Narayana Murthy’s remarks on national anthem come under fire

Infosys chief mentor N R Narayana Murthy’s remarks on the national anthem rocked both the houses of Karnataka legislature with lawmakers cutting across party lines demanding action against the software icon.

The playing of the musical notes of the national anthem to greet President A P J Abdul Kalam during his visit to Infosys campus at Mysore near here on Sunday and Narayana Murthy’s statement that live singing of the national anthem would embarrass the foreigners in the campus was strongly criticized by the legislators in the Assembly as well as the Council.

Raising the issue, Kannada protagonist and independent MLA Vatal Nagaraj labelled N R Narayana Murthy as an “anti-national”, who deserved to be banished from the country. The Congress members including former Chief Minister Dharam Singh and former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah too felt that action should be taken against Narayana Murthy for showing disrespect to the national anthem.

Home Minister M P Prakash told the angry members in the Legislative Assembly that the Government had sought a report from the police in Mysore on the issue. “Appropriate action will be initiated if the allegations are found to be true”, he assured the House.

But, Narayana Murthy was quick to apologize for the media statements attributed to him on the national anthem issue. “If the media statement had hurt anybody’s sentiments, I deeply apologize”, Narayana Murthy said in a statement.

“We played the instrumental version of the national anthem so that we could all sing along, and all of us did so. We wished to share the pride of being an Indian in the gracious presence of our President”, Narayan Murthy added.

Protests against the Narayana Murthy even spilled onto the streets with pro-Kannada organizations staging protests in various parts of the state including Kolar and Davangere.

The pro-Kannada outfits took the software icon to task for questioning the utility of forcing shutdowns in the statewide protests against the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal’s order. “He has shown disrespect to people fighting for the justice over the Cauvery issue”, an activist of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike said in Kolar.

A clarification from Infosys has also sought to clarify Narayana Murthy’s position on the Cauvery issue. “We must adopt a solution-based, peaceful approach to resolve the issue”, said and added that “I wish to clarify that the IT industry in Karnataka was closed on the day (February 12, 2007) when a bundh was called to protest the Cauvery Tribunal’s verdict. All our facilities in Karnataka were also closed for the day”, Narayana Murthy said.