Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has directed the state police to register a case of treason against a Congress leader who sang Rabindranath Tagore’s Amar Sonar Bangla, a song that forms part of Bangladesh’s national anthem, during a party meeting in Sribhumi district, PTI reported.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shared a video on social media earlier this week showing Congress leader Bidhu Bhushan Das singing lines from the song at a Seva Dal gathering. The BJP criticised the act, calling it “pathetic and disgraceful,” and accused Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi of “shamelessly” defending the recitation.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Sarma alleged that the Congress district committee had sung Bangladesh’s national anthem “in place of the national anthem of India,” describing it as a “blatant disrespect” to the country. He claimed the act echoed assertions by some Bangladeshi figures that the Northeast region is part of Bangladesh.
“We see the recitation of national anthem by the Congress district committee is somehow an endorsement of the claim of various Bangladeshi people and organ of the government that North East is their part and parcel,” Sarma said, adding that he has instructed police to take action against the Congress committee involved.
Amar Sonar Bangla, written by Tagore in 1905 during the Partition of Bengal, was adopted in part by Bangladesh as its national anthem in 1971. Gogoi defended the song’s cultural significance, stating it gave Bengalis “the courage to rise against the British” and accused the BJP of insulting Bengali language and culture.
“They have shown ignorance by not knowing the history of Rabindranath Tagore. I think the people of Bengal and Bengali-speaking people in different parts of the country have recognised that the BJP only uses them for votes,” Gogoi said, according to PTI.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra also weighed in, calling the song “an emotion for all Bengalis” and criticising BJP supporters and media outlets for their reaction.