Varanasi:A renowned Sarod artist from Varanasi, the only artist from India who has received an invitation from President-elect Donald Trump's Office to attend the swearing-in ceremony to be held on Monday, refused to be a part of the gala event. Pandit Amit Bhattacharya, a renowned artist of the Sonia Gharana (Tanan family), cited the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the reason for his decision.
Bhattacharya said, "I have received an invitation, but since our Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not going, I'll also not attend President Donald Trump's swearing in. He is our PM and represents our parliamentary constituency."
Pandit Bhattacharya also said that he has never been to America and do not even want to go abroad now. "The kind of peace I feel in Banaras can not be found anywhere else. I do not need to ask for anything from anywhere as I receive whatever is needed with the grace of God. Best wishes to Donald Trump from my side. May everything be peaceful there too, may his tenure be very good and relations with India remains strong. May President Trump's relations with PM Modi gets even better." he added.
Pandit Bhattacharya is the son of Pandit Jatin Bhattacharya, a disciple of Ustad Alauddin Khan. Pandit Bhattacharya was sent an invitation letter on January 7 to participate in the swearing-in ceremony to be held in Washington. This invitation letter was sent by the chairman of the swearing-in committee, Dr. J Mark Burns.
