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'Adhinayak' In The National Anthem Praises The British, Remove It, Says Kalyan Singh

'Adhinayak' In The National Anthem Praises The British, Remove It, Says Kalyan Singh
Portrait of Indian author and poet Rabindranath Tagore, circa 1935. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Fox Photos via Getty Images
Portrait of Indian author and poet Rabindranath Tagore, circa 1935. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh has objected to the word "adhinayak" in the national anthem, and suggested that it should be replaced by the word "mangal."

Singh said that Rabindranath Tagore had written "adhinayak jai ho" in praise of the British rulers.

The Indian Express carried his quote from the 26th convocation ceremony of Rajasthan University on Tuesday:

“Jan gan man adhinayak jai ho kiske liye hai? It is to praise the ‘angrezi shaasak’…the British. It is about time that it amended and replaced by ‘jan gan man mangal gaye’. I do have full faith in Rabindranath Tagore and respect him but still feel the national anthem should drop the word ‘adhinayak.' Similarly words like ‘mahamahim’ or his or her excellency should not be used any longer because no one is ‘mahan’. These were used during the British rule."

The Rajasthan University convocation ceremony reportedly handed out over 25 lakh degrees pending for the past 25 years.

Directing his Twitter message to Singh on Wednesday, Tripura's governor Tathagata Roy said that no change in the national anthem was necessary since too much water had flown under the bridge.

"It has been 67 years since India's independence. Now why would would our 'adhinayak' be the English. I don't believe any change in the national anthem is appropriate," he said.

कल्याणजी,प्रणाम | ६८ साल हुआ भारत स्वतंत्र हुए, अब हमारे अधिनायक अँगरेज़ क्यों होंगे? राष्ट्रगीतमें किसी भी परिवर्तन उचित नहीं समझता हूँ

— Tathagata Roy (@tathagata2) July 8, 2015

Singh's suggestion didn't have many takers on Twitter.

BJP should look into the deeper meaning of the #NationalAnthem. #Adhinayak refers to God: AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj to @NewsX

— Iknoor Kaur (@iknoorkaur) July 8, 2015

Whether or not "adhinayak" be removed from National Anthem, it brought Kalyan Singh back into existence. Haven't heard about him since ages.

— Rahul Vasudev (@vasudevrahul) July 8, 2015

Maybe we should remove the 'Adhinayak' from our National anthem & sell it to the British.Let them change theirs to 'God save the Adhinayak'

— Atul Khatri (@one_by_two) July 8, 2015

Adhinayak is in reference to Lord, not the King- Those who want to know more about Tagore & Jana Gana Mana http://t.co/EJBsqSTOrA

— रचित सेठ (@rachitseth) July 8, 2015

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.