- 2 hours ago
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the 150th year of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's Vande Matram, on Monday hit out at the Congress party and termed the Muslim League appeasement politics of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for the step-motherly treatment given to the national song and its acceptance in the truncated form.
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00:00Vande Matram, the song that united Indians in taking on the mighty British Empire,
00:06has today divided the politics of our country.
00:10Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 150th year of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's Vande Matram today hit out
00:17at the Congress Party and what he termed was the Muslim League appeasement politics of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
00:26for the stepmotherly treatment given to the national song and its acceptance in the truncated form.
00:34The Congress of course hit right back accusing the BJP of debating Vande Matram today
00:38as diversionary tactics from the real issues the country faces
00:43and of course for political gains in Bengal politics.
00:49Vande Matram ke tukda karre ke phasle wai
00:52Vande Matram ke tukda kar diye
00:58Prime Minister slams Congress's partition mindset.
01:03Vande Matram ke tukda kar diye
01:06Vande Matram ke tukda kar diye
01:10muslim league ke saamane ghutnay teg diye
01:13Vande matram ke tukda kar diya
01:20And Congress' ka
01:22yeh tusthi karan ke rajeleetik ko saadhane ka eek tariqa thaya
01:29Prime Minister says Nehru surrendered to Muslim league
01:33Priyanka defends Nehru's legacy.
02:03Prime Minister's divisive charge on Congress.
02:18That is a big focus on India first.
02:26So was Vande Matram India's national song subjected to injustice in the last century, despite
02:32its widespread emotional connect, as the Prime Minister put it in Parliament?
02:36And is it important for future generations to know about the objections that Muhammad Ali
02:41Jinnah and the Muslim League had about singing the Vande Matram and the objections that some
02:47in our country echo even today?
02:50Or is there merit in Priyanka Gandhi Wadra saying just diversionary tactics to shift the focus
02:55away from the current issues that faces our country today?
02:59We debate that.
03:00We debate that on the show.
03:02Coming up at 8.30 tonight, there's now a four-member committee that's been set up to probe Indigo's
03:09crisis and whether the airlines deliberately delayed implementing the new flight duty norms
03:16and that were put in place by the government?
03:18And was it forcing the government to buckle under pressure?
03:22We bring you that story at 8.30 tonight and lots more.
03:25I'm Gaurav Savan.
03:27As always, let's get started with the headlines on India First.
03:34Vande Matram debate rocks Lok Sabha.
03:37Prime Minister Narendra Modi targets Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress party saying,
03:42Vande Matram, first Vande Matram was partitioned and then India was partitioned.
03:46Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Wadra responds.
03:48The government is distracting from real issues today.
03:56Indigo responds to the massive flight mess sources say the letter is highly guarded.
04:01Senior officials are to assemble later today.
04:05Goa police summons senior government officials to join the nightclub fire probe over lapses
04:18and violations.
04:19Five accused are in custody.
04:21The owners still on the run.
04:23A day after Congress leader Navjot Kaur Siddu claimed that the Congress party takes 500 crore
04:39rupees in a suitcase from anyone aspiring to be chief minister, Punjab Congress unit has
04:46now suspended her with immediate effect.
04:55Court acquits Malayalam actor Dilip of rape charges.
04:58The court says the Malayalam actor not guilty.
05:02He was accused of abducting and raping an actor.
05:06Dilip let off but six other accused found guilty.
05:08On the 150th anniversary of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's Vande Matram Prime Minister Narendra
05:21Modi today launched a frontal attack on the Congress party and on independent India's
05:27first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for buckling under pressure of Muhammad Ali
05:33Jinnah and the Muslim League.
05:35He accused the Congress party of not giving Vande Matram its due.
05:40Now speaking at a special debate in parliament on Vande Matram, the Prime Minister said Vande
05:45Matram, the national song, was opposed by Jinnah.
05:48Now instead of opposing Jinnah's theory or Jinnah's thinking Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru succumbed
05:56under pressure of the Muslim League.
05:59Priyanka Gandhi Wadra, she hit back and she sought to know the relevance of the topic of this
06:04debate insisting it wasn't aimed at anything except either Bengal elections or as diversionary
06:11tactics from the issues facing the nation today.
06:14We get you more in our top story tonight.
06:16One hundred and fifty years after Bunkim Chandrachataji penned Vande Matram, the song that stirred
06:28a generation is now the centre of a full blown political face off in the country.
06:34One hundred and fifty years after Bunkim Chandrachataji penned Vande Matram, the song that stirred
06:41a generation is now the centre of a full blown political face off in parliament.
06:47Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the debate, the charge was direct.
06:54Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the debate, with the
07:15Slamming Nehru for succumbing to Muslim League pressure, he questioned the Congress.
07:45The opposition hit back immediately, calling the Prime Minister's pitch selective, misleading and politically timed.
08:15She also alleged that the one-day matram debate was a bit to distract from pressing national issues.
08:45The impact of the Sundance for this was for the people where they gave us the people's reasons.
08:52We want to reform the people's emotions and use this to?
09:02They have required the power of their own.
09:05They are required for the event management.
09:08The power of the 对iation to the government is required.
09:10The BJP countered hard, accusing the Congress of disrespecting a patriotic poem and questioning Rahul Gandhi's absence during the debate.
09:40This is why the Istanbul is always working on this.
09:42The government of the Kutumbakam in the battle of the Kutumbakam is a danger.
09:47This was not a random thought.
09:52This was a good idea of the Kutumbakam, which was the Kutumbakam, which was the Jindhian.
