BJP holds Vande Mataram protests across Kerala over I-Day song row

The BJP on Friday organised 'Vande Mataram Sadas' programmes at all district headquarters in Kerala to protest against the state government's decision not to recite the national song at official Independence Day events. In Thiruvananthapuram, the protest was held in front of the state Secretariat and was inaugurated by BJP state general secretary S Suresh.

Addressing the gathering, Suresh alleged that the UDF government had stopped reciting Vande Mataram under pressure from the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and Jamaat-e-Islami. He accused Chief Minister VD Satheesan of becoming CM because of the IUML's demand and claimed the alliance was 'ruining the Sanatana culture of Keralam and the glorious models of the Renaissance'.

Suresh said Vande Mataram, composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and set to tune by Rabindranath Tagore, represented the country's heritage and alleged it was being treated as 'haraam' in Kerala. He added that the BJP would not allow the state to be 'surrendered to anti-nationals' or the IUML, which he accused of having supported the partition of the country.