Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Navin Kumar Singh put his party in an embarrassing spot when he attempted to sing the national song Vande Mataram in the midst of a television debate on October 28.
Against the backdrop of the BJP trying to make it compulsory for Vande Mataram to be sung in schools across India, Singh engaged in a war of words with All India Muslim Personal Law Board member Mufti Ejaz Arshad Qasmi. Some Muslims have contended that singing the song, which deifies India as the motherland, amounts to worshiping an entity other than what Islam holds as the one true god.
Qasmi challenged Singh to sing the Sanskrit song. The BJP member’s reaction sparked a thousand internet memes.
Singh initially hesitated to accept Quami’s challenge. Then he urged Quami to sing along with him. Singh eventually began singing Vande Mataram, reading the lyrics from his phone. In his untuneful rendition, he mispronounced many words.
Among the many words and phrases Singh mangled was “shubhrajyotsnaa pulkitayaaminiim” – glory of moonlight dreams. In the BJP spokesperson’s rendition, the last word sounded like “Pulkistan.” By late night on October 31, #Pulkistan became one of the top trends on Twitter, and the memes kept coming.
Besides taking digs at Singh and his “Pulkistan” moment, Twitter users also poked fun at the BJP government’s demonetisation move.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was invoked too, with one user clubbing Modi in an Indian soldier’s uniform along with Shaurya Bharadwaj and Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh as “brave soldiers of the Pulkistan army”.
Rape-accused religious leader Asaram Bapu, Republic TV managing director and news anchor Arnab Goswami, BJP president Amit Shah and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat were also targets of the memes.
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