Bengaluru: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament from Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada constituency has stirred a major political row after his public comment that Jana Gana Mana — India’s national anthem — was originally written to honour the British.
The Congress hit back quickly with Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge accusing the BJP of twisting history.
Speaking at an event in Honnavar, the former speaker of the Karnataka Assembly said there was once a strong movement to make Vande Mataram the national anthem. “However, our ancestors decided that along with Vande Mataram, Jana Gana Mana, which was composed to welcome the British, should also be included.” A video of his remarks has been widely shared on social media.
Kageri added that Vande Mataram continued to inspire generations and urged that the song be taught and sung across schools and colleges. “As we mark its 150th year, we must ensure that Vande Mataram is sung by everyone, especially the youth in schools and colleges,” he said.
The BJP has been organising events across the country to commemorate 150 years of Vande Mataram, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to attend one of them in Delhi this week.
Kharge slammed the BJP over MP’s remark: “Another day, another RSS ‘WhatsApp history’ lesson. BJP Karnataka MP Sri Kageri now claims our National Anthem is ‘British’. Utter nonsense,” Kharge said on X.
Kharge explained that Rabindranath Tagore had written Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata in 1911 and that its first stanza later became Jana Gana Mana. “It was first sung on 27 Dec 1911 at the Indian National Congress in Calcutta — not as a royal tribute,” he said.
He also cited Tagore’s later clarifications. “Tagore also clarified in 1937 & 1939 that it hails the ‘Dispenser of India’s destiny,’ and ‘could never be George V, George VI, or any other George,’” Kharge noted.
In a separate post, Kharge alleged that the RSS has historically shown little respect for national symbols. “The MP says he doesn’t want to revisit history. But I strongly urge every BJP, RSS leader, worker and ‘swayamsevak’ to revisit history by reading the editorials of RSS mouthpiece Organizer and know that RSS has a great tradition of disrespecting the Constitution, the Tricolour and the National Anthem. This viRSS needs to be cured,” he wrote.
Historians have previously debunked claims linking the anthem to the British monarchy. Tagore composed Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata on December 11, 1911, a day before the Delhi Durbar where King George V was proclaimed Emperor of India. The timing led to a persistent but incorrect belief that the song was written for that occasion.
Archival accounts show that the song was first performed on December 28, 1911, during the Indian National Congress session in Calcutta, and later at the Adi Brahma Samaj’s foundation day in early 1912, he added.
In a letter written in 1937, Tagore dismissed the idea that his song praised a monarch. “Neither the Fifth nor the Sixth nor any George could be the maker of human destiny through the ages. I had hailed in the song Jana Gana Mana that Dispenser of India’s destiny who guides, through all rise and fall, the wayfarers, He who shows the people the way,” he wrote.
