‘Vande Mataram’ should be India’s national anthem: Religious leader Ramgiri Maharaj 

Hindu religious leader Ramgiri Maharaj has said that ‘Vande Mataram’ should be India’s national anthem instead of ‘Jana Gana Mana.’

‘Jana Gana Mana’, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted as the national anthem in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly on January 24, 1950.

“This song was sung by Rabindranath Tagore in Kolkata in 1911. The nation was not independent at that time. He sang it in front of George V, who was a British king, committing injustice in India. This song was not sung to address the country,” Ramgiri Maharaj asserted in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city in Maharashtra on Tuesday.

He added, “We will have to launch a struggle for this (making Vande Mataram national anthem). Vande Mataram should be our national anthem.”

However, when the reports asked him about his statement about changing the national anthem to ‘Vande Mataram,’ Ramgiri Maharaj said this was not about respect or disrespect, but stating the truth. To support his statement he added, “If speaking truth is being termed as disrespect, it is unfortunate.”

Ramgiri Maharaj was here for the release of the trailer of the upcoming film ‘Mission Ayodhya’. The Hindu religious leader had stirred up a controversy last year with alleged objectionable remarks about Prophet Mohammad and Islam, leading to the registration of several cases against him in Maharashtra.

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