The Patriotic Fervor of Bharathi at Cross Roads: The Seizure of His National Songs in Madras Presidency 1928-1929

Abstract

The banner of Indian National Movement had been held aloft by a galaxy of poet-patriots, prominent among them being Rabindranath Tagore of Bengal and Subramania Bharathi of Tamilnadu. Bharathi is known for his radical views and the concept of nationalism. Bharathi was not only a poet-patriot but also a committed swadeshi enthusiast, who rendered a remarkable contribution by inculcating the efficacy of swadeshi nationalism in the deep hearts of the Indians during the Extremist movement in the Madras Presidency. Bharathi, a great visionary waged a relentless war against the British rule. He was the first Tamil poet to compose songs on national themes which aroused the dormant feelings of the people against the alien rule. The aim of present paper is to bring out the nationalist fervor of Bharathi through his books entitled Swadesa Geethangal (National Songs) parts 1&11, composed by Bharathi, which were published by Pt. Harihara Sharma, a relative of Chellamal Bharathi at the Bharathi Ashram, Triplicane, Madras in 1922. These two books contained the national songs, which were proscribed by the Governments of Burma and Madras between August and September 1928. The sources consulted for writing of this article are the archival evidences collected from the National Archives, New Delhi and the Tamil Nadu Archives, Chennai. It is wonder to say that the order of forfeiture of Bharathi's songs was issued after seven years of the death of Bharathi. Bharathi died on 11th September 1921 in Madras but his songs were banned in 1928 by the Government of Burma. The C.1.D of Burma found the National Songs of Bharathi highly seditious in character and also found these books as the household of the nationalists of Burma. More so, the Government of Burma thought that the National Songs of Bharathi would create the national awakening among the minds of the Tamil speaking population of Burma. Hence, the Government of Burma issued the notification on 7th August 1928 to forfeit the Bharathi's songs on the ground that it contained seditious matter.