150th Anniversary of The Indian National Song The “Vande Mataram”

 150th Anniversary of The Indian National Song The “Vande Mataram”

A song most feared by the British rulers during the freedom struggle of India

Far from being a fearsome song, “Vande Mataram” is a strikingly beautiful poem and a literary masterpiece. The song does not even hint of being against anyone. It has only love and appreciation for the bounties of nature bestowed to a motherland, a motherland that gives these bounties to her children like a benevolent goddess who grants boons and saves her children from getting harmed. However it irked British rulers no end and made them fearful at a mere mention of the word-pair the “Vande Mataram”. 

Yes, Britain had indeed some good reasons to be scared. Therefore, uttering just those two words, invited penal action under Section 124A (Sedition) of Colonial British law on Indians in force until India secured her independence.

Reason, why “Vande Mataram” was selected as the “National Song”

The song had successfully mobilised millions of freedom fighters against the colonial rulers.

No wonder, therefore, that the song was recognized as eminently suitable to be adopted as the “National Song” of Independent India. As an added qualification the song was a literary masterpiece and could be sung in a very elegant and solemn tune. Recognizing these attributes, the sovereign Independent government of India declared this iconic song as a “National Song” in the year 1950. Maybe I should have written about it then. Sadly, I was not even born then. However, now an occasion has presented itself to justify my writing about it now - the occasion is its 150th anniversary and recent promulgation of new singing protocols. Also further declaration that the entire year 2025-2026 be celebrated as “The Year of Vande Mataram”. 

This celebration brings alive many memories, including the predicament of my own mother when she was repeatedly caught red-handed, shouting “vande Mataram” in her student days. She felt a sense of duty to resist colonizers in whatever way she could. Shouting “Vande Mataram” in and around her school seemed a doable way to express rebellion. She was hardly 12. The thrill of adventure and blatant defiance of the colonial masters was immensely satisfying even if it was invariably followed by scoldings and threats. At last the school authorities decided to depute a teacher to meet the parents. That teacher also doubled as a nun in the local church. One fine day she visited home (my grandfather’s home) for a more effective persuasion to desist her from repeating the offence. The nun-cum-teacher taught sewing and making stuffed toys in the school and my mom was her favorite student. Normally a loving woman, on that occasion she appeared very stern. With all the elders sitting in front of her, in a harsh tone, explained, how damaging would it be for the dad and the grand dad (who were employed by the British Government as Doctors) if they were to lose their jobs because of their daughter's impertinence, even if the expression “Vande Mataram” simply means that “Mother, I bow to thee” and nothing really offensive.

What is this song, “Vande Mataram” and from where is it sourced?

“Vande Mataram” is a prayer song dedicated to the motherland. It evokes patriotism. It is written by a Bengali writer, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, also known by his anglicised name as Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. The song is a part of his seminal historic novel, the “Anand Math”. Although the song forms a very tiny part of the whole novel, it is an important and integral part of that literary work, the “Anand Math”. Before bringing it out as a book, initially, the story was published in a 7th November 1875 issue of a Bengali literary magazine “Banga Darshan”. The novel has exquisitive verbal imagery and its language is rich and evocative. Although it was first published in 1875, the song actually became a rage in 1905 and thereafter when the British government had decided to split the original Bengal state in two parts. The “East Bengal” and the “West Bengal”. The song had electrified Indian masses and had mobilized them to come out on the streets to protest against the British. Leave alone the full 6-stanza song, mere two words, “Vande Mataram”, were enough to offend the British, invite police action and prosecution. Many Indians had lost their lives, faced imprisonment, and been subjected to a lot of direct and indirect punishments.

In its early days of adoption as “National Song” only the first two stanzas were traditionally sung by most. Only some very patriotic citizens used to sing all six. However, with the new notification, the singing protocol is now standardized to the singing of all six stanzas just as its creator Bankin Chandra had meant. The novel “Anand Math” was so captivating that it was brought to the screen in the year 1952, shortly after India’s independence, under its original title.

