Goa, Aug. 15 -- Vande Mataram is in the news as India marks 150 years of the iconic patriotic song. For the first time, the song was sung from the Red Fort during the country's 80th Independence Day celebrations on August 15, 2026.

Parliament recently held a special discussion to mark 150 years of Vande Mataram, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi opening the Lok Sabha debate. The song has played a significant role in India's freedom movement and has also been the subject of political and religious debates because of imagery in some of its later stanzas.

According to historical accounts cited by the Press Information Bureau, Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay composed Vande Mataram around 1875. The song later appeared in his celebrated novel Ana...