New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday led a special discussion in the Lok Sabha marking 150 years of Vande Mataram, using the occasion to reflect on the national song’s legacy and the political climate during key milestones in its history.

Modi said it was a “matter of pride” for Parliament to commemorate the poem that served as a rallying cry during India’s freedom struggle, while also emphasising how its centenary had coincided with a period of democratic suppression.

“When Vande Mataram completed 50 years, the country was under colonial rule. When it completed 100 years, the nation was chained by the Emergency,” he said, adding that at the time “the Constitution was throttled and those who lived and died for patriotism were pushed behind prison bars.”

He described the E

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