Kolkata, June 27: BJP President Amit Shah on Wednesday said the country's partition could have been avoided if the Congress had not made the mistake of censoring part of the national song "Vande Mataram..." in line with its "appeasement policy".

"Had the Congress not made the mistake of censoring the national song Vande Mataram to just stanzas instead of the whole song ... we could have stopped India from getting divided," Shah said here while delivering the first Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay Memorial Lecture organised by Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation.

He described Vande Mataram as a manifestation of the century-old tradition of nationalism, and stressed that the song could not be associated with any religion.

"Vande Mataram is a manifestation of our century-old tradition of nationalism. India is not a geo-political nation, it is a geo-cultural nation. The definition of India's nationalism is not narrow.

"It can't be associated with any form of religion. But Congress brought religion into it by censoring the song, It was a part of the Congress' appeasement policy," he said.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Bijnor (PTI): Two men were arrested in this Uttar Pradesh district on Friday for allegedly being in touch with a Pakistan-linked handler based in Dubai, police said.

Circle Officer, Najibabad, Anjani Kumar Chaturvedi said Uvaid Malik and Jalal Haider were arrested following inputs on their alleged links with Aqib, a resident of Meerut currently staying in Dubai.

According to police, Aqib had earlier come into the spotlight after a video surfaced on Instagram purportedly showing him displaying an AK-47 rifle and explosives.

During interrogation, the arrested men allegedly told police that Aqib used to incite youngsters against Hindus and encourage anti-national activities, the officer said, adding that detailed questioning of the accused is underway.

On April 6, Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhishek Jha said the video first surfaced in November last year. Aqib, a native of Sathla village in the Mawana area of Meerut, was allegedly seen in the video brandishing weapons.

Following the viral clip, a case was registered at the Nangal police station by sub-inspector Vinod Kumar. However, the then station house officer and investigating officer Satyendra Singh had recorded Aqib's statement and filed a final report, stating that the weapons seen in the video were toys, effectively giving him a clean chit.

Police said fresh developments have now revealed Aqib's suspicious links and the probe has been handed over to the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS).

The SP said action has been taken against the officials concerned, with the then SHO and investigating officer suspended and Circle Officer Nitesh Pratap Singh removed from his post.