Content of Historic Fiction Novel “Anand Math”

Far away from the maddening crowds, a monastery existed in the seclusion of a forest in Bengal. That monastery was known as “Anand Math” where renunciate Hindu monks spent time in silent contemplation and prayers and devoted themselves in study. However certain heartless British actions against villagers living in a nearby village stirred them up to core. Empathic monks rebelled against the British for the rights of innocent villagers. It was this selfless act of the monks that culminated into a “monks’ rebellion”. The story of “Anand Math” is a story of righteous rebels.  

Why India is celebrating the year 2025-2026 as “The Year of Vande Mataram”

The year  2025-2026 marks the 150th year since the first ever publication of the song “Vande Mataram”. The celebration began on 7th November 2025 and will last till 7th November 2026.

What spooked the colonial rulers? What made Britishers to fear from “Vande Mataram”

It was neither the words, nor the message conveyed through the song “Vande Mataram”. But it was the context in which the song was played that made Britain very fearful. The song “Vande Mataram" is shown in the novel “Anand Math”, as a prayer to the Mother land and was recited by revolutionaries every time they came out of hiding for attacking the British icons of power. The song became a rallying cry that galvanized the freedom struggle, electrified freedom fighters and inspired every Indian, young and old, to defy colonial power even at the cost of personal sacrifice, even life. Freedom fighters who were sentenced to death went to gallows shouting “Vande Mataram”. 

The song “Vande Mataram” contained in the novel “Anand Math” represented revolt against British hegemonic colonial power. They found the song to be too dangerous and feared consequent unrest and serious rise of rebelliousness among the Indian population would make governance difficult. Obviously, the book “Anand Math” and the song “Vande Mataram” were both strictly forbidden during British rule.

And their fear did come true and eventually on 15th August 1947, they had to give up India, they lost what they had proudly described as “The Jewel in the Crown”.

Can a literary masterpiece ever become an instrument of revolution and a successful freedom struggle?

Many literary masterpieces have inspired people to seek reformations in society. The books like “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, “1984”, “Animal Farm”, etc did inspire political movements, but none have culminated in a fierce independence movement that dethroned world’s leading power, as powerful as the British Empire, that boasted the “sun never sets on the Empire”. The Novel “Anand Math” turned out to be one such book. Apparently there was a substantial number of people who could read and write and enjoy good quality literature in India before the British gained full control over India and willfully destroyed India’s Education system. What else can explain a piece of literature becoming a catalyst of freedom from a mighty empire? The British had created a myth of “poor uneducated Indians”. But the fact remains that many Indians read and were inspired to revolt against colonizers. Besides the elite leaders, the simple villagers, farmers and penniless sadhus had brought about freedom. They were all volunteers. “Anand Math” is a story of those people.

The new education system introduced by the British officer Thomas Macaulay (1800-1859) and banning of indigenous Indian education system is considered to be primarily responsible for the total annihilation of indigenous system. British rule brought down literacy rate from nearly 100% to mere 12% at the end of British rule.

The song “Vande Mataram” remained a most popular expression of Patriotism for Indians from the days of freedom struggle and still remains to this day.

What is the content of the song “Vande Mataram”? Is it seditious?

The song “Vande Mataram” has intrinsically nothing seditious, provocative, incendiary or hateful towards anyone, leave alone British. On the contrary, lyrics describe Mother Land (India) as a beautiful land of plenty and a bestower of bounty to her children. However, because the song was sung in a novel in the backdrop of revolt against the oppressive and dishonest British rule it began to look threatening and potentially seditious to the colonizing power. 

Universal acceptability of “Vande Mataram” song

As the Indian culture has, since ancient times, seen the world as one family, her literature has a unique quality of creating anything and everything with everyone in this world as opposed to limiting it to narrow interest of a particular country, race or creed. It does not profess wealth for India alone or health for India alone but her prayer is always meant for everyone in the world. The song “Vande Mataram” is also written in the same spirit, country neutral-meant for everyone in the world. This masterpiece song can be adopted by any country without modification or customization. The song is likeable to anyone and truly suitable to be applicable to any country that wishes to adopt it as their own because it does not demonise anyone or any country, just expresses lavish praise for one’s own country. In other words, if an American or a Frenchman or an Englishman was to visualize their respective countries as mother land through the lens of “Vande Mataram” imagery, they too would feel included and would want to own up the song for their country. Even the mention of Goddesses Saraswati, Laxmi and Durga therein the song is used in the sense of holding the motherland in the highest esteem - almost godly reverence - to the motherland. Indians place Motherland at a higher pedestal, above even heaven.