09:58The Rhaul Gandhi's speech is such a big one.
10:02One time you hear this, it's such a big one.
10:05Congress pushed back, reminding the House that the Vande Matram and the Tri-Color led the Quit India Movement.
10:25Symbols it, says the BJP's ideological predecessors never embraced.
10:35I can tell you that in 1942, when Bharat was left, where was your Rajnitikpurwaj?
10:41Your Rajnitikpurwaj for 52 years, either the Rastra Tiranga or the National Anthem or the National Anthem.
10:57A song written as a salute to the motherland, now a fault line in the politics of New India.
11:05The question remains, can Vande Matram still unite as it once did or will it remain a battleground for competing political narratives in the run-up to 2026?
11:17With Aishwarya Paliwal and Mausami Singh, Bureau Report, India Today.
11:24So is there merit in the Prime Minister saying Vande Matram is not getting its due because of Muslim appeasement politics of the Congress Party?
11:34Or is Priyanka Gandhi Wadra right in asking, what's the relevance of the Vande Matram debate in today's times?
11:40Joining me on India first, Tuhin Sina represents the Bharatiya Janta Party, National Spokesperson of the BJP.
11:45Bhavya Narasimha Murthy is the National Spokesperson of the Congress Party.
11:50Ratan Sharda and Ashutosh are both authors and political analysts giving us two different perspectives.
11:56Tuhin Sina, Vande Matram is the soul of Bharat.
12:01Priyanka Gandhi Wadra asks, why this debate in the 150th year unless the BJP wants to either exploit it politically in Bengal
12:09or divert attention from the current issues the nation faces today, sir?
12:14Well, good evening, Gaurav.
12:16Good evening, everybody.
12:17You know, as Honorable Prime Minister explained, that when Vande Bharat complete,
12:23when Vande Matram completed 50 years, India was still, you know, India was still facing the hostility of the Britishers.
12:30When Vande Matram completed 100 years,
12:32we were facing hostility of a different kind by the then-Congress government in the form of emergency.
12:40So when we celebrate 150 years, which also coincides with the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Patel
12:47and with the 150th birth anniversary of Virsa Munda,
12:51it is high time we settle certain contentious issues once and for all.
12:57Now, what are these contentious issues?
12:58In 1937, a good 55 years after Vande Matram was first brought out in the novel by Mankim Chandra Chattopadhyay,
13:09Jinnah expressed certain apprehensions of a certain stanza.
13:13Instead of standing up against it, Nehru acquiesced and he wrote to Netaji Supash Chandra Bose
13:20to reconsider those stanzas after which the stanzas were deleted.
13:24Now, why it is very important, that particular caving in of Nehru paved the way to a large extent for the partition of India 10 years later.
13:35The kind of appeasement, allow me to complete, I'm making a very important point.
13:39The kind of appeasement which Congress has subsequently indulged in,
13:43whether it was in 1986 through the, you know, through overturning the Shah Banu case verdict,
13:48or in 2006 when Manmohan Singh declares that, you know, the first right of resources in India belongs to minorities,
13:55particularly the Muslims.
13:57These actions are paving the way for potential divisions and potential vivisections of the country in future,
14:05which needs to be combated aggressively.
14:08Sir, that's a very grave charge that you level against the Congress Party.
14:11You're accusing the Congress Party of divisive politics or buckling under Muslim League pressure
14:18or Jinnah's pressure or Muslim appeasement politics from 1937 till date.
14:24Bhavya Narasama Murthy, the Prime Minister, explained the relevance of the debate in Parliament,
14:29saying Vande Matram, in his view, was subjected to injustice in the last century.
14:34He spoke of the Jinnah and Muslim League objections and the appeasement politics that he said Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
14:42was following, saying younger generations must be aware of this history.
14:47Your response, Madam?
14:50Debating today's debate in the Parliament for 10 hours,
14:56let's first understand the reason behind this.
14:58Prime Minister Modi, during Ops Indur debate,
15:04used Nehru's name 14 times and Congress's name 50 times.
15:09During 75th anniversary of the Constitution,
15:12he used Nehru's name 10 times and 26 times he used Congress's name.
15:17And the list goes on, you know, in all the presidential address also.
15:21In 22, he used Nehru's name 15 times.
15:23His obsession with Nehru doesn't have an end.
15:28You know why?
15:28Because Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and his legacy threatens Narendra Modi.
15:34The only thing he wants to do is malign Nehru to cover his inefficiency in front of the world.
15:42Now let's get back to this debate.
15:45Are they saying Nehru is the only person who got us the freedom?
15:51Nehru is the only person who was responsible for drafting our Constitution?
15:57Mahatma Gandhi, are they calling Mahatma Gandhi communal?
16:02Rajendra Prasad as communal?
16:05Subhash Chandra Bose?
16:06And more importantly, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore as communal?
16:09Because all of them, including Maulana, Abul Kalam Azzad, Tardar Patel, all of them unanimously took this decision of adopting these two stanzas from this poem written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee as our national song.
16:30In fact, in 1875, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee wrote only these two stanzas.
16:42In 1882, he added four more stanzas.
16:45And when they speak about appeasing Muslims League, let's not forget the history where it was Hindu Mahasabha, which was in coalition with Muslim League in Bengal, Sindh and Northwest Frontier.
16:59Fair enough.
17:00Ratan Shardar, the Congress asks, why blame Pandit Nehru alone?
