Tagore family hits out at Swamy over anthem remarks

Rabindranath Tagore's descendant has slammed BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy over his demand for changing the national anthem. Swamy, in his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, raised objections to word 'Sindhu' in the national anthem.

Kolkata: Descendant of Rabindranath Tagore Supriya Tagore has hit out at BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy after he urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to replace the original version of the National Anthem. Swamy in his letter to PM Modi requested him to replace some words of the national anthem composed by Rabindranath Tagore with Netaji Subash Chandra Bose's INA version.

Swamy wrote that it was the demand of a majority of youth that some words in the national anthem should be replaced as they create confusion. He has raised objection over the word 'Sindhu' in the national anthem.

Supriya Tagore said, "This is ridiculous. There cannot be an alternative to this song. There is no other poet who can write the national anthem. The song is just suitable for our national anthem. It is absolute nonsense to think about this."

He added, "Demands of Subramaniam Swamy is absurd. I have never heard anything like this. The national anthem was composed after a lot of thinking. I can't imagine that it could be changed and some other poet will write the national anthem. It is very sad."

Tagore family calls Swamy's demand to ammend national anthem 'ridiculous'

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Former Vice-Chancellor of Visva-Bharati University Sabujkali Sen also slammed Swamy over his demand.

She said, "Subramanian Swamy is famous for his controversy. He wants to grab the limelight by creating controversy. So, he has chosen Rabindranath as a soft target. His objection is to the word 'Sindhu'. Is it so easy to change history?"

Sen added, "Indus was in India one day. And the song was written at that time. He wants to make Subash Chandra Bose's song as the national anthem but if Netaji had been alive there, he would not have wanted to change this song. In fact, those who say such things do not believe in Rabindranath's doctrine of dibe aar nibe, milabe milabe meaning unity in diversity."

Subramaniam Swamy in his tweet said that PM Modi has acknowledged his letter which was written by December 1.

He wrote, "PM’s acknowledgement. I hope he implements by Jan 23, 2021".

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