Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that he has directed the police to register a case of treason against Congress leaders of Sribhumi district for singing the national anthem of Bangladesh at a party meeting, PTI reported.
At a press conference in Guwahati, Sarma alleged that singing the anthem is the opposition party's “endorsement” of the claim by some Bangladeshi that the entire Northeast region is part of the neighbouring nation.
"The Congress meeting started with singing of Bangladesh's national anthem instead of the Indian national anthem. It is a blatant disrespect to the people of India and its national anthem," Sarma said, according to PTI.
He added that he instructed the police to register a case of treason under various sections of the law against the Sribhumi District Congress Committee and its leaders.
According to PTI, the Congress leaders, during a Seva Dal meeting at the district Congress office in Sribhumi town on Tuesday, started the proceedings after singing two lines of the Bangladeshi National Anthem 'Amar Sonar Bangla', written by Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore.
Earlier today, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused the Congress of engaging in “competitive appeasement politics,” which he said has led the Congress to “officially support Bangladeshi infiltrators” and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to “push for Jungle Raj and the rule of Sharia laws, despite claiming to stand by the Constitution”, as reported by HT.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier today, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused the Congress of engaging in “competitive appeasement politics,” which he said has led the Congress to “officially support Bangladeshi infiltrators” and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to “push for Jungle Raj and the rule of Sharia laws, despite claiming to stand by the Constitution”, as reported by HT.
{{/usCountry}}"The Congress is showing support to Bangladesh at a time when that country talks about dividing India. This has become a premeditated enterprise of the Congress and the Opposition,” Poonawalla said.
Congress MP and Assam chief Gaurav Gogoi responded to the criticism and said: “It is a song composed by Rabindranath Tagore and conveys the sentiments of Bengali culture. The BJP has always insulted the Bengali language, Bengali culture and the people of Bengal. Their [BJP] IT Cell has also insulted people of Bengal in the past. They have shown ignorance by not knowing the history of Rabindranath Tagore.
He added: "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.”