17:03You heard, you know, Bhavai Narsimha Murthy say, from Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore to the framers of the constitution, the founding fathers were on the same page on the acceptance only of the first two stanzas.
17:17Why blame Nehru and the Congress for Muslim appeasement politics then and now?
17:23First of all, like Priyanka Gandhi fondly said that Modi ji is very poor on facts.
17:29Here, Bhavai are very clearly poor on facts.
17:32Bengal government was not made with Muslim League, it was made with Krishak party against Muslim League.
17:38You don't know, madam.
17:39Please, please read yourself before coming here.
17:41So, please, please, please, please, please, yes, yes, listen, listen, with Krishak party, with Krishak party, with Krishak party, with Krishak party, with Krishak party, with Krishak party, with Krishak party.
17:55One by one, I'll come back to you, but let's keep this one by one, please.
17:58Go on, sir.
17:58So, anybody can check, it was Krishak party, which later merged with Muslim League under pressure, but it was separate from Muslim League.
18:05Because they wanted to keep Muslim League out, they formed a government in Bengal, point one.
18:11Point two, see, the main crux of the debate is, I'm not even getting into Nehru and all that, his blunder.
18:18See, if you want to debate, there are two huge books that I have, 97 major blunders of Nehru.
18:23Second book is Himalaya blunders of Nehru, so you have 1,000 pages of history behind blunders of Nehru.
18:29If you want to take credit for Nehru's all achievements, you have 150 institutions named after a Nehru family, then naturally there is any discredit, you'll have to face that also.
18:37Now, appeasement, if you say, appeasement never is able to satiate the hunger of people who want to be extremists, who want to twist their arms.
18:47So, when you truncated four paragraphs of Bandai Mataram, you thought you will take Muslim leadership along.
18:52It didn't happen. Partition happened.
18:54After partition, those who wish to not to speak about Bandai Mataram or Matri Bumi, they wanted Pakistan.
19:00They got Pakistan to Pakistan.
19:02Those who remained realized that this is a nation of majority Hindus, and they have to live as per what are the traditional cultures of the nation.
19:09But those people are called back by Nehruji not to go, not to go because we are secular.
19:15The houses in Delhi were taken back from the refugees who came from Pakistan, a very horrible state, and even the mosque were cleared.
19:24So, this is the example of appeasement going to the next step.
19:27Now, what happens? Now, the same always say, we will not even sing two stanzas of Bandai Mataram.
19:33I want to know all these great talks about Bandai Mataram.
19:37We have made it from the beginning, we have made it from the beginning, we have made it from the beginning.
19:39Today, do you have the guts to tell your Muslim leadership, the Maulwi leadership to go and sing Bandai Mataram?
19:45Because that was accepted, right? It was accepted.
19:48Let me get Ashutosh and then Bhavya to respond.
19:52One, is that the point that's being raised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi?
19:57That Congress then came under pressure of Muhammad Ali Jinnah's opposition to Bandai Mataram and the Muslim League.
20:02The Bandai Mataram first was split, then emboldened Muslim League.
20:06This led to split of our country in 1947.
20:10The country was partitioned, but that mindset remained.
20:13And even today, there are many who refuse to sing the Bandai Mataram Ashutosh.
20:16Even the two stanzas, which nobody should find objectionable, there is an ecosystem that refuses to sing that also, sir.
20:24See, I think what is more dangerous is the distortion of fact and distortion of history.
20:29That's the most dangerous thing.
20:31I was expecting that Ratan Sharda and Tuhin would have guts to talk about that it was Mahatma Gandhi, it was Gurudev Ravindna Tagore, it was Sardar Patel, it was Subhash Chandra Bose, it was Azad, it was Rajendra Prashad, it was Baba Sava Mbedkar, it was Krippalani, it was Syama Prashad Mukherjee.
20:49All of them were indulging into the Muslim appeasement.
20:51Why only picking only Nehru?
20:54Why only picking Nehru?
20:55I just failed to understand.
20:57So this Muslim appeasement is an old disease, that means?
21:00No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
21:01If Ratan Sharda, RSS, BJP has got the guts that you stand up and say, Mahatma Gandhi, you appeased Muslims on Bandai Mataram.
21:10They should openly say and say, Constituent Assembly, you appeased Muslims and that's why you came up with the Bandai Mataram.
21:16They should have guts to say that Baba Sava Mbedkar appeased Muslims and that's why only two stanzas.
21:21And I can bet on it, that I'm only saying, how many of them can recite even Bandai Mataram?
21:26I can, I can recite the whole two paragraph.
21:30I bet many of them who claim to be the nationalists, they can't even recite one stanza.
21:35Forget about two stanzas.
21:37Forget about two stanzas.
21:38So the fact of the matter is, Ratan Sharda was talking about Bhavya.
21:42Now, who was the Fazlul Haq?
21:43Fazlul was the one person who initiated the proposal for the Pakistan in 1940.
21:48And why Sama Prasad Mukherjee had a, had a, had a, became a, decided to become the member in the cabinet who wrote a letter to the, to the English governor that the quit India movement should be suppressed.
21:59Sama Prasad Mukherjee.
22:01There should be shame on it.
22:02And I openly sang.
22:03So, the fact still remains, those, my question to you sir, was those who are opposed to singing Bandai Mataram even today.
22:12The two stanzas that you can sing or I can sing.
22:15And isn't it such a shame that in our country people don't know the entire Bandai Mataram.
22:22Isn't that such a shame sir.
22:24But I completely agree with you.
22:26You and I are some of those few who can.
22:29And I'm sure many of us can.