Free and boisterous sloganeering of “Vande Mataram” on the first independence day. Extract from my mom’s diary of 15th August 1947

The freedom fighters had a field day shouting “Vande Mataram” on the streets the moment Independence was declared on 15th August 1947. My mom noted in her diary that on that day, she was in Akola town (in the current state of Maharashtra). The people were ecstatic with the declaration of independence, they roamed the streets of cities tirelessly shouting “Vande Mataram”. It was a rainy and stormy night with lightning and thunder and yet it was as if no one took any notice of the storm. Everyone was on the streets and no one wanted to go home. There was no night on the night of Independence day. She and her friends did not want to end the celebration.That was the excitement on 15th August 1947. “Vande Mataram” slogans kept ringing all night.

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Brave Children Day 26 December (Veer Bal Diwas- वीर बाल दिवस)

Every year on 26 December, Indians observe Veer Bal Diwas (translated as “Brave Children’s Day”). This day commemorates the courageous martyrdom of the young sons of the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Govind Singh Ji, resisting forced religious conversions and religious intolerance. The younger two were martyred on 26 December and the elder two on 22 December. Overall, all the four Sahibzadas were martyred in December of the year 1704 by the forces of the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb.

The elder two, Sahibzada Baba Ajit Singh (17) and Sahibzada Baba Jujhar Singh (14), were martyred in the Battle that took place at the Punjab town of Chamkaur with Mughals. The two younger sons, Sahibzada Baba Zorawar Singh (9) and Sahibzada Baba Fateh Singh (6), were captured by the Mughals and bricked alive in the town of Sirhind. They were entombed alive as a punishment for refusing to be converted to Islam. Both towns are situated in the Indian state of Punjab.

Mughal ruler Aurangzeb is widely known for his barbaric cruelty and indiscriminate massacres in the name of Islam. He was also responsible for killing the 9th Sikh Guru, Guru Teg Bahadur Singh ji who was beheaded in 1675 by his order. Aurangzeb had imprisoned own father, Shahjehan, the builder of the iconic Taj Mahal. Aurangzeb is also known for destroying thousands of Hindu temples, disfiguring and breaking priceless carvings, looting their wealth and killing priests and devotees.The tyrant Aurangzeb had ordered soldiers to kill even his own elder brother Dara Shikoh. His severed head was presented literally on a plate to Aurangzeb, as a proof of the job done. Dara Shikoh being older, was the legitimate first contender to the power. In addition, Dara was a scholarly person who translated from Sanskrit to Persian and could have become a noble ruler if was not brutally murdered by his brother..

 

Sikh Gurus had fearlessly resisted Aurangzeb’s foray into Kashmir and had valiantly faced the violence unleashed against Kashmiri Hindus, better known as Pandits (Translated, ‘Scholars’). This resistance had brought the 9th and 10th Sikh gurus in the cross hair of Aurangzeb. Sikhs consider helping the weak from oppressors as their holy duty and religious commitment.

Sikh boys and girls are raised by their parents to be brave, proud and generous and inspire them to uphold rights of the weak, not hiding in a crowd as a faceless entity but standing up and being counted when oppressed calls for help. The “Veer Bal Diwas” would inspire every child in the world to be meaningfully brave and proud, never yielding to injustice and oppression and be ever-ready to help a needy person. History has witnessed many oppressors, but far fewer who dared to stand against them.

When the news of martyrdom came to the mother, when her eyes swell with tears, Guru Govind Singh ji consoled her bravely as only he could say: “Chaar mooye to kya hua, jeeveet kaie hazaar”, translated, Four(sons) have died but thousands are alive (sons have been saved). With this, he gave a message to everyone, do not complain, do not seek victimhood, no setback can put you down that you have what it takes to overcome and be victorious.

