Understanding Jana Gana Mana
By Shumon Sengupta
18 July, 2006
Countercurrents.orgPart 1
A friend of mine recently forwarded me an email chain that aims at mobilizing support to substitute Jana Gana Mana with Vande Mataram as India’s National Anthem.
And as far as the contrived Jana Gana Mana controversy is concerned, I would urge everyone to study Tagore more extensively before jumping on the bandwagon or making unsubstantiated pronouncements.
1. The email chain that I am referring to, ill motivated as it might be by crass jingoism and “Hindu” right wing propaganda, has as its basis extremely limited knowledge of, or familiarity with, the life and works of Tagore. It also reflects the intellectual impotence and establishes beyond doubt that this particular end of India’s political spectrum just does not possess the capacity to grasp Tagore, his life, work and contribution as one of the most articulate spokesmen of modern India.
2. Further it also reflects a false reading / understanding of history – rather I fear a deliberate attempt at distorting it.
I shall take up the two issues one after the other and for this, I refer to writings by Dr. Monish R. Chatterjee (University of Dayton, Ohio), Dr. Pradip Kumar Datta (Delhi University). Prof Amardeep SIngh and writings of Prof Amartya Sen and host of other Tagore Scholars.
1. About Tagore:
Anyone even moderately informed about the life and works of Rabindranath Tagore cannot have the slightest doubt about the greatness of this towering figure of human civilization and culture, measured by any standard anywhere in the world.
Despite belonging to probably the most “elite” family and lineage of his time, Tagore used every fruitful moment of his long creative life to understand, empathize with, and defend the history, culture, and people of India. His sincere belief in India's crying need to be freed of colonial oppression has been expressed profoundly and eloquently in vast and profuse areas of his writings, some of which can be traced back to his late teens and early twenties! Further, Tagore was a very proud (including of his heritage) man and he could well afford to be so. He had deep-seated disdain and contempt for colonial rule and rulers, although he had the highest regards for European civilization and culture.
Who is this “Bhagya Vidhata”?
Those of you who have read Tagore’s poetry and lyrics on “devotion” (Gitanjali for example) will know that if there was a divine entity to whom Tagore addressed many of his heartfelt yearnings for communion, it was a “Monarch” infinitely greater than any mortal King Emperor could ever aspire to be.
The Lord of India's Destiny, to whom Jana Gana Mana is officially addressed, is in Tagore’s conception the perennial Bhagya Vidhata of India who has, from the very dawn of civilization, guided India through great triumphs and tragedies. The Lord of India in Tagore’s conception is therefore India's “eternal guiding spirit” (a totally secular idea) and could never be merely the king of a colonial empire!
I can understand that one needs some bit of the intellectual orientation and some sense of refinement to appreciate this subtlety – which I am afraid is not necessarily the hall marks of the right wind, Hindu Nationalist propaganda machinery.
It is hardly necessary to point out that if Tagore had the slightest weakness towards, or preference for the British monarchy, his staunch and steadfast opposition to British rule would seriously contradict any such deeply guarded fantasy. His relinquishing of the Knighthood honor (received at the hands of the very same monarch to whom, according to the detractors, he supposedly offered such unabashed tributes) in protest against the Amritsar (Jallianwallah Bagh) massacre in 1919, is likewise a study in stark contrast.
B) Now let me take up the second issue – the history of Jana Gana Mana from an epistemologically sound perspective:
The main cause for confusion as per historical records:
The charge that Jana Gana Mana was composed for George V actually rests on false evidence given by the pro-British press. The song was first sung in a session of the Congress in 1911. This session had decided to felicitate George V since he had announced the abrogation of the partition of Bengal, thereby conceding the success of the Swadeshi agitation, the first modern anti-colonial movement that had started in 1905. The day after the session the nationalist Indian papers normally -- and accurately -- reported that a Tagore composition had been sung. The Bengalee -- along with other Indian newspapers as well as the report of the Indian National Congress - reported that it was a "patriotic song". The following year the song was published as "Bharat -- Vidatha". A contemporary commentator in the vernacular Bharati described the song as one in "Praise of the Dispenser of human Destiny, who appears in every age." He probably came closest to capturing its spirit. This song was to later become known as Jana Gana Mana.
The confusion about the song was stirred up by the ineptness of the pro-British Anglo-Indian press. Their inefficiency was not surprising (The Sunday Times once ascribed the authorship of Bande Mataram to Tagore and described Jana Gana Mana as a Hindi song!) On this occasion the Anglo-Indian press -- led by The Englishman - almost uniformly reported that a Tagore song had been sung to commemorate George V's visit to India. The reports were based on understandable ignorance since the Anglo-Indian press had neither the linguistic abilities nor the interest to be accurate. Actually, two songs that had been sung that day. The Jana Gana Mana had been followed by a Hindi song composed specially for George V by Rambhuj Chaudhary. There was no real connection between the composition of the Jana Gana Mana and George V, except that the song was sung -- not written - at an event which also felicitated the king.
