'Jana Gana Mana' inspired countrymen to stay united: Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said that the national anthem 'Jana Gana Mana' has inspired countrymen to stay united.

Remembering Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel Laureate, who penned 'Jana Gana Mana', first sung on this day in 1911, Banerjee also referred to Tagore's 'Amar sonar Bangla' that was written to protest against the partition of Bengal by the British in 1905.

She said Tagore's way of protesting against the partition of Bengal showed people 'the way'. "Jana Gana Mana was first sung on this day in 1911. Over the years, our National Anthem has united us & inspired the nation. The song is composed by Rabindranath Tagore. He is our pride," Banerjee tweeted.

"Through his protests in 1905, for united #Bangla, he has shown us the way," the Trinamool Congress supremo wrote on her Tweeter handle.

'Jana Gana Mana' was sung for the first time at the Calcutta session of the Congress.

On January 24, 1950, the first stanza of the song 'Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata' was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India as the national anthem.

Tagore's 'Amar Sonar Bangla' was adopted as the national anthem by the Bangladesh government in 1971.

Banerjee has been protesting against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed NRC stating that the country is facing a new crisis in which divide and rule is the law.

Banerjee had said that the people cannot bow their heads to powers intent on destroying the country.