Kalyan Singh thinks 'Adhinayak' should be removed from national anthem
He said that Rabindranath Tagore while writing the national anthem had praised the ‘angrezi shaasak’ (English ruler) by writing ‘adhinayak jai ho’ and it is about time that this be amended.
Singh had raised the issue at a recent function to felicitate donors in the field of education and reiterated his demand on Tuesday before a massive gathering at the convocation ceremony.
He said that, “Jan-Gan-Man adhinayaka jai hey… ‘adhinayaka’ for whom? It praises British rule. It should be amended and replaced by word ‘jan-gan-man mangal gaye’. I have got respect for Rabindranath Tagore, but national anthem’s ‘adhinayaka’ word should be replaced by ‘mangal’.
Singh’s demand comes in the wake of a controversy stirred by Primary Education Minister Vasudev Devnani, a prominent RSS face in the state government, who had said that school textbooks in the state are being re-written relegating foreign rulers and personalities and with more focus on indigenous figures such as Maharana Pratap and Aryabhata.
As for the use of ‘mahamahim’ Singh’s predecessor Margaret Alva too had done away with the usage of ‘her excellency’ during her tenure, calling it archaic.
The Rajasthan University convocation ceremony that gave out 25 lakh degrees pending over the past 25 years ran into a controversy as the Opposition Congress protested against the preferential treatment to BJP and RSS leaders attending the function. Congress state unit spokesperson Archana Sharma said that by inviting RSS and BJP leaders to the podium to hand out degrees is condemnable.
