PANAJI: BJYM president Tushar Kelkar on Wednesday hit back at the Congress over its criticism of the BJP youth wing’s protest at Dabolim Airport, dismissing the Congress press conference as “baseless” and “frustrated” while defending the BJP workers’ actions as peaceful.
Kelkar alleged that Congress had unnecessarily dragged BJP workers and BJP State president Damodar Naik into the controversy. “First of all, this baseless, fact-less press conference was held by a frustrated Youth Congress and their entire team,” Kelkar said.
He suggested that Congress leaders may have faced criticism from AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge during his visit to Goa. “It seems to me that Kharge ji, during the Congress meeting inside, must have reprimanded them severely, asking why they had to create such a mess on his very first visit,” Kelkar said.
Kelkar said the controversy was linked to the Congress’s position on the national song, ‘Vande Mataram’, and defended the BJP’s demand for its complete rendition. “For so many years people have been singing two stanzas of Vande Mataram, and no one protested against it. But now that Parliament has enacted a law, if you are going to sing it, then sing all six stanzas; otherwise do not sing,” he said.
He argued that parliamentary decisions and laws were expected to be respected, drawing a comparison with national observances and dry days. "There are dry days; October 2 is a dry day, and everyone respects it because it is the law. Even though Gandhi did not request it, October 2 is still a dry day, and we respect it. Why? Because it was done in Parliament,” Kelkar said.
Kelkar also referred to the historical truncation of ‘Vande Mataram’, alleging that the song was reduced from six stanzas to two in 1928 due to political pressure. “Under the leadership of Rabindranath Tagore, when the Congress worked in the interest of the country, they used to sing all of them. But in 1928, driven by Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s pressure and the pressure of the Muslim League, they reduced the six stanzas to two stanzas,” he alleged.
He questioned the objection to references to Hindu deities in the later stanzas of the song. “In the fourth stanza, it mentions Durga Dashapraharana Dharini. How does this insult any religion, or how does it insult their identity or religion?” Kelkar asked.
Defending the BJP youth wing’s protest, Kelkar said the demonstration was peaceful and accused Youth Congress workers of provoking the protesters. “Our protest was peaceful, as you all must have seen. The Youth Congress workers came there and first started by throwing bouquets at us,” he alleged.
He also drew a comparison with the 2022 incident in Punjab, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s convoy was briefly held up during a protest, questioning Congress’s criticism of the security concerns raised in Goa. “Those who talk about our protest now, when the Congress government was in Punjab, they allowed a protest to block the Prime Minister’s cavalcade for two hours at one spot,” Kelkar said.
He asked why Congress had not raised concerns about national security, Z+ security and NSG protocols at the time. Kelkar rejected suggestions of an intelligence or police failure in Goa and instead blamed the Congress leadership. “This is not an intelligence failure. This is the failure of the Congress party, the failure of Girish Chodankar’s leadership,” he said.
He questioned why Congress was blaming the Goa Police and Crime Branch for the incident. According to Kelkar, the protest was intended to oppose what the BJP considered an insult to ‘Vande Mataram’. “On their President’s very first visit, they did this and showed disrespect to Vande Mataram, plain and simple,” he said.
Kelkar also said the BJP youth wing would continue to protest against Congress leaders over the issue. “We showed black flags, and we will continue to show them to Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, because we will not tolerate the insult of Vande Mataram,” he said.
Reiterating his position on the rendition of the national song, Kelkar said: “If you want to sing only two stanzas, don’t sing at all. If you want to sing, sing all six stanzas; otherwise, do not sing Vande Mataram.”
