Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday paid glowing tributes to Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore on the occasion of his birth anniversary, celebrating his enduring legacy as a poet, philosopher, reformer and champion of human dignity whose ideas continue to resonate across generations.
Marking Tagore Jayanti through separate posts on social media platform X, the Congress leaders remembered Gurudev as a timeless voice of freedom, compassion and enlightened thought, while highlighting the continuing relevance of his vision in contemporary India.
Kharge, in his tribute, quoted one of Tagore’s powerful observations on liberty and social justice, writing, “Nothing is worse than one section of the populace enslaving the opinions of another through force and against their will…”
Describing Tagore as “a visionary humanist, poet, philosopher and social reformer,” the Congress chief said the Nobel laureate’s literary and philosophical contributions had left a profound imprint on India’s cultural and intellectual consciousness.
“Humble tributes to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore on his Jayanti,” Kharge wrote, adding that Gurudev’s words had not only gifted India its National Anthem but had also provided “generations a language of freedom, dignity and compassion.”
He further said that Tagore’s “progressive thought and timeless art continue to illuminate minds and inspire humanity,” underscoring the lasting influence of the poet’s ideas beyond national boundaries.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also paid homage to Tagore, describing him as a “Mahan Sahityakar, philosopher, and composer of the national anthem.” Recalling Tagore’s celebrated vision of a fearless and enlightened society, she quoted the Nobel laureate as saying, “We must build a nation where there is no fear in anyone’s mind, where knowledge is free from restrictions, and where truth alone guides us.”
“On the birth anniversary of Nobel laureate, Mahan Sahityakar, philosopher, and composer of the national anthem, Gurudev Shri Rabindranath Tagore, I pay my respectful tributes to him,” Priyanka Gandhi said, adding that his ideas and philosophy would “forever continue to illuminate the path of the nation like a torch.”
The tributes came amid nationwide celebrations commemorating Tagore’s birth anniversary, observed as Pochishe Boishakh according to the Bengali calendar. The occasion is marked with cultural programmes, Rabindra Sangeet performances, poetry recitations and literary gatherings, especially in West Bengal, where Tagore remains deeply woven into the region’s cultural identity.
Tagore, the first Asian Nobel laureate, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for his landmark work Gitanjali. He also composed India’s national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, and Bangladesh’s national anthem, Amar Sonar Bangla, cementing his unparalleled cultural legacy in the Indian subcontinent.
Beyond literature and music, Tagore played a transformative role in education and social reform through the establishment of Visva-Bharati University at Santiniketan, which he envisioned as a global centre of learning rooted in universal humanist ideals and Indian civilisational values.