In 1919, Tagore renounced his knighthood to protest the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. And that was just one of many times he stood up to the British.
There’s a common myth that Rabindranath Tagore wrote "Jana Gana Mana" (India's national anthem) to please the British. But try to understand the lyrics carefully, and you'll see the truth. The line “Jana Gana Mana Adhinayak Jaya He” doesn’t hail the British Empire; rather, it praises the true leader of the people, who rules hearts, not through fear, but love. Tagore’s anthem was, in fact, a critique of colonial rule. And to say he admired the British is not just inaccurate, but also deeply unfair to a man who spent his life pushing back against the idea of foreign domination. However, he wasn’t against individuals; he was against the system. Time and again, through his writings and actions, he pushed back against injustice. On the other hand, he also had a strong bond with many freedom fighters, especially Mahatma Gandhi, often offering his views on the nation’s path to freedom.
As India gets ready to celebrate its 79th Independence Day, let’s look back at Tagore, the rebel in a poet’s robe.
Tagore’s rebellion started softly through metaphors and melodies. Born into a liberal Bengali household in the 19th century, he absorbed the tensions of colonial India and turned them into art. His 1910–13 masterpiece, 'Gitanjali', resonated worldwide. In “Where the Mind Is Without Fear,” he expressed the dream of intellectual liberation. In his novel 'Ghare Baire' (later made into a film by Satyajit Ray, and another one years later by Aparna Sen), Tagore held up a mirror to the Swadeshi movement. Through Nikhilesh and Bimala, he examined how fervor could morph into coercion. He questioned whether outsourcing patriotism to emotional fervency risked giving birth to something darker.
In essays like 'Nationalism', Tagore labeled imperialism “a political symptom of our social disease,” urging Indians to resist replicating Western nationalism. In 'The Cult of the Charkha', he nudged India to see self-reliance as more than spinning wheels; it meant reimagining rural life. He asked: Would revolt without introspection be any less oppressive? He believed our final refuge must be in humanity, not blind loyalty.
Tagore’s words were matched by bold deeds. In 1915, he accepted a knighthood from King George V, yet after the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, he returned it, writing to Lord Chelmsford: “Badges of honor make our shame glaring… I wish to stand, shorn of all special distinctions, by the side of my countrymen…”
That gesture created a moral earthquake that galvanized resistance. He had already been stirring hearts since 1905 (the Bengal partition), composing patriotic songs, leading protests, and launching Rakhi Utsav, which encouraged Hindus and Muslims to tie symbolic threads, defying colonial attempts to sow division.
The letter dated 30 May 1919 written by Rabindranath Tagore to Lord Chelmsford, British viceroy, repudiating his Knighthood in protest against the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre and resenting the unjust treatment by the British. His action was lauded by the Congress.#INCHistory pic.twitter.com/u6OyCKajkM
— History of Congress (@INCHistory) May 30, 2018
(Credit: History of Congress)
In 1921, he founded Santiniketan’s Visva-Bharati University, envisioning a place where Eastern and Western philosophies met, not to dominate but to dialogue. It was his call for a new humanism against colonial intellectual straightjacketing.
Tagore and Gandhi had mutual admiration. Gandhi addressed him as “Gurudev”; Tagore fondly called him “Mahatma.”
But the two had a rather complicated bond. Tagore respected Gandhi’s social activism but sometimes worried about its emotional intensity. When Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1921, Tagore cautioned: "Don’t forgo all Western education. India needs exposure to the world’s ideas, not isolation."
Their fierce yet respectful disagreement continued through crises. In 1932, when Gandhi fasted to protest separate electorates for Dalits, Tagore played the peacemaker, mediating between Gandhi and Ambedkar. He even sang “Ekla Chalo Re” to inspire Gandhi during another fast in 1933, making it a personal act of solidarity, not a ceremony.
Tagore’s approach to Swadeshi was honest and not hypocritical. He believed in boycotting British goods and loved singing anthems like “Banglar Mati, Banglar Jol.” But he refused to ignore the movement’s darker sides. In 'Ghare Baire', he depicted Sandip (a charismatic yet ruthless Swadeshi leader) to unmask the dangers of covert coercion and communal fracture. His 1904 lecture, “Swadeshi Samaj,” urged people to pursue village education and rural upliftment alongside business boycotts. “There can be no question of blind revolution,” he reminded, “but of steady and purposeful education.”
"Patriotism cannot be our final spiritual shelter; my refuge is humanity. I will not buy glass for the price of diamonds, and I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity as long as I live."
— Truthoverdishonesty (@Nigelj08223326) July 6, 2025
Rabindranath Tagore pic.twitter.com/YbKCeZaetW
(Credit: Truthoverdishonesty)
Even at the risk of criticism, Tagore refused to follow the tide without questioning its currents.
Tagore’s influence traveled far. In 1916, in San Francisco, his universalism provoked backlash from Indian independence activists who saw his global perspective as half-hearted patriotism. Rumor has it that an assassination plot emerged but was abandoned when the perpetrators argued over his true intent.
Still, he persisted. In those American days, he drafted the blueprint for Santiniketan, shaping it as a home for worldwide learners. In 'Crisis in Civilization', he denounced European imperialism as “a betrayal of humanity,” forging solidarity with every freedom struggle.
However, Tagore’s greatest rebellion wasn’t against foreign troops. It was against mental chains: apathy masquerading as patriotism, and emotion masquerading as justice. His life reminds us that rebellion isn’t just about confrontation, but also about nurturing the inner revolution.