Initially the controversy seemed a non-starter. Contemporaries obviously found it hard to associate Tagore with servility. Tagore was known for this opposition to the government.
What we know from Tagore’s works and limited correspondence on this:
In Tagore's collected works, it is mentioned that the Indian National Congress requested that Tagore write a felicitation to the King Emperor as an appeasement gesture to the British monarchy in response to the annulment of the Bengal Partition Act.
Not only was Tagore troubled by the request, he was downright offended by it. It is said that Jana Gana Mana was written more out of protest and rebellion than adoration towards the monarchy. An objective reading of the song should make it eminently clear as to whom the poet decided to offer his worship.
In a letter to Pulin Behari Sen, Tagore later wrote, "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” 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."
Tagore said that he felt too pained by the unjustness of the charge to come out with a public refutation. Well there was really no need. There are many around who understand Tagore enough, not to require a public refutation.
Intellectual impotence of tragic consequence / indifferent scholarship combining with a distorted ideology
Epistemology and intellectual enquiry (done on a scientific basis) I am afraid, has never been the hall mark of the Hindu right wing. Professor Amartya Sen writes in “The Argumentative Indian”:
“ Following the electoral victory of the coalitions led by the BJP in 1998 and 1999, various arms of the government of India were mobilized in the tasks of arranging ‘appropriate’ rewritings of Indian history” in what was a blatant case of “abuse of temporal power”…” The rapidly reorganized NCERT became busy from shortly after the BJP’s assumption of office, not only in producing fresh textbooks for Indian school children, but also in deleting sections from books produced earlier by NCERT itself (under pre-BJP management), written by reputed Indian historians”…. “The speed of the attempted textbook revision had to be so fast that the newly reconstituted NCERT evidently had some difficulty in finding historians to do the tasks who would be both reasonably distinguished and adequately compliant” … “The Hindu, a leading daily, put the gravity of the problem in perspective when it pointed to the ‘havoc that indifferent scholarship combining with a distorted ideology could cause in school education’ ”.
How / why Jana Gana Mana was chosen
over Vande MataramIn a survey made just before the poet’s death in 1941 in Mumbai, respondents felt Jana Gana Mana to have the strongest "national characteristics" although Bande Mataram was found superior on some other criteria. The dirt thrown by the pro-British press seemed to have been completely wrung out when Netaji Bose's Indian National Army adopted it as the National Anthem; this was followed by Gandhij’s declaration in 1946 that "the song has found a place in our national life": that it was "also like a devotional hymn".
The critics of "Jana Gana Mana" and the initiator of this email chain would prefer to see it replaced by "Vande Mataram," composed by Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay, the another literary giant (and a Hindu revivalist) from Bengal."Bande Mataram" - sublime and lyrical as it is, treats India as a Goddess to be worshipped. The words of Bande Mataram feature India as a “homogeneous Hindu” nation (on the other hand India today is a proudly heterogeneous nation and a secular democratic republic) and the lyrics understandably controversial since its invocation of the nation as a “Goddess” goes against Islamic theology which forbids the worship of any God other than Allah. Further the Bande Mataram had been successfully (and very tragically) converted into a sign of communal antagonism by Hindu communalists (with the enthusiastic participation of their Muslim counterparts, who regarded the song as a horrible provocation) and even chanted it as a slogan in riots, with the Muslims responding with “Allah ho Akbar”! Despite being a Hindu revivalist, Bankim Chandra would have been horrified at this grotesque use of his beautiful creation by Hindus, if this happened during his life time.
On the other hand, Jana Gana Mana evokes the country as composed of a multiplicity of regions and communities united in a prayer to a universal lord. After all, Bande Mataram was composed by a colonial administrator who could only visualize the nation in Hindu terms: religious identity was the only available idiom for conceptualizing the nation then. In contrast, Tagore had seen the riots that broke up the Swadeshi movement and had divined the obvious: religious nationalism easily divided anti-colonial struggles.
Jana Gana Mana can be seen as one of the fruits of Tagore's search to find an alternate inclusivist definition for the nation. Incidentally, it was one of the harbingers of a decade that was to see Hindu and Muslim politicians draw together. In short, the two songs embody different ideas, histories and aspirations of the country.
Jana Gana Mana was chosen as anthem in 1950 over Bande Mataram as well as Iqbal's Sare Jahan Se Accha - although Bande Mataram was given "equal status". One of the reasons (and certainly not the most important one) apparently was that Bande Mataram could not be played by bands. Additionally Jana Gana Mana enjoyed an international reputation. It had been greatly appreciated in the United Nations at New York where it was first played as an orchestral arrangement in 1947. Many said that it was superior to most national anthems in the world. Within the country the overwhelming majority of the provinces supported its nomination.
I would conclude by asserting that the anti-Jana Gana Mana campaign is at best ill informed and ignorant and at worst sinister in its jingoistic inspiration.
I detest sectarian and identity politics and fear the sinister movement to shape India as a Hindu nation based on exclusion and denial of our pluralistic character and identity. Therefore I condemn the very motive behind this email chain and the move to foist Vande Mataram (beautiful as it is) in Jana Gana Mana’s place.
