Northeast India was part of Bengal when National Anthem was written, claims BMS secretary

TNT Desk | Agartala | June 12, 2018

Originally written in Bengali language by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, India's National Anthem is often the centre of debate in Northeast India as to why is there no mention of any name, place or river from this part of India. However, there seems to be an answer to this query by BMS secretary.

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The Northeast was considered part of Bengal when Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore wrote the National Anthem, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) secretary for Northeast Sunil Kirwai said here on Monday.

Addressing the first state convention of the workers of the unorganised sector of the BMS here on Monday, Kirwai said, "Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore composed the national anthem and wrote the word 'Banga' (Bengal), meaning the entire Northeast."

Reacting to the issue, noted Tagore researcher Bikach Chaudhury said, "The claim has no historical basis."

"The Northeast was never a part of Bengal. East Bengal and Assam were once a single province – Sylhet. Manipur and Tripura were princely states and Nagaland did not even exist. There is no way the Northeast was a part of Bengal," Chaudhury said.

However, there are also claims that Tagore had penned the words to welcome King George V who arrived in India the day the song was first sung i.e. December 27, 1911.

With inputs from The Telegraph