Controversial ‘historian’ S Irfan Habib, on Monday (8th December), claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a false statement in the Lok Sabha regarding Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s endorsement of ‘Vande Mataram’ as the national anthem. He referred to a speech given by PM Modi in the Lok Sabha on Monday, wherein he mentioned that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi praised Vande Mataram and referred to it as the national anthem.
Speaking about the history of the national song Vande Mataram in the Lok Sabha, PM Modi said that in 1905, Gandhi wrote an opinion praising the song and acknowledging that it had become so popular across Bengal that it became like a national anthem.
“I want to tell the House about Mahatma Gandhi’s emotions regarding Vande Mataram. In the weekly Indian Opinion on 2 December 1905, Mahatma Gandhi wrote that the song Vande Mataram, composed by Bankim Chandra, had become famous across Bengal. During the Swadeshi movement, lakhs of people sang it. He also wrote that this song was so popular that it had become like our national anthem, carrying deeper emotions and more melody than the national songs of other countries. It views Bharat as mother and prays to her,” PM Modi said in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
VIDEO | Debate over Vande Mataram: Speaking in Lok Sabha, PM Modi (@narendramodi) says, “I want to tell the House about Mahatma Gandhi’s emotions regarding Vande Mataram. In the weekly Indian Opinion on 2 December 1905, Mahatma Gandhi wrote that the song Vande Mataram, composed… pic.twitter.com/ztogz7CnZo
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 8, 2025
However, the controversial historian rejected PM Modi’s statement by claiming that in 1905, Gandhi was in South Africa and returned to India in 1915. Therefore, it is not possible that he could have endorsed the song.
“During the Vande Mataram debate today, PM Modi claimed that Mahatma Gandhi saw it as the ‘national anthem’ since 1905. But Gandhi was in South Africa; he arrives in India in 1915. Is there any reference which I seem to have missed?” Habib wrote in a post on X.
During the Vande Mataram debate today PM Modi claimed that Mahatma Gandhi saw it as ‘national anthem’ since 1905. But Gandhi was in South Africa, he arrives in India in 1915. Is there any reference which I seem to have missed?
— S lrfan Habib एस इरफान हबीब عرفان حبئب (@irfhabib) December 8, 2025
Habib was joined MK Venu, founding editor of the Left propaganda website, The Wire, in dismissing PM Modi’s remarks as untrue. Responding to Habib’s post, Venu wrote on X, “If we start looking for references on Modi’s statements, we will go insane!”.
If we start looking for references on Modi’s statements we will go insane! https://t.co/1WSs6wi7tk
— M K Venu (@mkvenu1) December 9, 2025
A fact-check of the claims of S Irfan Habib and MK Venu
To verify, ‘historian’ Habib’s claim, OpIndia conducted a fact-check of his claim and found it to be absolutely wrong. As per our fact-check, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi expressly supported the song Vande Mataram, composed by Bankim Chand Chatterjee and also referred to as the “national anthem”.
Indeed, Gandhi came back to India from South Africa in 1915, but much before that, in December 1905, Gandhi’s views, published in the newspaper Indian Opinion on December 2, 1905, clearly show that he supported and praised the song.
In his writing titled ‘The Heroic Song of Bengal’, Gandhi stated, “The song, Bande Mataram, composed by him has become very popular throughout Bengal. Mammoth meetings have been held in Bengal in connection with the Swadeshi movement, where millions of people gathered together and sang Bankim’s song. The song, it is said, has proved so popular that it has come to be our national anthem.” An image of a Gandhi’s writing published in Indian Opinion has been produced below.
(Image via https://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/)
It is clear from the abovementioned lines from Gandhi’s own writing that he admired the song and was aware of its popularity among freedom fighters, who sang it like a national anthem.
MK Venu’s claims contradicted by an article published on his own website
Interestingly, an article titled “Gandhi’s Vision of the Song Vande Mataram is Inclusive, Not Divisive Like Now”, which was published in The Wire on November 8, 2025, also refers to the same writing of Gandhi, wherein he praised Vande Mataram and called it the national anthem. “While in South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi wrote an article “The Heroic Song of Bengal” in Indian Opinion on December 2, 1905 and described Vande Mataram as our national anthem…” the article states.
It is thus obvious after the fact-check that ‘historian’ S Irfan Habib and The Wire Founding Editor spread misinformation about PM Modi’s statement as well as Vande Mataram. However, Habib and Venu’s are not surprising, considering the Left ecosystem’s historic contempt for nationalists and the nationalist ideology.
