The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh released a book titled ‘Vande Mataram’ here today. The book traces the journey of ‘Vande Mataram’ since the time of its creation, over the years, through different phases.On the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh said that ‘Vande Mataram’ is a symbol of India’s nationalist ethos and it is wrong to associate it with any particular religion or sect. The Minister recalled that Vande Mataram first came to be known in the form of a poem composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1870’s which was later included in the author's 1881 novel "Anandamath", but what is most significant is that several verses of the song were adopted as the National Song in early 20th century and the same later became a popular marching song for political activists and crusaders of India’s freedom movement. Vande Mataram can be appropriately described as a symbol, which united people of India from different regions, different religions and different faiths, and inspired them to come together for the common cause of Mother India, he added.The book is written by Shri Akhilesh Jha and Ms. Rashmita Jha, which particularly focuses on the references to Vande Mataram during the proceedings of the Constituent Assembly and the Indian Parliament, and at the same time, also traces the musical versions of Vande Mataram through recorded sounds and gramophone over the last one-and-a-half century.