The Parliament witnessed a special discussion on ‘Vande Mataram’ on Monday, December 8, 2025, as the national song completes its 150 years. While speaking in the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, ‘Vande Mataram is a mantra, a slogan that gave energy, inspiration, and showed the path for sacrifice and penance to the freedom movement.
On the Sixth day of the Parliament Winter Session, PM Modi began his address by chanting Vande Mataram. Highlighting the slogan’s historical and political significance, he added that it is a matter of pride that we can witness 150 years of Vande Mataram.
#WATCH | PM Narendra Modi says, “… Vande Mataram is a mantra, a slogan which gave energy, inspiration, and showed the path for sacrifice and penance to the freedom movement. It is a matter of pride that we are becoming witnesses to 150 years of Vande Mataram. It is a historic… pic.twitter.com/pHmsmS66uE
— ANI (@ANI) December 8, 2025
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7 highlights from PM Modi’s speech in Lok Sabha
- On Vande Mataram’s 100th anniversary during the emergency, British rule: PM Modi said, “When Vande Mataram completed 50 years, India was under British rule. When Vande Mataram completed 100 years, India was in the clutches of Emergency… At that time, the patriots were imprisoned. When the song that inspired our freedom movement, unfortunately, India was witnessing a black period…. 150 years of Vande Mataram is an opportunity to reinstate that pride and that great part of our past…”
- PM Modi hails Vande Mataram: “Vande Mataram was not just a mantra for political independence. It was not limited to our independence; it was way beyond that. The freedom movement was a war to free our motherland from the clutches of slavery… During our Vedas, it was said, This land is my mother, and I am the son of the soil. This same idea was conveyed by Shri Ram when he gave up Lanka, ‘जननी जन्मभूमिश्च स्वर्गत अपि गरियासि’. Vande Mataram is a modern avatar of our great cultural legacy.”
- Bengal reference: “This is when the British started to divide and rule. They used Bengal as their laboratory. Even they knew that Bengal’s intellectual capability gave direction, strength, and inspiration to the country. They knew Bengal’s capabilities were the focal point of the country. This is why they divided Bengal. They believed that if Bengal was divided, the country would be divided too… When they divided Bengal in 1905, Vande Mataram stood like a rock…”
- On Bankim ‘Babu’: PM Narendra Modi says, “Bankim da composed the song to shake the conscience of the country and bring an awakening… This song was to revive our history and legacy of a thousand years.” An Opposition MP from Bengal immediately interrupted the Prime Minister and told him not to say “da” as it means ‘brother’ but “Bankim babu”.
- INC now ‘MMC’: “The Congress continues the same policy. It seems INC (Indian National Congress) has become ‘MMC”.
- Attack on Congress: “It is our duty to tell our next generations who did it,” he said, speaking in Hindi. “Muslim League (pre-Independence) led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah, in 1937, carried out a drive against Vande Mataram. But the Congress and Jawaharlal Nehru, rather than opposing them, started probing Vande Mataram instead.”
- ‘A sacred war cry’: PM Modi said, “This song inspired us to attain freedom in 1947. Vande Mataram was not just a mantra for political freedom; it was a sacred war cry to rid Bharatmata of vestiges of colonialism.”
(With ANI Inputs)
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