After Bangladesh's national song, "Amar Sonar Bangla," was sung at a Congress assembly in the Karimganj area, a significant dispute broke out in Assam. The Congress is allegedly pursuing a "Greater Bangladesh" vote bank goal, according to the state's ruling BJP.
A video of the incident, which happened on Monday during a Congress Seva Dal meeting in Sribhumi town, has gone viral and sparked a political uproar. Many internet users have also criticised the party.
The video was posted on X by Assam Minister Ashok Singhal, who denounced the Congress for permitting the playing 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'," according to him.
The Assamese branch of the BJP referred to the Congress as "Bangladesh obsessed."
"The Congress, which is fascinated with Bangladesh, is happily playing Bangladesh's national hymn here in Assam, only days after Bangladesh dared to print a map encompassing the whole northeast. It stated in a post on X that "if, after this, someone still can't see the agenda at play, they're either blind, complicit, or both."
The party made reference to the "map swallowing the entire northeast" in allusion to a recent episode in which Muhammad Yunus, the temporary leader of Bangladesh, gave a book with a contentious map depicting Assam and other northeastern territories as part of Bangladesh to a visiting Pakistani general.
On social media, the video sparked a huge outcry, with many calling on the government led by Himanta Biswa Sarma to take action against the Congress.
Even common sense tells me that this is treason, but I'm not a law student. One user tweeted, "If this is true, these people have no right to live under the Indian flag. I hope the government acts quickly and sets an example."
"Shame on them... having a different ideology is OK, but this is not acceptable," remarked someone another.
The Congress was accused by one user of "standing with anything against the country," while another said that the party "wants to turn Assam into Bangladesh, and it's the proof."
In response to the incident, Congressman Gaurav Gogoi stated on Wednesday that "the BJP has always insulted the Bengali language, Bengali culture and the people of Bengal."
"In the past, their IT Cell has also offended Bengalis. By being unaware of Rabindranath Tagore's past, they have demonstrated ignorance. In a press conference in Guwahati, Gogoi stated, "I believe the people of Bengal and Bengali speaking people in other parts of the country have realised that the BJP only uses them for votes."