Veer Bal Diwas is therefore not only a remembrance of historical sacrifice, but also a universal message. It encourages young people everywhere to stand firm and resist injustice with courage and to defend those who are vulnerable. The  sons of Guru Govind Singh Ji remain shining examples of unwavering faith and extraordinary bravery, deserving to be remembered and commemorated every year as “Veer Bal Diwas” - Brave Children Day.

One sin, the arrogance to think that the other is somewhat lesser

 The communists have politicised their followers by making them propagandists. They call the process, Agitprop, a word created by joining Agitation and Propaganda. In a way the process of agitprop is somewhat like religious evangelizing. Their sacred book -The Communist Manifesto- implores party workers to agitprop and their cadres to do interpersonal Mass-Work, win trust of the masses and eventually convince them of the communist worldview, what others simply called Brain-Washing or Indoctrination. This is essentially the agenda of every comrade. 

Followers of every sacred book, be it Karl Marx’s The communist Manifesto, Mao’s Red-Book, Christian’s holy Bible or Muslim’s holy Quran, knowingly or innocently have been politicised to support one over other, resulting in some kind of societal powerplay.

The communists have their cadres, Christians have their Missionaries and Muslims have their Maulanas. They and their followers have ‘The Book-Ordained’ duty to propagate their beliefs by Mass-work, Witnessing, Dawat etc tools of respective ideological conversion. Deception and surreptitiousness becomes second nature to these workers. The central belief of all the propagandists is that the other people are ‘asleep’, not knowing that they are being exploited, marginalized and deprived of justice in their current political, religious or social setup and therefore need to be awakened, rescued or saved. Thus, all these followers have that special agenda when they talk to the ‘other’. Behind their talk, be it  sweet and friendly in appearance or violent and threatening, is a lurking desire to enroll the other into their fold. This manipulation is one sin, not committable by non-evangelical religions and pagans. 

A man with an agenda is feared by a common man. Fear is compounded when the agenda driven men are blessed by authorities of government or religion. Naive, poor, defenceless general public become their easy victims. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a 1984 Nobel Peace prize winner, from South Africa had brilliantly summed up the plight of the naive poor people: "When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land."Hindu scriptures do not profess evangelism therefore they are free from the sin of arrogance of supremacism and agenda, overt or covert, of canvassing and increasing their ilk at the expense of shrinking other ilks. However, Hindus still do value good qualities and they do implore one thing, just one thing, to everyone, be he or she a Hindu or not, to “कृण्वन्तो विश्वं आर्यं” -Rig Veda 9.63.6, ‘to make our world nobler’. Let's all become gentlemen. 

A friend does not do things surreptitiously. He does not claim perfection. He would not have ulterior agendas. He takes you as you are. He sees you as his friend. He is not politicised. Live-and-let-live way of life comes naturally to him. The Indians, majority of them, fit this slot. Non-threatening, not taking sides, eager to help as and when needed.

Depoliticized people look at the other in a friendly, nonpartisan way, as a part of their own and that is what is one important step towards world peace.

The Opening of The Grand Egyptian Museum Should Sensitize Us. Let’s Not Some Day End Up As Museum Exhibits

The Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, in presence of several world leaders, opened a museum in Egypt on 1st Nov, 2025. It is named “Grand Egyptian Museum” and it is the world's largest museum dedicated to one single culture, a long extinct culture.

While, it is commendable to preserve for posterity, the remains of the civilization of the ancestors, my mind struggles with a disturbing thought: While on one hand we enthusiastically try to immortalize remains of the long dead civilizations in books, movies and museums, on the other hand are working relentlessly towards pushing to extinction and death some still living or barely surviving civilizations that have so far resisted their destruction by the ‘civilized’ us! 

