Slap treason case in ‘anthem’ row, orders Assam CM; nothing wrong in singing Tagore song, says Congress

GUWAHATI: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday ordered police to file treason charges against Congress members in Sribhumi district after a video showed a senior party functionary singing Bangladesh’s national anthem at a meeting Monday.Sarma condemned the act as a “grave insult to national sentiments”. “The anthem was sung with the reverence reserved for India’s own,” he said Wednesday.The row erupted after Congress functionary Bidhu Bhushan Das sang “Amar Sonar Bangla, Ami Tomay Bhalobasi” during a Congress Seva Dal meeting. The song was written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1905 during the Swadeshi movement opposing Bengal’s first partition under British rule. It was adopted by Bangladesh as its national anthem in 1971.Sarma linked the episode to what he described as the neighbouring country’s growing “Greater Bangladesh” narrative and part of a “Pakistan-backed project”. The CM cited a recent event in Dhaka where Bangladesh’s interim chief adviser Mohammed Yunus gifted a book “Art of Triumph” to Pakistan’s joint chiefs of staff committee chairman Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza. The cover featured an abstract map that appeared to include the northeast.”Instead of taking action, Gaurav Gogoi seems quietly pleased,” Sarma said. Congress deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gogoi defended the song’s use, saying it predated Bangladesh’s independence and represented Bengal’s emotional identity. “BJP IT cell’s outrage only reveals its ignorance of Tagore’s legacy,” he said. Gogoi alleged BJP routinely disrespected Bengali language and culture while exploiting Bengali-speaking communities for electoral gain.