Slap treason case against Congress in ‘anthem’ row, orders Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma ordered police on Wednesday 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 on Monday. The Assam CM condemned the act and termed it a “grave insult to national sentiments”. “The anthem was sung with the reverence reserved for India’s own,” Sarma said on Wednesday. The row erupted after Congress functionary Bidhu Bhushan Das sang “Amar Sonar Bangla, Ami Tomay Bhalobasi” in 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 later adopted by Bangladesh as its national anthem in 1971.

Also Read: Will push them back into caves…tails between their legs’: Pak minister says will ‘obliterate’ Afghan Taliban

CM Himanta Sarma linked the incident 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.

Also Read: Pak Defence Minister Khawaja Asif admits country’s past role in supporting Afghanistan Taliban

Assam Minister Ashok Singhal shared the video on X, condemning the Congress for allowing the singing of the national anthem of a “country that seeks to separate the northeast from India.”

“Now, it’s clear why Congress, for decades, allowed and encouraged illegal Miya infiltration into Assam—to change the state’s demography for vote-bank politics, creating a ‘Greater Bangladesh’,” he claimed.

Also Read: ‘Tie up BJP leaders if they…’: TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee invokes NRC fear over SIR in Bengal

Nothing wrong in singing Tagore song, says Congress

Congress deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav 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 accused the BJP of routinely disrespecting the Bengali language and culture while exploiting Bengali-speaking communities for electoral gains.