The history bears the fact that despite their military debacles and waning material and political power at the hands of foreign invaders and occupations, the way Egyptians lived, their civilization, their gods and culture remained almost intact. Certain periodic political instabilities owing to their weakened leaderships, economic struggles, famines, invasions and occupation by  the Greeks, Assyrians, Persians, Romans annexation after Cleopatra VII’s defeat etc factors did result in Egypt’s overall decline. However, despite its decline, Egypt's cultural legacy was still intact. That is, till the establishment of the Church of Alexandria in the first century CE when things began to rapidly change. 

Under Romans, with the edict of Milan, the Christianity was legalized in 313CE, culminating in Christianity becoming a ‘State Religion’ in 380CE. A large population was converted to Christianity, eventually making the legacy of the great Egyptian culture extinct. In the course of competitive religious supremacy, when Islam came into existence, Egypt's religious landscape changed again, sealing for ever any possibility of revival of ancient Egyptian culture.

As a result, today, there is no one in Egypt for whom Pharaoh Ramesses II is any inspiration. Nor is there anyone in Egypt who worships Ra (the sun god), Osiris (the god of the underworld), Isis (the mother goddess), Horus (the sky god), and Amun (the king of the gods). There is no one who can give conclusive and definitive information on construction methods of awe inspiring mighty pyramids nor is anyone available to tell us real stories behind the Sphinx. All that is left is ruins of pyramids in the desert and the rest of the things that can be carried away as exhibits in the museums.

The successors of worshippers of Egyptian gods are now curious onlookers, paying for watching the remains of their ancestors. Like rest of us, I too paid to watch what mummies looked like, the bare walls of interior of great pyramid of Giza, the sarcophaguses, bought a clay bust of Tutankhamen as souvenir, ate traditional Egyptian breakfast dish, ful medames, commonly known as just ‘ful’(made from fava beans) with ‘khubz’ (flat bread made from wheat), left for home with troubling questions of dying ancient civilizations. 

It is a pattern. The path from living culture to dead culture and then relegation to museums, is repeated all along. Be it Greeks, Romans, Norse, Celts, Mayans, Aztecs, Incas, and numerous others, heathens or pagans cultures, their remains are only to be found in museums. Other still surviving ancient cultures, who have resisted total destruction, such as Hinduism, Judaism, Canada’s First Nations faiths, Australian Aborigines’s faith, Faiths of Pagans of various shades, Zorastrianism, Faiths of Bahais, Kurds, Druze etc are under mortal threat of extinction, sooner than later, under the boots of Christianity and Islam driven by scripture supported competitive religious supremacism.

None of us should feel threatened irrespective of the faith we subscribe to. However the onus lies with leaders of predatory religions. The leaders of evangelical faiths could inculcate the idea of respect for others, not as an abstract notion but as an intellectually and spiritually deducible idea that every human is created by God, making every individual divine and therefore unworthy of contempt, hatred or violence but worthy of unconditional respect. 

The Hindus, Jews, Canada’s First Nations, Australian Aborigines, Pagans of various shades, Zorastrians, Bahais, Kurds, Druze etc. are suffering from constant onslaught from the predatory and dogmatic religions like Christianity and Islam. They are subjected to overt or covert contempt, hatred and ruthlessness. Evangelists clergy of the church spreading ‘good news’ and Mosque imams and maulans extending dawas (invite to join Islam) run charities with the ultimate motive of relegating these cultures to Museums and imposing sharia laws. It is perhaps unfair to fully blame adherents of Christianity or Islam because the very scriptures of these two religions give sanction to the supremacist mindset to their followers. Holy books implore them to ‘save’ souls of unfortunate pagans or heathens. They are called names and branded “devil worshippers” and their deities are damned as ‘demonic’. For them even Gandhi is a devil worshipper and his soul should have been saved.

While the Zoroastrians and Bahais have lost all their territories in the places of their origins, the territories of Hindus around the place of their origin has significantly shrunk (shown in the map) since the advent of Christianity and Islam. The surviving faiths need protection the way we protect endangered birds, animals and fish because their numbers and scriptural openness  leave them vulnerable. They do not mean harm to anyone nor their scripture support harming anyone and therefore expect courtesy of no harm from others.

