Rabindranath Tagore may not have been a Bangladeshi poet, but his song Amar Sonar Bangla is the national anthem of Bangladesh. Tagore holds a rare and unique record for two of his songs became national anthems of two nations -- India and Bangladesh.
While ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was Tagore’s gift to India, ‘Amar Sonar Bangla, Aami tomay bhalobashi, chirodin tomar akash, tomar bataas, amar praner bajiye banshi (My golden Bengal, I love you, forever your skies, your air set my heart in tune, as if it were a flute….). Tagore had penned these lines in 1905 when Bengal was partitioned as East and West Bengal by Lord Curzon amidst massive protest from Bengalis.
“Tagore remains a world poet, but at one stage the Marxists scholars condemned him as a Zamindar and in 1967 -- when Bangladesh had not yet been born and was part of East Bengal -- the Pakistani authorities declared a ban on playing Tagore’s songs on the undivided Radio Pakistan. Overnight, Tagore’s poetry became the emblem of the separatist movement. His song was sung in protest at every rally and meeting. During the liberation war, Tagore’s poetry inspired the Bengalis to protest against the colonising force of Pakistan,” says Syed Mehdi Momen, a senior journalist.
Each year Rabindra Jayanti is celebrated with fervour and festivity across Bangladesh.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Rabindra Jayanti recently laid the foundation stone for the Rabindra University at Shahzadpur in Sirajganj district. The Bangladesh parliament has passed a bill to pave the way for setting up the university.
“Tagore loved his people. He came forward to remove the miseries and trouble of his people,” said Sheikh Hasina.
Hasina’s address at the foundation stone laying ceremony was quite a revelation when she said, “Tagore himself introduced banking system for the farmers and donated the entire amount of his prize money from the Nobel prize for the farmers. Tagore assisted the cattle farmers in this region (Bangaldesh), contributing to huge land for cattle farmers.”
Hasina said, “Tagore was a revolutionary, so he did not accept the knighthood of the British. As a result of Tagore’s feelings for the people and the contribution to Bengalis, the bangabandhu (father of the nation, Mujib-Ur-Rahman) selected Amar Sonar Bangla, as the national anthem of Bangladesh.”
Tagore used to often visit his Shahzadpur estate that his grandfather Prince Dwarkanath bought from a Zamindar in 1840.
The estate, where he wrote part of his plays ‘Bishorjan’, ‘Chitra’, ‘Sonar Tori’, ‘Chaitali’ and ‘Golapguchho’, was damaged badly in the recent earthquake. The estate which was turned into a museum Visitors’ entry to the house, which was turned into a museum, has been restricted since the earthquake.
Tagore’s couch, chairs, tables, piano and palanquin are still in display there, but much of Tagore’s memorabilia has been lost.
The museum also has 20 rare paintings of Tagore and 300 books.