22:31But what about others?
22:32Why not everyone when it united our entire country once upon a time.
22:36But let me bring in Bhavya.
22:38No, no, no.
22:38Let me say.
22:39Are you, are you trying to tell, tell us that Gurudev Ravindanda Tagore was wrong?
22:44Mahatma Gandhi was wrong?
22:46Subhashjand Bose was wrong?
22:47Sardar Patel was wrong?
22:48Are you trying to tell us?
22:50I am trying to say nothing.
22:51I'm only asking.
22:52Because.
22:53I'm only asking.
22:54And even if they were wrong.
22:56Even if they were wrong.
22:57No, I'm only saying it.
22:58Let's have the guts to debate.
23:00I'm only saying it.
23:01If it was Muslim appeasement then it was wrong.
23:04If there is Muslim appeasement today it is wrong.
23:07I'm only saying.
23:08Muslim appeasement or any appeasement should never happen.
23:11And that is exactly why.
23:12That is exactly why you need UCC.
23:14in a country.
23:15But let me bring in, let me bring in Bhavya Narasimha Murthy.
23:19Sir, I want to keep this going because I completely agree.
23:22I have not.
23:23If they, if they did something wrong then it must be called out.
23:26If someone's done something wrong today it must be called out.
23:28But Bhavya, Pandit Nehru in 1937 and the Prime Minister quoted that in Parliament on Vande Matram's back.
23:35That the background of Vande Matram could irritate Muslims.
23:39Now because Pandit Nehru believed or perceived it could irritate Muslims, a song that could unite our entire country and that did unite our entire country against the British, according to the government was not given its due.
23:52As Rajnath Singh puts it, Matra Puja is not Murti Puja.
23:59Shouldn't this message have been given out?
24:00Why didn't Narendra Modi read out what Rabindranath Tagore's view was on this?
24:11Why didn't Narendra Modi not read out the fact that Shyam Prasad Mukherjee, his own leader, was also a part of this decision?
24:23Let's be honest.
24:25Let's all just leave this tag of parties and think as Indian citizens.
24:30Very common sense.
24:31Why is Narendra Modi bringing up Nehru every time, in every debate of his, to distract the people of India?
24:39You know, right now what he is distracting us from?
24:42I'll read it out to you.
24:4325 people are killed in Goa club fire.
24:46Thousands of passengers.
24:48You saw tears in their eyes.
24:51Oh, absolutely.
24:51You saw how they were stranded in airports, how government gave in to the pressure of Indigo, how government couldn't save its face in that crisis and gave in.
25:06And today, even today, by withdrawing that order, lots and lots of passenger safety is at risk.
25:14And then Delhi's air pollution.
25:16You saw how even Russian President Putin was not comfortable with it.
25:24These are the issues as citizens.
25:26They should be, as parliamentarians, they should be discussing in parliament and not waste time on these issues.
25:34Where we know, Wanda Mataram is sang in every, every Congress program, even today.
25:40Whereas RSS took 52 years to even hoist our tri-flag.
25:46Okay.
25:47Tri-color flag.
25:48So, please, please, please, let's not pretend.
25:50Of course, on India today, we have that Indigo flight place that's coming up at 8.30 tonight.
25:53Let's not do this.
25:54Everybody knows who is, who is the reason we are freedom today and who were against it and who were supporting the British.
26:02So, to his in our response, because Priyanka Gandhi, Wadra in parliament very clearly said since 1905, every Congress session, the first two stanzas of Wanda Mataram are sung.
26:10Congress says BJP is trying to weaponize Wanda Mataram.
26:14Is that the effort?
26:16Weaponize Wanda Mataram and polarize the electorate ahead of Bengal elections, sir?
26:20Well, you know, Gaurav, let me just read out the stanza which was deleted.
26:28Now, Bhavya is a lady.
26:46I don't think why she should have a problem with the glorification of Ma Durga, which is an epitome of Shakti.
26:55And but of course, in 2024, from 1937 to 2024, Congress has reached that level of degradation, that decline, where Rahul Gandhi openly says that the Congress party is fighting Shakti.
27:07Now, the second point which they have been arguing is that are there not important issues in the country?
27:12Of course, there are important issues in the country, which is why 13 important bills are slated to be passed in this session of parliament, which includes the Jain Vishwas bill, which includes the atomic energy bill, which includes the insurance bill in all of these bills.
27:28Have you seen any input from the Congress party beyond their usual antics of disruption?
27:34Okay, quickly, 30 seconds, since the point has been raised about the Congress, Bhavya requested you to respond, so that I can quickly bring Ashutosh and Ratan Sharada into the conversation.
27:44Yes, Tuhin Sinha, you know, as a woman, what is actually important for me, you know, as a woman, what is actually important for me and what has been disturbing since morning?
27:53A news that 22-year-old female student in National Sanskrit Academy in Andhra Pradesh was sexually harassed by two assistant professors and her complaint was totally disregarded and not taken seriously and today her parents doesn't want her to study.
28:12This, as a woman, is more concerning for me than our national song, which has been the inspiring song for lax of freedom fighters and till now the Congress has been singing it and that is enough for us.
28:29We are patriotic, you don't need to give us the certificate, but as a woman, this is my question.
28:34So, you are the ruling government. Are women safe? You checked on me, you questioned me as a woman, why I have a problem?
28:42I have a problem with Narendra Modi. I have a problem with your Beti Bachop, Beti Panao, where you have 90% of your funds on advertising and nothing to do about it.
