Bodhisattwa, Please correct me if I am wrong. If I remember correctly, "Vande Mataram" WAS sung as National Anthem for some time, and then was replaced by "Jana Gana Mana" later on? And, the reason "Saare Jahaan Se Achha..." cannot replace "Vande Mataram" is because, one, it was not written to pay respect to the motherland, just a poem to praise it, whereas "Vande Mataram" pays respect to the motherland. Secondly, Iqbal decided to leave the country that he wrote "Saare Jahaan se achha..." Why would you leave the place that you call the best, and go settle for something less than the BEST. So, probably that made it not so popular also.
