Don’t play politics over Vande Mataram: Bankim’s kin to parties
Times of India | 10 December 2025
Kolkata: Let ‘Vande Mataram' be kept above politics, urged Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's descendants on Tuesday and have also objected to PM Narendra Modi's informal ‘Bankimda' address.
"Bankim Chandra is being used politically. We want no politicization. Keep Bankim Chandra and his iconic Vande Mataram out of politics," said the novelist's great-grandson Sajal Chattopadhyay.
Referring to Modi initiating a discussion on the 150-year legacy of ‘Vande Mataram' in Parliament, Sajal, who joined BJP a few months back, said the family was "delighted" that the national song and its writer were being accorded long-overdue recognition. "This honour should have come earlier, but previous govts neglected Bankim Chandra and his legacy," Sajal said.
Adding that the Union govt was in touch with the family, Sajal said the family had two demands: Construction of Bankim Bhavans across the country and the establishment of a university bearing Bankim Chandra's name.
Sajal further said that while ‘Jana Gana Mana' was sung at the start of House proceedings, an instrumental version of ‘Vande Mataram' was played at the end. "We want it to be sung," Sajal said.
On the Bankim‘da' reference, the novelist's great-granddaughter Swati Ganguly told TOI: "Bankim Chandra is an iconic novelist and everyone, including ministers and netas, should be conscious and respectful while speaking about him. We want both Bankim Chandra and ‘Vande Mataram' to be honoured properly."
Residents of Naihati's Kanthalpara held similar views. Tamal Chakraborty, a local, said: "Renewed attention to ‘Vande Mataram' makes us happy, but we do not want any political controversy."
Meanwhile, Partha Pratim Chattopadhyay, a research assistant at Bankim Bhavan Gaveshana Kendra, said ‘Vande Mataram' might have been published earlier than 1875 — the widely accepted year of the song's publication. "Cues from Bankim's essays — particularly ‘Amar Durgotsav' published in ‘Bangadarshan' on 12 Oct, 1874 — indicate that the song may have been written during Durga Puja that year."