Swamy urges PM Modi to replace National Anthem, seeks removal of 'inappropriate words'

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy has urged him to replace the existing National Anthem by the one composed and sung by the Indian National Army on October 21, 1943. The BJP MP has claimed that words used in the National Anthem penned by Rabindra Nath Tagore raise 'unnecessary doubts' about to whom the poem is addressed. He has also claimed that the current national anthem is 'inappropriate' for the country after 1947, highlighting the reference to Sindh in the national anthem - which is no longer a part of the Indian territory.

"It is also demand of an overwhelming majority of the youths of India that some of the words in the National Anthem 'Jana Gana Mana' be replaced by the words in the 'Jana Gana Mana' composed and sung by the Indian National Army (INA), on the occasion of the Declaration of India's independence on October 21, 1943, after Subhash Chandra Bose led capture of Imphal, Manipur,"  Swamy wrote in his letter addressed to PM Modi. 

Reiterating the words of Dr Rajender Prasad, Swamy urged the Prime Minister to replace the national anthem before January 26, 2021. Swamy pointed out that the President of the Constituent Assembly, Dr Rajender Prasad, in his concluding remarks on November 26, 1949, had said that the words in 'Jana Gana Mana' may be amended or replaced in the future with other 'appropriate words'. 

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Swamy's letter to PM Modi

Jana Gana Mana, penned down by Rabindra Nath Tagore, was first publicly sung on December 27, 1911 at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress. It is widely believed that the Jana Gana Mana sung by the Indian National Army, known as 'Shubh Sukh Chain', was an adaption of Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhaata written by Rabindra Nath Tagore. The song was translated by Subhash Chandra Bose himself while the music was composed by Captain Ram Singh. 

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It is important to note that this is not the first time that a demand to change the national anthem has been raised. In 2019, Congress MP Ripun Bora had introduced a Private Members' Bill in the Rajya Sabha to modify the national anthem by introducing North East and removing the reference to 'Sindh'. 

"There is no mention of the North East in the National Anthem but has the mention of Sindh, which is now part of Pakistan. Why are we glorifying a place of a hostile nation? There is no point," PTI had quoted the MP from Assam in 2016. 

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Similarly in 2016, then Union Minister Arvind Sawant had also sought the removal of 'Sindh' from the national anthem. As a result of the constant demand, the Sindhi community in India had expressed displeasure citing that the community does not associate itself with Pakistan even though Sindh is a part of the neighbouring country. 

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