There is a controversy as to whether the Indian national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was written by Rabindranath Tagore in praise of the Indian motherland or God, or as a form of sycophancy in praise of the British King George V.
The evidence is strongly in favour of the second view. To explain, it is imperative to go through the English translation of the anthem:
‘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 V 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 other but the British, since they were the ruling power in 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 George V, 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 the King, and a resolution was adopted unanimously that day welcoming and expressing loyalty to the Emperor and Empress.
7. It was only as late as 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 monarch.
All Indians proudly adopted this song as their national anthem and even after six decades of independence they continue to sing this anthem proudly.
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