28:52Tuhin Sinha, quickly respond before I bring in Ashutosh and Ratan Sharada.
28:57Tuhin Sinha.
28:59Can you repeat the question? There's a disturbance on the line. Can you repeat the question, please?
29:02So, her point is, as a woman, she's very concerned about crimes against women not getting the focus and she lists out that incident of Andhra Pradesh, sir.
29:13No, sir. I think we have been the most, you know, we have taken extreme steps to prevent crimes against women, which include, you know, the increase of conviction, the increase of maximum punishment to life imprisonment for rape.
29:27So, you know, I don't think you can confuse obfuscate issues over here. Like I mentioned, whether it is cultural issues, whether it is historical issues, or whether it is, you know, development issues, you know, law and order issues.
29:40Because all of these require...
29:42I want to quickly bring in Ashutosh. Ashutosh, is there an attempt at communal polarization ahead of elections in Bengal in the garb of nationalism?
29:51Is that the aim to put Congress on the back foot by the BJP?
29:56It's just Bengal elections.
29:57I don't need to even talk about it. That's a given thing.
30:03And I don't have to go back in history.
30:05You just take out a bunch of thoughts and you know what is the BJP and RSS ideology.
30:10Openly says that the three enemies of India, the Muslim Christians and the communists.
30:16And have you heard that any paragraph or any text has been withdrawn, which was written by, from the discovery of India?
30:23No. But Golwalkar's book has been withdrawn. Why? What is so wrong with this?
30:29So the issue is very simple. The issue is very simple.
30:32I'm not even talking about whether it is linked with the assembly election in Bengal or not.
30:36The issue is the distortion of Indian history because RSS has no role to play in Indian history.
30:44And that is why they want to malign the entire freedom struggle.
30:48They want to malign Gandhi.
30:49So should entire Vande Matram now be sung, Ashutosh, in your view?
30:53Entire Vande Matram, the way Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay had written it?
30:57I'll go by what Gurudev Ravindana Tagore has said.
31:02I'll go by what Mahatma Gandhi has said.
31:05I'll go by what Rasadar Patel has said.
31:06I'm not big enough, too big enough to talk about this.
31:10But I understand that the Mahatma Gandhi...
31:12Muslims remain opposed to the imagery of Maa Dhulga and Maa Saraswati in the subsequent stanzas of Vande Matram.
31:20They say it goes against our religion.
31:22Idle worship goes against our religion.
31:24Therefore, the founding fathers also accepted just the first two stanzas.
31:29Is that okay?
31:30That everybody sings just those first two stanzas and everybody, sir?
31:34What is the problem today?
31:35That so-called Muslim leaders who are part of India Alliance or part of this secular brigade,
31:41they are saying we will not even sing those two paragraphs.
31:43I asked in the beginning, will Congress challenge them to sing the Vande Matram?
31:47What is all your guts, guts, guts?
31:48Now, let me be very frank with Ashutosh.
31:51First of all, I have written an entire book on RSS role in independence struggle.
31:56I'll tell you five names who were hanged, who were killed.
32:01Balaji Raipur killed in police bullets.
32:03There was another gentleman who got fancy ki saja, but then was removed.
32:08Hemu Kalani, hanged to death.
32:11Then Devipat Chaudhuri, Jagupati Kumar, a police bullet died in 1942.
32:16Do Congress leaders stayed in RSS houses during the 1942-2012 movement?
32:20You can check Shinkar himself, a congressman, resigned from congressing,
32:25via RSS.
32:27RSS since complete Vande Matram right from day one.
32:30Now, coming to the main issue, when you talk of Ambedkar,
32:33will you talk of Ambedkar's thought on Pakistan?
32:36Will you say Ambedkar said we should have full exchange of population?
32:39They will not say that, doesn't suit the narrative.
32:41I openly have said many times, Mr. Vashutosh, that 1920 was the beginning of the crystallization of the idea of partition,
32:50when Congress, including Gandhiji, appeased the worst kind of Manlapuram moplas in having thousands of people killed,
32:58and they were quiet on that.
32:58I know that RSS is a separate debate that we shall have today.
33:02I will have to unfortunately restrict it just to the Vande Matram issue,
33:07and whether all of it, the two stanzas that were accepted,
33:10should be sung by all,
33:12and what should one make of the mindset of those who say,
33:15we will not sing even the two stanzas.
33:18And I leave our viewers to judge for themselves.
33:20I want to thank all my guests for joining me.
33:21Breaking news coming in on the Goa fire incident.
33:31It now transpires that the owners of the nightclub, Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra,
33:38they fled to Phuket on the seventh night itself.
33:42They flew on board an Indigo Airlines flight from Mumbai.
33:46So Indigo may have cancelled hundreds of flights,
33:49but that flight to Phuket went and Saurabh Luthra,
33:52that's the founder chairman.
33:54You see his image on your television screen of the Romeo Lane,
33:57Birch by Romeo Lane.
33:59While they claim they will assist,
34:02support the bereaved families and those affected,
34:04they ran away from the country.
34:06So these are just words that you get from them.
34:08Deeply shaken by the tragic loss of 25 lives,
34:11stand in solidarity with the families of the deceased and those who are injured.
34:15The Goa nightclub owners,
34:16they fled to Phuket within hours of that blaze.
34:22I want to bring in Divvaj Singh for the latest,
34:25who joins us with more on the story.
34:28So bring us details.
34:29The officials were arrested,
34:32the administrators of the club were arrested,
34:34but the owners fled.
34:35They didn't join the investigations.
