
exp essed
“deep
pai ,
empti ess,
a d
a ge ”
ove
the
episode.He
te med
So ia
Ga dhi’s
alleged
elucta ce
to
fully
ecite
“Va de
Mata am”
o
a
“i sult”
to
the
sac ifices
of
ma ty s
such
as
Khudi am
Bose.Chatte jee
also
cited
the
so g’s
ole
i
the
f eedom
moveme t,
i cludi g
its
ecitatio
by
Sa ala
Devi
Chaudhu a i
at
the
1905
Be a es
Co g ess
sessio ,
its
si gi g
by
Bal
Ga gadha
Tilak’s
suppo te s
du i g
his
1909
seditio
t ial,
a d
its
use
as
a
allyi g
c y
by
atio alist
stude ts
at
Hyde abad’s
Osma ia
U ive sity
i
1938
despite
the
Nizam’s
est ictio s.He
also
efe ed
to
Rabi d a ath
Tago e’s
e ditio
of
the
so g
at
the
1896
Calcutta
sessio
of
the
I dia
Natio al
Co g ess.

Chatte jee
fu the
claimed
that
the
Co g ess’
so-called
“dual
policy”
was
ot
ew,
ecalli g
that
i
1937,
the
pa ty
had
“bowed”
to
Mohammad
Ali
Ji ah’s
objectio s
a d
t u cated
the
so g
that
Octobe .
He
a gued
that
the
shadow
of
that
“comp omise”
was
visible
agai
i
the
pa ty’s
co duct.Asse ti g
that
Va de
Mata am
was
ot
the
p ope ty
of
a y
o e
political
pa ty
but
the
cou t y’s
collective
memo y,
Ba kim
Cha d a’s
ete al
legacy
a d
a
sac ed
atio al
symbol
ea ed
th ough
the
blood
a d
sac ifice
of
ma ty s,
Chatte jee
mai tai ed
that
especti g
the
so g
was
ta tamou t
to
especti g
the
histo y
of
I dia’s
f eedom
st uggle.He
wa ed
that
“histo y
fo gives
o
o e”
a d
that
a y
leade ship
which
fails
to
espect
its
ow
ma t a
of
f eedom
would
be
pushed
by
histo y
i to
“the
da k ess
of
oblivio .”Chatte jee
added
that
the
i cide t
had
“deeply”
hu t
the
se time ts
of
the
people
of
West
Be gal
a d
appealed
to
Ga dhi
to
i t ospect
a d
te de
a
u co ditio al
apology
to
all
cou t yme ,
pa ticula ly
the
people
of
West
Be gal,
without
a y
co ditio s.

The
i cide t
he
efe ed
to
took
place
du i g
I depe de ce
Day
celeb atio s
at
the
Co g ess
pa ty
headqua te s
i
Delhi.
A
video
f om
the
eve t
we t
vi al,
with
seve al
BJP
leade s
a d
social
media
use s
allegi g
that
the e
was
“discomfo t”
a d
epeated
attempts
to
stop
the
full
ve sio
of
Va de
Mata am
f om
bei g
su g.The
80th
I depe de ce
Day
ma ked
the
fi st
time
si ce
i depe de ce
that
the
atio al
so g
was
played
at
the
official
August
15
celeb atio s
at
Delhi’s
Red
Fo t.
Va de
Mata am
was
played
befo e
P ime
Mi iste
Na e d a
Modi’s
add ess
to
the
atio
f om
the
ampa ts
of
the
ico ic
mo ume t.(With
PTI
i puts)