Parliament will begin a special discussion in the Lok Sabha on Monday to commemorate 150 years of Vande Mataram, a song that remains one of the most debated symbols of India’s freedom struggle. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will open the debate, with defence minister Rajnath Singh scheduled to conclude it. The BJP has been given three hours in the Lok Sabha, the total debate will span nearly ten hours. The Rajya Sabha will hold its discussion the next day, to be opened by Union home minister Amit Shah. The commemoration is not merely ceremonial. It arrives amid renewed political sparring over the song’s historical evolution, religious imagery, and the choices made by India’s pre-independence national leadership. What began as a patriotic hymn in a Bengali novel is once again a focal po

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