34:37What more do we know about Saurabh and Gaurav?
34:39Well, Gaurav, exactly.
34:45Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra,
34:47both brothers who were running this ill-fated nightclub,
34:51Birch by Romeo Lane,
34:53where this fire incident happened and claimed 25 innocent lives.
34:57Within five hours.
34:58Let me tell you,
34:59precisely within five hours,
35:02they have reached Mumbai.
35:04From Mumbai,
35:05they have reached,
35:06they have boarded a flight to Phuket.
35:09And that too,
35:10on an Indigo airline flight,
35:12Indigo may have cancelled several flights.
35:15There are several flights that have been cancelled
35:16for domestic,
35:18for international passengers as well.
35:20We reported that there were several foreign passengers
35:23who had been stranded
35:24at various airports across the country.
35:27But these brothers,
35:28Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra,
35:30managed to get on board an Indigo flight
35:33and which actually flew from Mumbai to Phuket
35:36on 7th December at 5 a.m.
35:40That is exactly within five hours of the incident.
35:44Within five hours of the incident,
35:46these two brothers had the time to take.
35:47They didn't stay back to assist, it seems.
35:49They did not appear before the police.
35:51They did not.
35:54It's really sad.
35:55I hope action is taken.
35:56I hope they join investigations.
35:58And I hope if there is dereliction,
36:00then action is taken after due diligence.
36:03And we'll be tracking that story very closely.
36:05I have more breaking news coming in
36:06on the Indigo Airlines fiasco
36:09that our nation has been facing.
36:12So Indigo Airlines,
36:13we are now being told,
36:14has responded to DGCA's show cause notice
36:16saying it's realistically,
36:19not possible to pinpoint the exact cause
36:22of the nationwide disruptions recently
36:25in their flights.
36:26The airline has asked now for more time.
36:29It's argued that a detailed root cause analysis is underway.
36:34I mean, just because one airline has monopoly,
36:37look at how they try to game the system.
36:40They try to take India for a ride,
36:42Indian passengers for a ride.
36:44And this is a litmus test for the government
36:47to come clean on the monopoly
36:49that Indigo Airlines enjoys in this country.
36:52They're saying that it's not realistically possible
36:55to pinpoint responsibility.
36:56So the nation loses money.
36:59The nation uses prestige.
37:01There are thousands and thousands of passengers
37:03who are adversely impacted.
37:05And the airlines say,
37:06we don't know what led to this.
37:07Preliminary explanation has come.
37:10Indigo blames a complex mix of factors.
37:13They had all the time in the world to fix this.
37:16But now they're blaming a complex,
37:18a compound mix of factors,
37:20minor technical glitches,
37:23winter season,
37:24schedule changes,
37:26bad weather,
37:27system-wide congestion,
37:29and challenges in implementing
37:30the new FDTL phase 2,
37:33the crew rostering rules.
37:35The airline says it is profusely apologetic,
37:37but maintains the disruption
37:39stemmed from a series of unfortunate
37:41and unforeseen convergence of events
37:44and seeks more time to analyse the root cause.
37:47Just how easy is it to take this country
37:50and its administration and its systems for a ride
37:52is a question that the government
37:54and the DGCA need to think.
37:57You can't take Indians for a ride
37:59and not all the time.
38:00But I want to bring in Amit Bharadwaj
38:02for more on the story.
38:03Amit, this sounds like a series of excuses
38:07that's coming from Indigo,
38:09but how serious is DGCA and the government
38:12in pinpointing responsibility
38:15and taking action
38:16or will Indians be taken for a ride again?
38:19Daurav, you had 24 hours to respond
38:22to a show cause notice.
38:25You sought another 24 hours
38:27to reply to the show cause notice
38:29and this is what you come about.
38:31Five reasons, none of them
38:35except for the FDTL norms
38:37is something that would be taken up seriously
38:40by the DGCA
38:41as the excuse or an explanation
38:45for what has unfolded
38:47in the aviation sector of the nation
38:49for the first time in its history.
38:51Now you go by the list
38:53that has been put out by the Indigo
38:55weather conditions.
38:58We are living in a country
39:00where the railway network
39:02has not even reported
39:03a single delay
39:04because of the weather conditions,
39:06the fog conditions,
39:07winter conditions
39:08and here is an airline
39:10which is citing that
39:11massive disruption that happened
39:14is because of the weather conditions.
39:15How easy is it
39:16if an airline has brute monopoly
39:18to game the system
39:20and take this country for a ride?
39:22And why is it that
39:23other airlines were able to fly
39:24in the same weather
39:25but Indigo wasn't?
39:26The DGCA has confirmed
39:27it's received Indigo's response
39:29to the show cause notice.
39:30Now, what we are being told,
39:31DGCA says it's currently
39:33examining Indigo's response.
39:35Enforcement action
39:36as deemed appropriate
39:37will follow in due course.
39:39DGCA said
39:39it will take action
39:41after Indigo's final response.
39:43It's currently the preliminary response
39:46that has come in.
39:47Now, are these delaying tactics
39:48or does the government also realize
39:50that it seriously has to take action
39:54if there are lapses by Indigo Airlines
39:58because of its brute monopoly?
40:00Amit.
40:03We are given to understand that
40:05after the first round of meeting
40:07where the government wanted the operations
40:09to be back on the track,
40:11now it seems that
40:12stringent actions are on the card
40:15because I had spoken to several people
40:17within the ministry
40:17as well as the Union Civil Aviation Minister
40:20Ram Mohan Naidu
40:22and he had said that
40:23we will give,
40:24we will take such an action
40:25which will become an example
40:26for the rest of the operators
40:29that they cannot take the ministry
40:31so lightly.
