Guwahati: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday ordered police action against a Congress leader for singing national anthem of Bangladesh.
The incident has triggered a fierce cultural and political debate over patriotism, heritage, and historical ignorance.
“When certain people in Bangladesh are claiming that Northeast India is a part of Bangladesh, Congress leaders in Assam are singing the Bangladesh national anthem at their event.
This is no coincidence — it must be investigated!” CM Sarma wrote on X and uploaded his video statement with the post.
The controversy began when a video surfaced on social media showing Bidhu Bhushan Das, a local Congress leader, singing a few lines of Amar Sonar Bangla during a Seva Dal meeting in the state’s Sribhumi district earlier this week.
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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) quickly circulated the clip online, accusing the Congress of “disrespecting the Indian national anthem” and “endorsing Bangladeshi claims” over the Northeast.
Responding to the controversy, Sribhumi District Congress president Tapas Purkayastha said, “please don’t play politics with Rabindranath Tagore. Our pride, 85-year-old poet Vidhu Bhushan Das, sang only two lines of the song. Criticising this song means insulting Rabindranath Tagore.”
Chief Minister Sarma reacted sharply, calling the act “a blatant insult to India and its people.” He alleged that the Congress district committee had sung the Bangladeshi national anthem in place of India’s, linking it to “propaganda by certain Bangladeshi quarters claiming the Northeast as their own.”
“I have instructed the police to register a case of treason against the Congress district committee,” Sarma told reporters, adding that the act was “unpatriotic and unacceptable.”
However, Congress leaders dismissed the allegations as political theater. Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi defended Das, saying the song written by Tagore in 1905 was a symbol of Bengali pride and resistance during the British Partition of Bengal.
“Tagore’s words gave strength to millions of Indians, including Bengalis, to rise against colonial rule,” Gogoi said. “The BJP’s outrage shows its ignorance of history and its tendency to weaponize culture for politics.”
Echoing him, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra posted on social media: “Amar Sonar Bangla’ is an emotion for all Bengalis. Neither saffron chaddis nor their troll factories will ever get it.”
The BJP’s social media wing, meanwhile, doubled down on its attack, calling Gogoi’s defense “pathetic and disgraceful.” The party argued that the Congress was crossing nationalist boundaries under the guise of cultural expression.
Composed by Tagore in 1905 to protest the Partition of Bengal, Amar Sonar Bangla celebrates the spirit and beauty of Bengal. In 1971, during Bangladesh’s Liberation War, its first ten lines were adopted as that nation’s official national anthem.
While the Congress insists the song was performed to honor Bengal’s literary legacy, the timing and optics of the act have provided ammunition to the BJP, which has turned it into a test of loyalty and nationalism.
As the political chorus grows louder, one thing is clear: what began as a few lines of poetry has become a battleground for identity, history, and politics in the heart of Assam.