Was the word ‘‘Kamrup’’ included originally in the national anthem ''Jana Gana Mana'' composed by Rabrindranath Tagore? Was the word ‘‘Kamrup’’ deleted when the song was adopted as our national anthem?
This controversy has been raging since when India became a Republic on January 26, 1950. AGP MLAs Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and Phani Bhusan Choudhury raised the issue in the State Assembly.
‘‘If the word ‘Kamrup’ was included in the original version of our national anthem, the Assam Assembly should take a resolution to include the word in the anthem,’’ said Choudhury.
Choudhury pointed to a news item published in The Times of India on January 26, 1950 in which the notation (saralipi) of Jana Gana Mana was given, according to which the word ‘‘Kamrup’’ was present in the anthem in original. The Times of India had reprinted its issue of January 26, 1950 on January 26, 1997 as a supplement on the occasion of India’s 50th anniversary year of its Independence. ‘‘When, however, Tagore’s composition was adopted as national anthem, the word ‘Kamrup’ was replaced by the word ‘Sindhu’. Now the issue is that if the word ‘Kamrup’ was there in the original song, the Assam Assembly should take a resolution for the inclusion of the word in the anthem,’’ said Choudhury. He was supported by BJP MLA Monoranjan Das.
