The Bombay High Court on Wednesday observed that if the usage of word “Sindh” in the National Anthem “Jana Gana Mana..” was a mistake then it should be rectified by the Union government.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday observed that if the usage of word “Sindh” in the National Anthem “Jana Gana Mana..” was a mistake then it should be rectified by the Union government.
A division bench of Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice Rakesh Ketkar has directed the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Culture and Information and Broadcast Ministry to file their replies within three weeks on a public interest litigation filed by retired professor Shreekanth Malushte seeking replacement of the word “Sindh” by “Sindhu”.
The petitioner says the word “Sindh” in the Anthem was replaced by the word “Sindhu” in January 1950 by the government. “However, the National Anthem continues to be sung and broadcast in a wrong manner by using incorrect words,” the PIL states.
Malushte has got reply under the RTI from the Ministry of Home Affairs which says the correct version of the Anthem is with the word “Sindhu”.
Justice Desai remarked, “If the MHA says that it is Sindhu then why is it not corrected? It seems like a mistake that has been continuing since several years. It should be corrected immediately.”
The court even suggested that it should have been done before August 15. The court even remarked that it might be a “simple mistake” and not a deliberate act on the part of the government to insult the country or the Anthem.
Advocate for the petitioner, Niranjan Mogre, argued that when the Anthem was composed in 1917, “Sindh” was part of India but now it is in Pakistan. Hence it should be replaced with the word “Sindhu”, which is a river flowing in India.
The PIL prays that the three concerned ministries—I&B, MHA and Ministry of Culture—to clarify and use the correct word.
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