A controversy is going on whether Tagore wrote ' Jana Gana Mana ' in honour of the British King George the Fifth who visited India in 1911. In this connection I had supported this view in my fb post and blog, giving my reasons.
Those who wish to refute me should point out the flaws in my reasoning. You cannot demolish a reasoned argument by mere assertions without giving reasons. So I am reproducing my post, and invite reasoned comments :
The British stooge Tagore and the National Anthem
There is a controversy as to whether the Indian National Anthem 'Jana Gana Mana ' was written by Rabindra Nath Tagore ( see my blogs ' Tagore ' and ' Tagore and Sharad Chandra ' on justicekatju.blogspot.in ) in praise of God, or as sycophancy in praise of the British King George the Fifth.
In my opinion the evidence is strongly in favour of the second view.
To explain, let me first quote the Engish translation of the song :
" Victory to thee, O ruler of the minds of the people,
O Dispenser of India's destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sindh,
Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida, Odisha and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
mingles in the music of Yamuna and Ganges and is
chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea.
We get up with your blessed name on our lips
We pray for your auspicious blessings
Thou dispenser of India's destiny.
Victory, victory, victory to thee."
Now a few things must be noted about this song :
1.The song was composed at precisely the time of the visit of the British King George the Fifth and Queen Mary in December, 1911
2.The poem does not indicate any love for the Motherland.
3. The ' Adhinayak ' ( Lord or Ruler ) is being hailed. Who was the ruler of India in 1911 ? It was the British, headed by their King-Emperor.
4. Who was the ' Bharat Bhagya Vidhata ' ( dispenser of India's destiny) at that time ? It was none but the British , since they were ruling India in 1911.
5.The song was sung for the first time in India on the second day of the Calcutta Conference of the Congress Party in December 1911. This Conference was held specially to give a loyal welcome to King George the Fifth, and to thank him for annulling the Partition of Bengal in 1905.
6. The agenda of the second day of the Calcutta Conference , in which the song was sung, was specially reserved for giving a loyal welcome to George the Fifth, and a resolution was adopted unanimously that day welcoming and expressing loyalty to the Emperor and Empress.
7. It was only as late as in 1937, when he wanted to show himself as a patriot, that Tagore denied that he had written the song to honour the British King
The above facts almost conclusively prove that ' Jana Gana Mana ' was composed and sung as an act of sycophancy to the British King.
And we have proudly adopted this song as our national anthem !
Jai Ho !
Posted by Justice Markandey Katju at Monday, April 20, 2015
Sir I want to refute each n every reason u have given but you are impregnable in your reasoning....and as far as I know INDIAN history I can say that one can't deny your view very strongly though GURDEV has already put forwarded his side. I have diffent que as you know we have borrowed no constitutional ideas from diff countries while making our constitution but we have accepted those ideas as it suited our society/country/civilisation....on the same line can't we borrow a song which was wriiten for someone's else praise...as presently it is most suited to describe India....I think the patriotic feeling comes out while singing songs like 'JAN GANA MAN' or 'VANDE MATRAM' is more imp....It's like though every religion is completely fake every one thinks it necessary as we have feeling attached to it..... I just want to know do you thing our present national anthem should change or not??? Thank YOU
ReplyDeleteJAN GAN MAN was written to please and salute visiting British Emperor is the fact beyond doubt . The song is the symbol of our slave mind set . The song is a big humiliation to our spirit of Nationalism . Those who made us their slaves by force and policy of divide and rule ,Tagore called them 'adhinayak and bharat bhagya vidhata' It is shameful thing for us proud Indians . Certain vested interests side lined the famous song written by poet Iqbaal 'saare jahan se achcha Hindustan hamara...............which was the most favoured one to select JAN GAN MAN as our National Anthem . This issue should be debated at the national level and the matter of our National Anthem should be given a fresh look .
DeleteASS..WR.WB.SAYA IBU RITA TKI HONGKONG INGIN BERTERIMA KASIH BANYAK KEPADA MBAH GENEP,YANG SUDAH MEMBANTU ORANG TUA SAYA KARNA SELAMA INI ORANG TUA SAYA SEDANG TERLILIT HUTANG YANG BANYAK,BERKAT BANTUAN MBAH SEKARAN ORANG TUA SAYA SUDAH BISA MELUNASI SEMUA HUTAN2NYA,DAN KEBUN YANG DULUNYA SEMPAT DIGADAIKAN SEKARAN ALHAMDULILLAH SUDAH BISA DI TEBUS KEMBALI,ITU SEMUA ATAS BANTUAN MBAH GENEP,YANG MEMBERIKAN ANGKA RITUALNYA 4D HONGKONG KEPADA SAYA DAN TIDAK DI SANGKA SANGKA TERNYATA BERHASIL,BAGI ANDA YANG INGIN DIBANTU SAMA SEPERTI SAYA SILAHKAN HUBUNGI NO HP: (-085-110-369-888-) MBAH GENEP JANGAN ANDA RAGU ANGKA RITUAL MBAH GENEP SELALU TEPAT DAN TERBUKTI INI BUKAN REKAYASA SAYA SUDAH MEMBUKTIKAN SENDIRI..
ReplyDeleteThe song was written at the time of King George V visit to India. It was confirmed by Rabindranath Tagore in a letter.