It is  arrogant to think that others are somewhat less and are deficient in some ways and unless they submit to my god and my religion they are condemned forever. And it is vicious vilification of others to brand them as devil worshippers and brand their deities as demonic. These two makes for a lethal cocktail, dehumanising other and making them a fit target for religious conversions, harassments, threats, deprivations and in worst case even genocide. In 1990, a call was given by way of slogans like "Raliv, Chaliv ya Galiv" (in local Kashmiri language-"convert, leave, or die") that led to genocide and exodus of Hindus from Kashmir. It is estimated that between January and March, 1990, about 110,000 Hindus left Kashmir, never to return. further shrinking Hindu territory even in this time and age. 

Religious supremacy has a tendency of manifesting as a political weapon and power. Neutering evangelism can depoliticise the general population and can serve world peace. Deemphasing evangelical streak in the religions can help vulnerable surviving cultures of the world to feel less threatened. 

Religious competitiveness is not helpful to the world. Mutual respect is. Lets sensitize us, let the Grand Egyptian Museum inspire us how not to destroy cultures. 

Original Map Source Ishvara7 at English Wikipedia. — Samuel P. Huntington’s “The Clash of Civilizations”, CC BY-SA 3.0, at https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3259955 (And modified by the author to reflect 300BC Hindu Influence Sphere)

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Trutch Street is now renamed as Musqueam Street in Vancouver, Canada

In one more recent instance, the Indigenous Musqueam People of Canada have restored their dignity by rejecting memorialization of their colonial tormentor Joseph Trutch.

Joseph Trutch never liked native Indians and he never hid his utter scorn for them. The author, Robin Fisher, who researched and wrote a book on Trutch and his Indian land policy, quotes him: "I have not yet met with a single Indian of pure blood whom I consider to have attained even the most glimmering perception of the Christian creed” As regards to their language and capacity to understand, he adds, "the idiosyncrasy of the Indians of this country (Canada) appears to incapacitate them from appreciating any abstract idea, nor do their languages contain any works by which such a conception could be expressed." Trutch was the first Lt. Governor of the Canadian province of British Columbia. He came to Canada in 1859. Above quotes make Trutch abundantly clear, the First Nations lacked the ability to think and even their language does not support the tradition of rational thinking. Can the First Nations lionize him by any memorial in his name?

The Indigenous Native Population of Canada is variously known as Indians, Native Indians, Indigenous peoples or more commonly now as the First Nations. There are many groups of natives spread across vast territory of Canada who have their distinct cultures and languages. One among these groups is Musqueam First Nations, in Vancouver.

Based on a long standing demand of Musqueam First Nations, the city of Vancouver has removed the name of Trutch from a Vancouver street.and has at last renamed the street as Musqueam Street (šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm Street). And to make it sweeter for the first nations, the name is spelled not in English but in their native language, hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, Pronounced: Humqaminam.

A well known public speaker and an author David A Robertson devotes a chapter entitled: “Support the renaming of colonial memorializations” in his new book, published in 2025, entitled “52 ways to reconcile, how to walk with indigenous peoples on the path of healing”. The author has given examples of memorialization of some colonial individuals who were outright insensitive (read as brutal) towards the first nations, but still being immortalized by the independent Canada. They appear as names of institutions, parks and streets. In a tell tale example the author has summed up the chapter with a conversation he had with Germans asking if they would have memorials for the architects of Holocaust. Suggesting how an Independent Canada can continue with memorialization of colonial masters who considered native Indians as lesser people. Attitude of Colonial masters was no different from those Nazis who considered Gypsies, Romani etc, as lesser people. In Germany, there are no memorials in the name of Nazis and no child named Adolf Hitler.

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Columbus Day Celebration or Indigenous People’s Day Celebration in the Americas ?

Christopher Columbus: More of a mercenary than an explorer. His expeditions resulted in the massacre of millions of native American Indians, plunder of ancient civilizations, the loot of millions of tons of gold and mass-colonization of a huge territory having a population of millions. Destroyed mercilessly a civilization who had no ill will towards Europeans.

