Bengaluru: By now, most of you would be privy to the act of Delhi chief minister Arvind  Kejriwal who chose not to lift his hands while Prime Minister Narendra Modi proudly chanted Vande Mataram during his speech on Independence Day from the ramparts of the Red Fort. 

The video in which Arvind Kejriwal sat motionless even as others joyously chanted the slogan with pride has gone viral. 

 

But worse than the act itself is how an AAP worker has equated it with the Nazi salute! 

Aarti, the AAP worker has praised Kejriwal for his defiance.

She has even termed it “The one who dares to stand out”. 

 

A note on the Nazi salute defying incident: 

In the photograph that was shot in the year 1936, August Landmesser, a member of the Nazi party refused to give the Nazi salute. 

The occasion was the launching of a navy ship at a shipyard in Hamburg. 

But it is interesting to note that Landmesser was expelled from the party in 1935 itself for marrying a Jewish woman. 

He was even pulled up for “dishonouring the race” under Nazi laws and was jailed. However, it should be noted that he was later released and drafted into the army. Sadly, he died during a war. 

His wife was sent to a concentration camp and was killed by the Nazis in 1942. 

While Landmesser’s defiance stands out as a true symbol of opposition to oppression and dictatorship, Arvind Kejriwal’s act of sitting motionless signals arrogance. 

Vande Mataram is a song that was written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. It means “I praise you, mother”. 

In fact, it was the Congress party that adopted it as the national song in the year 1937. 

Even Rabindranath Tagore sang it, thereby giving it a historical importance. 

The British took umbrage to this song and even banned it as Indians sang it proudly. As a consequence, some of them had even jailed. 

However, when India gained Independence, the ban was overturned.