प्रणय कुमार
जयपुर। गुरुदेव रवींद्रनाथ टैगोर ने 1896 के कलकत्ता के कांग्रेस अधिवेशन में पूरा वंदे मातरम गाया था। परंतु कालांतर में नेहरू द्वारा टैगोर से “वंदे मातरम” पर विचार माँगें जाने पर उन्होंने लिखा :-
“To me, the spirit of tenderness and devotion expressed in its first portion, the emphasis it gave to beautiful and beneficent aspects of our motherland made a special appeal, so much so that I found no difficulty in dissociating it from the rest of the poem. I freely concede that the whole of Bankim’s Vande Mataram poem, read together with its context, is liable to be interpreted in ways that might wound Muslim susceptibilities. But a national song, though derived from it, which has spontaneously come to consist only of the first two stanzas of the original poem, need not remind us every time of the whole. ……..”
वंदे मातरम को लेकर गाँधी की सोच वही थी, जो जनमानस की थी। पर वे अपने पूरे राजनीतिक जीवन में सबके नेता बनने का प्रयास करते रहे, पर जिन्ना व मुस्लिम लीग ने उन्हें कभी स्वीकार नहीं किया। यह अस्वीकारोक्ति उनके पूरे व्यक्तित्व, चिंतन व दर्शन पर हावी रही। और अंततः उन्होंने जिन्ना, मुस्लिम लीग व उसके समर्थकों की अलगाववादी माँगों के आगे लगभग आत्म-समर्पण सा कर दिया, इतना कि न केवल “वंदे मातरम” पर उनकी माँग को स्वीकार कर लिया, बल्कि विभाजन को भी स्वीकार करने को विवश हुए। हम उन्हें सत्याग्रही के रूप में जानते व मानते हैं। परंतु सत्य के प्रति यह उनका कैसा आग्रह था कि जिसे वे स्वयं सही मानते थे, उसे केवल इसलिए नहीं गाना चाहते थे, क्योंकि कुछ लोगों को उस पर आपत्ति थी? फिर वे कैसे सत्याग्रही थे? उन्हें पढ़ें :-
Mahatma Gandhi too, while he expressed admiration for the song, said it should not be sung at gatherings where people objected to it. On July 1, 1939, he wrote in Harijan, “It was an anti-imperialist cry. It had never occurred to me that it was a Hindu song or meant only for Hindus. Unfortunately, now we have fallen on evil days. I would not risk a single quarrel over singing Vande Mataram at a mixed gathering. The same month he again wrote in Harijan that if at any mixed gathering any person objected to the singing of Vande Mataram, even with the Congress expurgations, the singing should be dropped.”
On August 14, 1947, at the assumption of power ceremony, Sucheta Kripalani sang the first verse of Vande Mataram as the opening item. On August 26, H. V. Kamath rose in the Assembly to say that, on that day, “some of us in this House noticed that a number of our honourable friends entered the Assembly Chamber, I would almost say trooped into this hall after the song had been sung. I would request you, sir, to look into this matter.”
नेहरू “वंदे मातरम” पर कितने तर्कहीन थे, “राष्ट्र-गान जैसे गंभीर प्रश्न व मुद्दों पर उनका यह तर्क कितना बचकाना था, आप स्वयं देखें, बल्कि उनका यह तर्क उन्हें “आज के कांग्रेस नेतृत्व के स्तर का महान चिंतक” सिद्ध करता है :-
Among those who preferred Jana Gana Mana as the anthem were Nehru, and among the reasons he cited was that “Vande Mataram would be difficult to set to an orchestra.”
On November 5, 1948, Seth Govind Das said in the Constituent Assembly “I would say that Vande Mataram can be our national anthem. The history of our struggle for independence is associated with Vande Mataram. If it be said that its tune is not fit for orchestrian, I would submit that this is a difficulty which can be overcome by experts in orchestral music.
On January 24, 1950, President Rajendra Prasad told the Constituent Assembly, “The composition consisting of the words and music known as Jana Gana Mana is the national anthem of India, subject to such alterations in the words as the Government may authorise as occasion arises. And the song Vande Mataram, which has played a historic part in the struggle for Indian freedom, shall be honoured equally with Jana Gana Mana and shall have equal status with it. I hope this will satisfy the members.”
वंदे मातरम की विरासत एवं कांग्रेस पर एक छोटा-सा क्लिप साझा कर रहा हूँ, सुनकर आशीर्वाद, मार्गदर्शन या सुझाव दें।