Assam govt orders sedition case after Congress leader sings Bangladesh anthem at party meet

Guwahati: The Assam government on Wednesday has asked Assam police to slap a case of sedition on the senior Congress leaders singing Bangladesh’s national anthem, "Amar Sonar Bangla", during a party meeting in Sribhumi district.

The incident took place on October 27 during a Congress Seva Dal meeting at Indira Bhavan, the party’s district office in Sribhumi.

In the video, Congress leader and poet Vidhu Bhushan Das is seen rendering a few lines from Amar Sonar Bangla, a song penned by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who also wrote India’s national anthem, Jana Gana Mana.


Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said, “Two days ago the district Congress unit of Sribhumi played the national song of Bangladesh instead of the national anthem of India. This is a blatant disrespect to the people of India and its national anthem”.

He added, “This is in line with the claim of the leading citizens of Bangladesh that Northeast India will be eventually part of Bangladesh. We see this claim as an endorsement by various Bangladesh citizens, organs of the government that Northeast is their part and parcel.”

Sribhumi District Congress president Tapas Purkayastha dismissed the allegations as politically motivated.
“Don’t play politics with Rabindranath Tagore. Our respected senior leader only sang two lines of a Tagore composition. Calling it anti-national is an insult to Tagore himself,” he said. Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi also defended the leader, accusing the BJP of attempting to divert public attention through manufactured controversies.

He said, “The song reflects Bengali cultural pride. The BJP has consistently disrespected the Bengali language and culture.”