The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Retain `Sindh'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 07, 2005

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Retain `Sindh'

Sir, — There is no justification for deleting the word "Sindh" from the National Anthem. Besides being a cruel amputation, it will make the anthem very unmusical.

Rabindranath Tagore was inspired by the vision of a culturally rich India. The retention of the word "Sindh" conjures up a vision of India dating back to a great ancient civilisation.

C.V. Gopalakrishna,
Thiruvananthapuram

* * *

Sir, — The question came up when Nehru was Prime Minister. Asked why Sindh should find a mention in the National Anthem when it was no longer in India, he replied that many Sindhis lived in India. And that Sindhi had been recognised as an official language.

Jayananda H. Hiranandani,
Norwalk, California

* * *

Sir, — It is clear that Tagore was referring to the landmass called Sindh, and not to the Indus river or the civilisation, in the verse. But that is no reason to tamper with the National Anthem in a manner that will mar the universal spirit of brotherhood reflected in it.

P.K. Parameswaran,
Chennai

* * *

Sir, — I find the row painful. Are we not giving Pakistan an issue to harp on? Sindhis have been part of the civilisation for ages and I, as one of them, feel let down by my own people.

R. Kailash Nichani,
Chennai

* * *

Sir, — Will the next step be seeking a ban on Sindhi sweets and the deletion of the word, Sind, from the Punjab & Sind Bank? With so many pressing problems that need urgent attention, is it necessary to discuss such issues?

T. Muthukumar,
New York

* * *

Sir, — Should we also demand that the chapter on the Harappan civilisation be deleted from our history textbooks?

M. Srinivas,
Hyderabad

* * *

Sir, — In the last 57 years, not once has Pakistan asked for the deletion of the word, Sindh, from our National Anthem. The word does not represent Pakistani Sind either. It represents the Sindhu culture with which the ancient Indian civilisation is identified.

Abhishek Tiwari,
Jabalpur, M.P.

* * *

Sir, — A German pen friend, Jonas Pfestorf, told me something interesting about the German national anthem. Written in the early 19th century when Germany comprised dozens of independent princely states, its first strophe says "From the Maas to the Memel, from the Etsch to the Belt." The Maas is a river in Belgium/Netherlands, the Memel is a river in Russia/Lithuania, the Etsch is a river in Italy and the Belt is a sea arm in Denmark!

Mohamed Faizan,
Chennai

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