40:32So, definitely the mood
40:35within the ministry
40:35seems to, you know,
40:36looks like a changed one
40:38but despite that
40:39you have Indigo
40:41which has in a way
40:42without stating it
40:44sought at least 15 days
40:46to file the RCA,
40:49you know,
40:49root cause assessment report
40:51into it
40:51while the CEO
40:52and COO of the company
40:54were asked as to
40:56why this massive disruption happened
40:57It also remains to be seen
41:00whether the higher-ups
41:01who are responsible for this summit
41:02they don't take the next flight
41:04to Phuket
41:04or wherever else
41:05to be out of
41:06the control
41:08of Indian agencies
41:09should action be deemed
41:10against those responsible
41:12but track that story
41:13I'll come back to you for more
41:14because
41:14not just the passengers
41:16India's prestige
41:17was taken for a ride
41:19with Indigo Airlines fiasco
41:21and that fiasco
41:22that continues even now
41:23So was Indigo using
41:24its brute monopoly
41:25to ignore government
41:27directives and norms?
41:28Can Indigo get away
41:30by saying it failed
41:31to estimate crew requirements
41:32under the revised norms?
41:34Or is Indigo actually
41:35trying to bully the government
41:36to back off?
41:37Joining me on India first
41:38is Captain Kabir Malik
41:40He's a commercial pilot
41:41He's an aviation expert
41:42Captain Malik
41:43your appreciation
41:44There's a four-member committee
41:46that's been formed
41:47Can Indigo actually say
41:49it's a compound
41:50reasons
41:51and to get to the root cause
41:53we need 15 more days?
41:56See
41:57Gaurav
41:58I would like to tell you
41:59regarding this thing
42:01which they
42:02replied
42:02the shokal notice
42:04to the
42:05DGCA
42:06it is completely
42:07false
42:08and there is no
42:09point to be
42:11take sympathy
42:12or excuse
42:13of their moral duty
42:14because
42:14it is all happened
42:16because it is all happened
42:18because of their
42:20negligency
42:22it is
42:23it is in their knowledge
42:25from a long time back
42:26and it is
42:27everyday part of
42:28their operation
42:30operational exercise
42:31which they are saying
42:33that there is a
42:33technical clinch
42:34weather condition
42:35and so on
42:36so no
42:36no it is not
42:37there
42:38you know
42:38it is
42:39this airline is not
42:40one year
42:41or two years old
42:41it is more than
42:4215, 16, 17 years old
42:45and I am telling you
42:46I am telling you
42:47they are taking excuse
42:49because of
42:49many kind of
42:51you know
42:52technical issues
42:53no it is not there
42:54it is completely
42:55so can it say
42:56that it failed
42:56to appreciate
42:57crew requirements
42:58under the revised
42:59FDTL norms
43:00or training
43:01or roster issues
43:02that cropped up
43:03yeah
43:04Gaurav
43:05it is completely
43:06failure of
43:07their
43:07not amending
43:08and execute
43:09their FDTT rule
43:10earlier
43:11in past two years
43:12and suddenly
43:13they turn up
43:14their language
43:14towards of that
43:15it is all
43:16because of
43:17so many
43:17this reason
43:18this reason
43:19this reason
43:19no it is not there
43:21because
43:22the government
43:22already notified
43:24them in 2024
43:25and issued
43:26this FDTL
43:27notice also
43:28but they
43:29rolled back
43:31twice
43:32not one
43:33twice
43:34and this is the
43:35third time
43:35which they
43:36notice issued
43:36to every airline
43:37especially not
43:38to the Indigo
43:39the other airlines
43:40they are operating
43:41and they are doing
43:42you know
43:43there is smooth
43:43operation these days
43:44but because of
43:46the biggest
43:46aircraft fleet
43:48they have
43:50Indigo
43:51and they are
43:51discovering
43:5264% of
43:53aviation sector
43:54in India
43:55and they
43:56according to
43:58that
43:58they don't have
43:59a competent
44:00flying crew
44:01and the cabin crew
44:02that is their
44:04moral duty
44:04in the earlier
44:06stage
44:06more than a year
44:07back
44:07they have to
44:08be appoint
44:08more crew
44:09and more
44:10cabin crews
44:11but they were
44:12not appointed
44:12they were taking
44:13it very lightly
44:14so they were
44:15using their
44:16monopoly
44:16that they
44:17control more
44:17than 60%
44:18of the market
44:19so they were
44:20trying to
44:20play the system
44:21force the
44:22government
44:22and the passengers
44:23to go down
44:24on their knees
44:24now
44:25passenger
44:27passengers
44:27are important
44:28pilots
44:29and crew
44:30their rest
44:31is mandatory
44:32passenger safety
44:33is supreme
44:34so that
44:35you know
44:35flight safety
44:36is not compromised
44:37was Indigo
44:37trying to compromise
44:38even passenger safety
44:40you see
44:42how dare
44:44do you just
44:45take a compromise
44:48on the passenger
44:49safety
44:49it should not
44:50be there
44:51it should not
44:52be there
44:52not at all
44:53secondly
44:54companies also
44:56does matter
44:56to our country
44:57because they are
44:57generating lots
44:58of revenue
44:58in the aviation
44:59sector
44:59but in place
45:01of that
45:01you are going
45:02to take
45:02excuse
45:03that we are
45:04the largest
45:04wing
45:05and we
45:05our monopoly
