The poem was composed in December 1911, precisely at the time of the Coronation Durbar of George V, and is considered by some to be in praise of King George V and not God. Tagore however translated "Jana Gana Mana" in English as the Morning Song of India, addressing God and the motherland in it.
In July 1985 in the state of Kerala, some of the Jehovah's Witnesses' children were expelled from school under the instructions of Deputy Inspector of Schools for having refused to sing the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana. A parent, V. J. Emmanuel, appealed to the Supreme Court of India for legal remedy. On August 11, 1986, the Supreme Court overruled the Kerala High Court, and directed the respondent authorities to re-admit the children into the school. The decision went on to add: "Our tradition teaches tolerance, our philosophy preaches tolerance, our Constitution practices tolerance, let us not dilute it".
A controversy swirls around the claim by Captain Ram Singh Thakur, an associate of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, that he, and not Rabindranath Tagore, wrote the score for the national anthem on Netaji's behest. An advertisement released in Calcutta newspapers by the Gorkha Hill Council to mark the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose centenary on January 23, 1997 plunged him into controversy. The advertisement hailed him as the Gorkha who set the national anthem to music, following sharp reactions that such a claim was never made before. Capt. Ram Singh Thakur intended to write a letter to President Shankar Dayal Sharma claiming that his contribution in composing the score of the national anthem is being refuted just because he is a Gorkha. Netaji's nephew, Dr Sisir Bose, said that Captain Ram Singh Thakur had composed the band-score of a Hindi song, Subh Sukh Chain similar to the national anthem, but not identical. Tagore is widely believed to have himself set the lyrics of "Jana Gana Mana" to music as early as 1919, like he had done to Amar Shonar Bangla, now the National Anthem of Bangladesh, Ekla Cholo Re, another favorite song of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and his numerous other musical compositions, famous as Rabindra Sangeet. The credit to Tagore for the music of "Jana Gana Mana" is also upheld by the Government of India.
courtesy : http://en.wikipedia.org/