Written by: Express News Service
2 min readMumbaiOct 8, 2011 12:23 AM IST
First published on: Oct 8, 2011 at 12:23 AM IST
Accepting the Centre’s affidavit clarifying that the usage of the word ‘Sindh’ in the National Anthem is not incorrect,the Bombay High Court dismissed a PIL that sought the replacement of the word with ‘Sindhu.’
Counsel for the Central government,Anil Singh,said they have produced the original hand-written translation of the anthem written by Rabindranath Tagore which proves that the correct word is Sindh,and that Sindhu is used while singing.
The PIL was filed by retired professor Shreekant Malushte,who contended that the word ‘Sindh’ in the anthem was replaced by the word ‘Sindhu’ by the government in January 1950. “However,the National Anthem continues to be sung and broadcast in a wrong manner by using incorrect words,” his petition stated.
An affidavit filed by Pandey Pradeep Kumar,Under Secretary,Ministry of Home Affairs,stated that text of the national anthem used for playing or singing has the word ‘Sindhu’ as mentioned in the instructions issued by the ministry. Also,the word used in the booklet titled “Our National Song” published by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in November,1951,uses the word Sindhu. In view of this,the version of National Anthem used for playing or singing with the word ‘Sindhu’ and the version in text using ‘Sindh’ is correct,the affidavit states.
Accepting the Centre’s contention and relying on a decision of the Supreme Court that held ‘Sindh’ to be the correct word in the official version of the anthem,the HC dismissed the PIL.
Singh had argued that the Supreme Court had observed in 2005 that Sindh does not refer to any place but the sentiments and feeling of the people all over the country including the Sindhis who live in different parts of the country.
Malushte said he will contest the HC’s decision in the Supreme Court.
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