45:06will be there
45:07and we will be
45:08just command
45:08on things
45:09even on the
45:09government
45:10and ministry
45:11also
45:11no it should
45:12not be there
45:12government
45:13have to be
45:13take some
45:14legal action
45:15in the article
45:16of 21
45:17because all the
45:17passengers
45:18those who face
45:19many problems
45:20and these days
45:21also continue
45:22the problem
45:23is not
45:23gone
45:25the problem
45:26is continuously
45:26going on
45:27every day
45:28and I am
45:29telling you
45:29this is not
45:30going to be
45:31okay
45:31in one week
45:33or two
45:33so I want
45:33to understand
45:34for you
45:34Captain Malik
45:35as a commercial
45:35pilot
45:36as an aviation
45:37expert
45:38trade was impacted
45:39tourism was impacted
45:40hospitality was impacted
45:41the credibility
45:42of a country
45:43was impacted
45:44you know
45:45will an inquiry
45:47reveal
45:47who is to
45:49blame
45:49was Indigo
45:50trying to
45:51game the
45:52system
45:52was Indigo
45:53trying to
45:53bring bad
45:55name to
45:55our country
45:56for whatever
45:57reason
45:57and whoever
45:58was trying
45:58to think
45:58that because
45:59they have
45:5960% of the
46:00market
46:01they can
46:01get away
46:02with whatever
46:03they want
46:04can responsibility
46:05be pinpointed
46:06or can they
46:07get away by
46:08saying it's a
46:08complex web
46:09of reasons
46:09no one can
46:10be blamed
46:11they have to
46:11be realized
46:11they have to
46:12be realized
46:13and they have
46:13to be took
46:14the moral
46:14responsibility
46:15it is their
46:16mistake
46:17because all
46:18management system
46:19had been
46:20failed in this
46:21operation
46:22and they
46:22are ignoring
46:23completely and
46:24deliberately in
46:24the past few
46:25years and
46:26because of that
46:26the consequences
46:27we are facing
46:28even the
46:29government are
46:29here to
46:30responsible and
46:31have to be
46:32answered in the
46:32fair way to
46:33the country
46:34people and
46:35we are facing
46:36internationally
46:37also because in
46:39aviation sector we
46:40are losing our
46:41image I tell
46:42you this is
46:43the company in
46:452024 where
46:46four birds
46:47praise this
46:47company that
46:48Indigo is the
46:49largest and
46:50biggest airline in
46:51the Asia and
46:52in upcoming
46:52time it is the
46:53future of
46:54world so but
46:55they ruined
46:56this their name
46:57because of
46:57their management
46:58and their
46:59monopoly mentality
47:01and this is the
47:03reason only in
47:04these days our
47:05government our
47:06people and the
47:07revenue sector
47:07this is very
47:08disturbing
47:08Captain Malik
47:09I will come
47:10back to you
47:10for more because
47:11we will be
47:12tracking the
47:12story very
47:13very closely
47:14an airline cannot
47:15be first it
47:16has to be
47:16passengers first
47:18and India
47:19first and that
47:20is very very
47:21essential I have
47:22breaking news
47:22that's coming
47:23in
47:23the Congress
47:32Party has
47:33suspended
47:33Navjot Kaur
47:34Sidhu from the
47:36primary membership
47:37of the Congress
47:38Party this
47:39action comes just
47:4048 hours after
47:41her explosive
47:43allegation in
47:45Punjab Navjot
47:47Kaur Sidhu just
47:4948 hours earlier
47:50said that Punjab
47:52Chief Minister's
47:53post was up
47:55for sale she
47:57claimed she
47:58insisted she said
48:00Punjab Chief
48:00Minister's post is
48:01up for sale in
48:03the state Congress
48:04unit her remarks
48:05said of a massive
48:06political firestorm
48:08and today the
48:09Punjab Congress
48:10has acted against
48:10her so Navjot
48:11Kaur Sidhu had
48:12claimed that
48:13crores changed
48:14hands for political
48:15posts and even
48:16alleged that the
48:17Congress Party
48:17leadership took
48:19money from
48:20bi-poll candidates
48:22she said she had
48:23cold recordings and
48:24councillors who
48:25were ready to
48:26testify the
48:27allegations triggered
48:28massive reaction
48:29across the political
48:29spectrum and not just
48:31in Punjab both the
48:32Amadmi Party the ruling
48:34party in Punjab and
48:34the BJP and former
48:36Congress leaders have
48:37called for deep
48:39probe into these
48:41allegations now there
48:42are several Congress
48:43leaders who claim
48:44former Congress leaders
48:46who claim there is
48:47proof of deep
48:48corruption in the
48:49Congress Congress
48:50MPs including
48:51Subjinder Randhava and
48:53Pargat Singh have said
48:54that her claims are
48:55extremely unfortunate and
48:57anti-party they've
48:59accused her of
49:00indiscipline they've
49:01questioned her silence
49:02earlier and questioned
49:03why she's speaking
49:04only now Navjot Kaur Sidhu
49:06had said that her
49:07comments were twisted
49:08and taken out of
49:09context but by then
49:11the damage had been
49:12done listening
49:13so for that comment
49:38Navjot Kaur Sidhu she's
49:39been suspended from the
49:40primary membership of the
49:41Congress party we'll be
49:42tracking that story and
49:43whether her allegations
49:44can be backed up by
49:46proof or will there be
49:47an investigation
49:47you
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