Who Wrote Bangladesh's National Anthem? Know Meaning, History And Current Controversy

After the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh, the citizens have asked the interim government to change the national anthem Amar Sonar Bangla as they claim that it was imposed by India in 1971 and reflects the country’s colonial past. Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, the son of former Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ghulam Azam, has called for changes to Bangladesh’s national anthem and constitution. He said that Amar Sonar Bangla is against independent existence. Due to this controversy, the national anthem is garnering headlines globally. Let us take a look at the meaning of the national anthem and its history.

Amar Sonar Bangla is derived from a song written by Rabindranath Tagore with the same name. He wrote it in 1905 against the partition of Bengal. On July 19, 1905, Viceroy Lord Curzon announced the division of Bengal based on religion. It was implemented on October 16. Rabindranath Tagore wrote the lines of this song for the unity of Bengal. It was published in a magazine named Bangadarshan in September of the same year. After East Pakistan became independent Bangladesh in 1971, 10 lines of this song were accepted as the national anthem. The tune was composed by Bangladeshi musician Samar Das.

Amar Sonar Bangla preaches about the love of the people for Bengal. The initial lines of the anthem translate:

My Bengal of Gold,

I love you.

Forever your skies,

Your air set my heart in tune

As if it were a flute.

It further talks about the soothing nature of the country. This is not the first time there has been a demand and attempt to change Bangladesh’s current national anthem. After the formation of Bangladesh, the process of changing it started even after the first coup in 1975. The then President Mushtaq Ahmed had formed a committee, which had proposed to make Kazi Najrul Islam’s Notuner Gaan or Farooq Ahmed’s Panjeri the national anthem. In 2002, Amir Motiur Rahman Nizami of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami called Amar Sonar Bangla against Islamic values and sentiment. He had also put forward a proposal to change it. The Cabinet Division had rejected this demand.