ReplyDelete[On 10 November 1937 Tagore wrote a letter to Mr Pulin Bihari Sen about the controversy. That letter in Bengali can be found in Tagore's biography Ravindrajivani, volume II page 339 by Prabhatkumar Mukherjee.
"A certain high official in His Majesty's service, who was also my friend, had requested that I write a song of felicitation towards the Emperor. The request simply amazed me. It caused a great stir in my heart. In response to that great mental turmoil, I pronounced the victory in Jana Gana Mana of that Bhagya Vidhata [ed. God of Destiny] of India who has from age after age held steadfast the reins of India's chariot through rise and fall, through the straight path and the curved. That Lord of Destiny, that Reader of the Collective Mind of India, that Perennial Guide, could never be George V, George VI, or any other George. Even my official friend understood this about the song. After all, even if his admiration for the crown was excessive, he was not lacking in simple common sense."
Again in his letter of 19 March 1939 Tagore writes,
"I should only insult myself if I cared to answer those who consider me capable of such unbounded stupidity as to sing in praise of George the Fourth or George the Fifth as the Eternal Charioteer leading the pilgrims on their journey through countless ages of the timeless history of mankind." (Purvasa, Phalgun, 1354, p738.)].
Sir if we assume for a moment what you said holds substance.Then logically the following questions arise:
ReplyDelete1.If Gurudev himself wrote this song with a malafied intent then what was reason for he personally wrote a letter to George V clarifying that the word "Bhagya Vidhata" referred to the "Almighty God" and not the king
2. Why did the contemporary Indian nationalist newspapers unanimously refuted the news published by British India newspapers who falsely acknowledged Gurudevs song as a welcome song for the King?
3.The then Indian National Congress had shown allegiance to King George V by passing a resolution and then singing a.welcome song "Badshah Hamara" written by Rambhuj Chaudhary then why at all they needed another song written by Gurudev to be sung again to express the same sentiment on the same day?
4.Why did Gurudev reiterated and explained the controversy with facts in a letter written to Mr. Pulin Bihari Sen in 1937? (Where he unequivocally explains the meaning of his composition)
5.Even the report of the annual session of the Indian National Congress of December 1911 stated this difference.
I totally find it absurd on what basis the opponents justify their stand when Gurudev himself had refuted these false arguments....(Most Important Point To Be Noted:Gurudev died before the Independence of India in the year 1941 it was a time when nobody knew the fate of the then British India...India could also have opted for a Dominion Status and remain loyal to the crown.Inspite of these possibilities Gurudev chose to offend the King by writing him a letter.)
You being a learned person I request you to atleast respect the past soul if not as a person but atleast as a fellow Indian instead of casting aspersions on his integrity towards Freedom Struggle.
I absolutely agree with the view presented here. I also ask the blogger being a respectable judge to review his opinion against a great human being of the country.
DeleteI absolutely agree with the view presented here. I also ask the blogger being a respectable judge to review his opinion against a great human being of the country.
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ReplyDeleteSAYA PAK JOKO INGIN BERBAGI CERITA KEPADA ANDA BAHWA SAYA INI DULUNYA ORANG YANG PALING SENSARA DIDUNIA.SETIAP HARI ISTRI SAYA SELALU MENGELUH TENTAN MASALAH EKONOMI BAHKAN KAMI PERNAH TIDAK MAKAN DALAM 1 HARIL 1 MALAM,KE ESOKAN HARINYA ADA TETANNGA KAMI YG MEMBAWAKAN MAKANAN DAN TIDAK DISENGAJA DIA JUGA BERCERITA TENTANG MASALAH HIDUPNYA DULU DAN AKHIRNYA DIA MEMBERIKAN NO AKI MAUPE ..TIDAK BERPIKIR PANJAN SAYA LANSUNG MENGHUBUNGI AKI MAUPE DAN ALHAMDULILLAH BELIAU SANGAT MEMBANTU SAYA DAN SAYA SANGAT BER TERIMAKASIH KEPADA AKI MAUPE ATAS BANTUANNYA YG TELAH MEMBERIKAN ANKA JITUNYA YAITU (1299) SYUKUR ALHAMDULILLAH BER HASIL DAN KINI SAYA SANGAT BAHAGIA MELIHAT KEHIDUPAN KELUARGA SAYA YG SUDAH JAUH LEBIH BAIK DARI SEBELUMNYA DAN MEREKA JUGA TDK PERNAH LAGI MENGELUH MASALAH KEUANGAN,,KAMI JG SUDAH BERENCANA INGIN MEMBUKA TOKO SENDIRI ITU SEMUA BERKAT BANTUAN AKI MAUPE DAN BAGI ANDA YG INGIN SEPERTI SAYA YG MEMERLUKAN BANTUAN AKI MAUPE SILAHKAN HUB 085=222=967=279 SILAHKAN ANDA MEMBUKTIKANNYA SENDIRI.
Mr.Katju, I cannot know why you are so vitriolic towards Tagore.
ReplyDeleteI read your reasoning about Jana Gana mana.
What I see is that it will be best equating your outlandish interpretation of the National anthem to the skewed and ridiculous ways people interpret scriptures. The Muslim interpretation of the Koran are as bizarre as any. And your interpretation of the Anthem is as fantastic as the Muslims interpretation of many of the Koranic verses.
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