Vande Matram cannot be treated on par with national anthem: AIMIM chief Owaisi

HYDERABAD: (May 8) AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has objected to the Union Cabinet's decision to grant 'Vande Mataram' the same statutory protection as the national anthem 'Jana Gana Mana', saying the song cannot be treated on par with the anthem, as it is an ode to a goddess.

The nation does not run in the name of a god or goddess, and it does not belong to one god or goddess, he said.

In a post on X on Thursday, he said, "Jana Gana Mana celebrates India and its people, not a particular religion. Religion (is not equal to) nation. The man who wrote Vande Mataram was sympathetic to the British Raj and despised Muslims. Netaji Bose, Gandhi, Nehru, and Tagore all rejected it."