NEW DELHI | Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sing the entire ‘Vande Mataram’ without a ‘teleprompter’, saying he would felicitate him with a garland if he did so. Hitting back at the BJP over its claims of patriotism, he asked the party to name four of its forefathers who went to jail for raising the slogan of Vande Mataram, saying it would not be able to name even four such people.
On Wednesday, senior AAP leader and MP Sanjay Singh said he had several more questions for the BJP. “Why did Shyama Prasad Mukherjee write to the British Governor seeking to crush the Quit India Movement? Why did Shyama Prasad Mukherjee form governments with Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s Muslim League in three states? Why did Lal Krishna Advani and Jaswant Singh praise Jinnah?” he asked.
Sanjay Singh further questioned, “Why did RSS not hoist the Tricolour at its headquarters for 52 years? Why is the Tricolour not hoisted at RSS shakhas? Why did the RSS, in its December 28, 1949 issue of Organiser, describe the national anthem as an ‘item of entertainment’ sung at officers’ parties?”
In a video released on Tuesday, Sanjay Singh asserted that BJP leaders were currently portraying themselves as patriots. “When BJP leaders talk about patriotism, it seems they either do not know or have forgotten their own history and what their forefathers did to this country,” he said.
He said, “BJP leaders are now raising questions over Vande Mataram. I had also asked the BJP members in the House to name four people who were their forefathers, were associated with the RSS, sang Vande Mataram and were sentenced to jail. They have still not been able to name four such people.”
Sanjay Singh noted the BJP’s forefathers did not hoist the Tricolour at the RSS headquarters for 52 years. “These are the people who opposed the Tricolour. These are the people who, on December 28, 1949, wrote about our national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, that it was an item of entertainment sung at officers’ parties,” he said.
The senior AAP leader further highlighted that these were the people whose leader, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, wrote to the British Governor in 1942, saying that the Quit India Movement should be crushed and the freedom movement brought to an end.
“They were stooges of the British. These were also the people whose leader, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, formed governments with Mohammed Ali Jinnah in three states. BJP leaders such as Lal Krishna Advani and Jaswant Singh praised Jinnah, and this can also be found in their books. They have always betrayed Bharat Mata,” he added.
Sanjay Singh continued, “The Constituent Assembly adopted Vande Mataram as India’s national song on January 24, 1950. No BJP, RSS or Jan Sangh member had any contribution to this. Our Constituent Assembly, whose chairman was Dr Rajendra Prasad, accepted that Vande Mataram would be India’s national song, and this had already been decided on January 24, 1950. What contribution did the BJP or its forefathers make to this?”
Sanjay Singh said these people were trying to portray themselves as martyrs after merely ‘cutting their nails’ and warned people to remain cautious of them. “They have always betrayed the country, and their forefathers betrayed Bharat Mata during the freedom movement. This history must be repeatedly reminded to all Opposition leaders and the people of the country,” he concluded.