Part II
“Glorious History” and “Dynamic Present”
I challenge the article on Vande Mataram on freeindia.org (http://www.freeindia.org/vmataram/)It is worth noting that Freeindia.org is a right wing nationalist forum. Not that I have any problems with that – in fact I find them useful because the more I read about their arguments, the more I am convinced of my own! It is important to understand the underlying agenda of this part of our political spectrum - their agenda is to create a so called Hindu India.
To give it to Freeindia, the article is epistemologically more or less defendable. They have largely stuck to historical facts (as established by reputed historians). What is however not defendable are some of the basic premises of the article, which are essentially repugnant to the pluralistic and multi-cultural character of a country like India.
Please note that Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was a nationalist (apart from being a towering figure of Bengali literature) and also a Hindu revivalist. The same can be said with other eminent personalities mentioned in the article - such as Pandit. V.D. Paluskar (I have a very old recording of his on CD and he is amazing) and Rishi Auribindo. Bamkim Chandra’s picture of India was essentially “Hindu India”, with other religious groups on the fringes.
I therefore reject this tunneled vision of India – a vision that is narrowly defined primarily on “Hindu” terms and with “Hindu idioms”. To me India is a large and hugely diverse country (and I emphasize not a Hindu country as Freeindia would like to believe) with “many distinct pursuits, vastly different convictions, widely divergent customs and a feast of viewpoints” and I am proud of this.
As a Bengali (with a fairly good understanding of the language), I can well appreciate the lyrical beauty, divine serenity, depth and intensity of Vande Mataram as well as the amazing visual imagery that the song portrays. It is indeed a picture of some parts of southern and Bengal (as well as Bangladesh) that I have personally experienced – a picture of mother nature at her generous, glorious and beautiful best.
To quote from the freeindia article: "When the objection was raised to the adoption of VM as the national anthem on the ground that it was full of idolatry, Aurobindo said Durga to whom it paid homage was none other than Bharata Mata symbolising Knowledge, Power, Greatness and Glory." (Resurgent India, p.191)”
At a personal level it is OK to associate one’s country with god / goddess - but to view “Mother India” in the form of “Durga”, “Lakshmi” or “Saraswati” in a national anthem, that is expected to be sung by all religious denominations, is outright communal and exclusionist in its conception.
As a Hindu I reject the depiction of India exclusively in terms of Hindu goddesses and condemn such sectarian Hindu arrogance.
To quote another section form the article: “It came as a great shock to the people that Maulana Md. Ali should object the singing of Vande Mataram (at the INC session). There was no doubt that this was an indication of a mentality of separatism which refused to identify itself with the mainstream of national life”.
This statement is nothing short of being outrageous because it indicates that anyone who doesn’t associate himself / herself with “Hindu” symbols is not a part of the national main-stream. If Maulana Md. Ali was communal, so is the author of the article.
Further - Freeindia writes – “The opposition of Muslim League to Vande Mataram, however, continued to wax and they started putting pressure on Congress leadership against the singing of this song. It was the height of irony on the part of the Muslim League, which was bent upon breaking the unity of India, emotionally, geographically, and in all other ways, to express its concern about 'the growth of genuine natinalism'. Those in Congress who were eager to pander to every slightest wish of the League were agitated, and a feeling developed that unless Muslim League is dissatisfied and it was won over the unity of the country would be imperilled. In such a situation CWC in 1937 decided to maim and curtail the national song.”
The politics of the Congress and the Muslim League does not bother me (and is not the main issue here) as much as does the conception of “Genuine Nationalism” by the Hindu right wing. “Genuine” Nationalism according to freeindia actually means “Hindu” Nationalism.
I reject this construct and condemn such fascist tendency of the “Right-wing Hindu Nationalists” as dangerously anti-national and sinister.
The Cambridge History of India rightly puts it: "The greatest and most enduring gift of the swedeshi movement was Vande Mataram, the uncrowned national anthem."
Vande Mataram was relevant at that point of time and did inspire patriotism during the swedeshi movement and probably afterwards as well . But lets us also not forget that it was conveniently abused by Hindu rioters and they shouted “Vande Mataram” while engaging in rioting. In my view, the political and social relevance of Vande Mataram limited in the present context.
As Dr. Rajendra Prasad put it at the Constituent assembly on 24 January 1950 “…and the song Vande Mataram, which has played a historic part in the struggle for Indian freedom, shall be honored equally with Janaganamana and shall have equal status with it.”
For me Vande Mataram represents glorious past and of course is a magnificently beautiful and wonderfully lyrical song of significant literary value. I cherish it and honor it as such. However for me Vande Mataram is “glorious history”.
On the other hand, Jana Gana Mana for me is about that eternal collective guiding spirit that guides India - a country that is composed of a multiplicity of regions and communities. It is about India united in a prayer to a universal lord. For me, Jana Gana Mana is the “dynamic present” and the future of this glorious country.
I therefore oppose the move to foist Vande Mataram as our national Anthem in place of Jana Gana Mana.
