NATIONAL ANTHEM
Every nation has its own national anthem. What is a national anthem? A national anthem is an expression of the feelings of love, commitment and faithfulness of its people towards the nation or the country. It is a statement of patriotism and unity of its people. It is, sometimes, summing up of the national history, polity and manifesto.
Perhaps nobody knows the origin of the first national anthem of the world; however, the British national anthem (God save the king/queen) seems to be one of the oldest. The Germans have “Deutschland uber alles…”, the Australians have “Advance Australia fair…”, and the Canadians have “O Canada…”. The Europeans have their common national anthem also: “Ode to Joy” (written by Schiller). The fundamentalist Hindus consider “Bande maatram…” as their national anthem; whereas the Indian constitution has accepted “Jan gan man…” as its national anthem (this was written by Rabinder Narh Tagore to welcome the British emperor on his visit to India in 1910s).
In some Sikh congregations, ‘Deh shiva bar mohi iheie…’ had been sung as national anthem. But, the wording of this religious song does not fulfil the ingredients of a national anthem. It is a prayer to mythical god Shiva; it is not, and cannot be national anthem.
The Sikh State of Patiala State had been playing the Sikh national anthem. The wording of this anthem is:
Degh-o-tegh-o-fatah-o-nusrat bedirang
Zaafat az Nanak – Guru Gobind Singh
Raj karega Khalsa aaki rahe na koe
Khuar hoe sabh milenge bache sharn jo hoey.
[meaning: the economic and political power and the unending victory has been granted to the Sikh nation through the graceful blessing of Guru Sahib, Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh. The Khalsa shall rule, and there will remain no opponent (force); those who have gone stray, all of them shall re-join; those who seek refuge (of the Guru), shall be protected (by the Guru)].
This national anthem had been sung in all the Sikh States until 1948 (and even a couple of recordings were also available on long play records, i.e. LPs). Kahan Singh Nabha, too, has mentioned this in book ‘Mahan Kosh’.
Now a question arises as to how did “deh shiva bar mohe…” came to be sung in some Sikh gatherings. This stanza had been sung in the congregations of the Rashtrya Swayam Sewak Sangh (R.S.S.) since 1950s. Some ignorant Sikh might have selected it because of its fine meanings. It is possible that it might be some associate of the R.S.S. who convinced some ignorant Sikh leader to accept it as an anthem.
The Sikh national anthem “degh o tegh o fatah…” fulfils all the conditions of a national anthem as it refers to the Sikh polity, Sikh patriotism and even a manifesto of the nation.
(Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer)