This refers to Prof. K.S. Bhagwan’s Letter of July 1, 2004 (p.18) on Tagore’s poem, Jana Gana Mana, which was later made into a “”national” anthem and Brother G.L. Naik’s reply in DV of July 16, 2004 (p.19). As | am keeping every DV copy right from its inception in 1981, 1 am sending a photocopy of the article published it’d Sept.1, 1985 (p.8) under the heading:
Tagore sang “national” anthem in praise of British King?
RAJAN P. THOPIL, MADRAS
On reading the report that Christian children belonging to the “Jehovah’s witness” sect near Kottayam have refused to sing the national anthem of India (Indian Express, July 28, 85), | am reminded of a similar thing. When | was studying in Assam, Naga students also used to refuse to respect poet Rabindranath Tagore’s Jana Gana Mana, the national anthem of India. Their charge is that Tagore composed this song in praise of the British emperor, King George the V, on the eve of his visit to India for the unification of Bengal that was partitioned by the British in 1905. This charge is now substantiated by a high caste Hindu, Krishna Warrier, who runs a Sanskrit school at Pulazhi, near Trichur. The Indian Express (July 30,.1985) carried a front-page box on Warrier saying Jana Gana Mana “is not patriotic enough”. And since Warrier runs a Sanskrit school, nobody has the courage to criticise him.
No Naga boy or girl recognises the national anthem even to this day. They say how can a poem composed by a Bengali Brahmin in praise of a British ruler be recognised by the Nagas.
The Hindu upper caste leaders, who were the first to take advantage of the British rule, English education and Govt. service, were the most loyal stooges of the British. Most Indians who got the titles like Sir, Rao Bahadur, Dewan Bahadur etc. were Brahmins and other upper castes. Why “Sir” Radhakrishnan, who became the Vice-President of India, “Sir” M. Visveswaraya are not being called anti-national? Why Tagore praised the British?
The Jana Gana Mana song, translated to English, read thus:
Oh, great leader of the people, groups and minds, glory to you; You are the Lord of India’s destiny.
After this Tagore names different parts of India like Punjab, Sind, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Dravidian South, Orissa, Bengal, Vindhya region, Himachal Pradesh and “holy” rivers like Ganga, Yamuna and says King George’s holy name is a great light.
Tawa shuba Asisha mage — They are begging for your sacred blessings.
Gahe tawa jayagata — These territories and rivers are singing the praise of your great victories.
Nagaland is nowhere mentioned in the song. Even the four big southern states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra, where most of the original inhabitants now live, are dismissed in the national anthem in just one word, “Dravida “.
Periyar E.V. Ramaswamy made strong objection to this cavalier treatment of the four states in the national anthem. Tamil was once the language of the whole country and yet Tamil Nadu doesn’t figure in the song.
Will some Bengali or other readers of DV enlighten us as to the exact reason that prompted Tagore to write this song? Now that even Brahmin boys of the Sanskrit school have refused to sing the national anthem, can we have a Debate on its merit? Will the RSS press for Vande Mataram?
