#Barkha amin free

He was greatly impressed.’īoth the Azad Hind’s motto and salutation/greeting were products of the same zeitgeist.įor the civilian members of the Indian Independence League (in South East Asia), the motto was Viswas-Ekta-Balidan (‘Faith-Unity-Sacrifice’), while the badges of the Azad Hind Fauj carried the same motto but through the words ‘Itmad-Ittefaq-Kurbani’. Shah Nawaz Khan recalled that when released from the Red Fort trials, ‘We went to pay our respects to Mahatma ji – he was in Delhi and senior INA officers sang this national anthem before him. In late-1945, when the news of the Azad Hind’s struggle enthralled Indians, a thousand gatherings across the length and breadth of the land enthusiastically sang the anthem. Then, whenever there was any function, this same song was sung at the end. Years later, Singh fondly recalled, ‘ Every morning when we hoisted our flags in our camps…whole battalions, whole company used to sing this song. Formally known as the Quami Tarana, it was set to music by Captain Ram Singh Thakur. The result was the ‘ Sabh Sukh Chain ki Barkha‘. So, next year, when Netaji travelled to South East Asia, Hasan (who had been his co-passenger in the U-boat) and Mumtaz Hussain of the Azad Hind Radio were instructed to prepare a simple Hindustani translation of the anthem. He had spoken about it even at his presidential address at the 1938-Haripura session.īut the ‘Jana Gana Mana’ is in literary Bengali. While clearly supporting ‘cultural autonomy for the different linguistic areas’, Bose – certainly influenced by Kemal Ataturk’s reforms in Turkey – also wanted a common language and script.

#Barkha amin free

In the late 1970s, after a thorough research, Chitra Narain of the All India Radio received access to it.Īmong the other resolutions passed at Free India Center was that Hindustani – the mingling of Hindi and Urdu that was the lingua franca of the masses of north India – would be the national language. Ganpuley, a lifelong activist, managed to preserve what was perhaps the only surviving tape-record of the orchestra that evening.

‘The function concluded with the playing of the Indian and German national anthems, the Band was the Chamber Orchestra of Radio Hamburg.’ It was here that Netaji officially introduced the 55-second song that was destined to become India’s national anthem. It was a grand occasion and the existing video shows several German officials and foreign diplomats (including Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem) were present. Several months later, on September 11, 1942, Bose inaugurated the German-Indian Society at Hamburg. Mukherjee, who worked at the Institute for Fashion Textile Researches in Berlin and was also a regular vocalist at the Berlin Official Radio, and Ambik Mazumdar, who was a doctorate in Music from the Quinsbeck University to prepare the notation and other musical details. Also, Bose would have recalled how he and other members of the Congress Working Committee had sought the advice of Rabindranath Tagore to resolve the ‘Bande Mataram controversy’ in 1937.Īnd so, he summoned B.L. Lakshmi Swaminathan would recall him saying, ‘ This is a truly representative national song’. Hasan remembered that he had opposed the ‘Bande Mataram’ because, ‘How many ordinary people can understand?….A man like myself with no familiarity with music and with a husky voice, should also be able to sing it.’īose himself was certainly interested in the ‘Jana Gana Mana’. In his memoirs, Ganpuley wrote, ‘It was cogently and very enthusiastically argued at that meeting in Berlin that ‘Jana Gana Mana’ which defined India as the union of all provinces, languages and religions was most suited for being a national anthem’. The historic significance of these decisions is evident to all of us today. And, at the inaugural session of the Center on Novemthe ‘Azad Hind’ team formally decided that Tagore’s ‘Jana Gana Mana’ will be the national anthem and ‘Jai Hind’ will be the national greeting. Soon, supported by diplomatic recognition from the German foreign ministry, the Free India Center was established. Years later, Ganpuley recalled how Bose was ‘very vigilant and was a master of details,’ and Hasan added, ‘He used to throw ideas around and provoked thinking and discussion’. Ganpuley.ĭetailed discussions and analysis were carried out. It included young men like Abid Hasan, N.G. In Berlin, during the autumn of 1941, just a few months after his dramatic escape, Subhas Chandra Bose had recruited a team of enthusiastic Indians to launch a fresh fight against the British Empire. Note: This article was originally published on Augand was republished on August 15, 2021.