The United States of America Celebrates “Columbus Day” on the second Monday of every October to mark the epoch-making journey of Italian sailor Christopher Columbus, who had reached American shores on Oct 12, 1492. It made history as it was for the first time ever that a Christian sailor had reached the ‘new’ world. Along with the USA the rest of the countries of Americas also mark this day in some or other way.

The muslim rulers of the Turkish Ottoman Empire and Arabs had blocked the land route from India to Europe, making it impossible for the Europeans to directly import Indian spices, fine textiles, steel for swords, sugar and a host of other fineries. Search for an alternate route to India was absolutely inevitable if Europeans wanted to live a decent life. Major European sea-faring nations of that time, such as Spain and Portugal and the Pope, who was considered as Emperor of the emperors made heavy investment in funding the expeditions in search of a sea route to India.Christopher Columbus, (born. 1451- died. 1506) had set sail for ‘India’. Spanish king Ferdinand-II and queen Isabella-I had funded the voyage blessed by Pope Alexander-VI.

When Christopher Columbus returned to Spain from the voyage, assuming that he had succeeded in finding a sea-route to India was in for a rude shock. What he thought was India, wasn’t it and that a sea route to India was discovered by another sailor, his Portuguese rival, Vasco De Gama. 

Albeit, Columbus did not find a route to India but the historical significance of his voyage does not diminish because the Americas, the new land he discovered, too had proved to be a land of riches. Christopher Columbus was the hero for Europeans who subsequently followed in his footsteps and settled in the new territories, who could enjoy the wealth and bounty of the Americas.

Christopher Columbus became a legend. What is famously the ‘American dream’ could not have existed but for Christopher Columbus. Americans, especially the Italian Americans, began to celebrate Columbus day in their communities. However subsequently it became a pan-american festival, duly endorsed even by the USA who had become independent from British and French rule. 

Americans are marketing geniuses and true to their reputation, all the festivals they decide to celebrate become grand events to look forward to. Columbus Day is no exception, it becomes a great event where police bands on the streets flanked by motorcycle mounted policemen, flags and rest of the paraphernalia make it a celebration to remember and cherish. . 

However, all of the Americans do not view this day with the same lens. The European settlers who had escaped the poverty and hard living conditions of Europe were the beneficiaries of the bounty of America considered him a hero whereas the native Indians of America who had become the biggest losers did not appreciate Columbus. Native Indians had experienced first hand massacre, rape, diseases, destruction of their tribes and had faced ridicule of their way of life by the Europeans. For them Columbus was the biggest villain. These two starkly opposite points of views, have now given rise to two different ways of celebration on the very same day. Some call it “Columbus Day” while others call it “Indigenous People’s Day”.

During the heydays of Black Slavery and Colonial times, Americans celebrated the day as Columbus Day without any hesitation or any sense of guilt. However with waning colonialism and upsurge of freedoms the Columbus Day celebrations have begun losing its sheen and began experiencing some pushback from a new generation of Americans. The massacre, loot and cruel destruction of the natives by the Europeans did not sit well with their conscience. They felt that to celebrate Columbus was immoral and not tenable for a progressive society. Marginalised, barely visible, on the verge of extinction, the Native Indians joined in the push back and together with new generation Americans, they are now marking the celebration, not as Columbus Day but as “Indigenous People’s Day”.

Even post independence, the US Government had continued with colonial mindset and had opened residential schools for children of natives. Children were forcibly carried away, abducted and lodged there. These schools, mostly run with the assistance of Church were more like torture centers for molestation and every other kind of abuse. Thousands of children died there and were buried unceremoniously. In the Washington Post of May 29, 2024, they had published a story on the existence of Boarding Schools for natives. They reported that From 1819 to as recently as 1969, the U.S. government separated Native American children from their families to eradicate their cultures and seize tribal land decimating tribes through violence and spreading disease.

Those few natives who survived and those few whose conscience bit them want to recall their forefathers with reverence and their struggle against the colonisers when they celebrate The Indigenous People's Day. Almost every country on the American continent and on the Caribbean islands have now begun celebrating “The Indigenous People’s Day” in preference to or along with the “Columbus Day”.

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