December 17, 2024
Ritabrata Banerjee’s speech on the national anthem during the Special Discussion on the 75th anniversary of adoption of the Constitution of India
Thank you, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. The discussion on the ‘Glorious Journey of 75 years of our Constitution’ will be incomplete without mentioning of a true polymath. He died almost a decade ago before we adopted our Constitution and declared ourselves as a Republic, his profound and deep impact on majority of the Members of the Constituent Assembly in general and on the country as a whole is an integral part of recorded history. A man of distinctive appearance, an accomplished musician and artist, an electric philosopher, and a passionate political activist, Rabindranath Tagore read out a five stanza poem in 1911 at a political session in Kolkata. The poem envisaged the inclusive idea of India. On 24th of January 1950, the Constituent Assembly adopted the first stanza of the poem as our National Anthem. The rest of the four stanzas are equally important, and today I will, here in this august House, mention about the four stanzas. The four stanzas in 1911 were read out in the Calcutta Session. Tagore said and I quote the following lines: *“You call us to unite, day and night, Hindus and Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs, Parsis, Muslims and Christians meet From East and West your throne above We move to weave a garland of love You the guardian of India’s destiny Victory to you, victory to you, victory to you.” “Through rugged paths that rise and fall Your pilgrims have traversed them all Oh Charioteer the roar of your wheels Echo day and night On the trail we tread The clarion call of your sacred conch Saves us from riot, despair, and dread You the shield of India’s fate Victory forever to you, Victory forever to you, Victory forever to you.” “When the night was dark and utterly bleak When our land lay in the fevered swoon, O loving Mother, you held us close and shielded us from time’s morose. You the remover of all agony The guardian of our destiny Victory forever to you.” Sir, I crave your indulgence. Half a minute more. “The darkness of the night is done Now watch the glory of the rising Sun As India awakes You the Lord of mighty Lords Your glory we shall always applaud The remover of all agony Guardian of our destiny Victory forever to you.” Tagore’s idea of India and our Constitution has always emphasized, ‘We, the people’. Our Constitution is a fight between monologue and dialogue. Dialogue will always defeat monologue. Eternal glory, eternal victory to dialogue, eternal glory, eternal victory to our Constitution – Ever onward to victory!
