Basudeb Das Baul, the folk singer from Santiniketan who will host Sunday lunch for Union home minister Amit Shah during the latter’s visit here, has a unique item on the menu.

Basudeb, 62, plans to sing a song of “harmony and tolerance” for his guest.

The song that Basudeb is most likely to perform in front of his guest — he has been asked to prepare a couple of numbers — is a popular Baul ditty “Orey manus dekhbi jodi bhogoban (O human, if you want to see god)”.

It is one of the songs of Bhoba Pagla, who is considered an icon of the Baul community.

The song, which reflects “humanity beyond caste creed and religion”, strikes an uncommon note in the run-up to the 2021 state polls, widely seen as one of the most polarising in recent times.

“Its message is clear, that we can see god by accepting human beings from all castes, creeds and religions. I want to give my guest this message, which is the ideology of the Baul community. I think it will please him,” Basudeb said.

Sources said Shah is scheduled to visit Santiniketan on Sunday to attend events on Visva-Bharati campus, as well as a road show in Bolpur town.

These events are a part of his two-day long outreach drive to “establish the saffron camp’s connect” with Bengali culture and traditions at a time when Trinamul has dubbed the BJP as a party of outsiders.

The first two lines of the song extol the virtues of peace over violence, saying, “Chhere de tor hingsabritti, ei to bighno, oti prodhan (Leave the violence inside you, because it is the one and only danger)

The song then goes on to extol the virtues of all religions.

“Chhere de tor bhinno bhed, dekhna shastro dekhna Ved/ Bible Koran noire probhed, shon re Hindu shon Mussalman (Shun your habit of discriminating among people, look into religious books or in the Veda/ There is no difference between Bible and Koran, Hindu and Muslims).”

“Through the entire song, you will find this message of humanity. As a Baul, I believe in humanity and communal harmony,” said the folk singer.

BJP leaders in the district said that Shah would have lunch at Basudeb’s house at Subhas Pally near Visva-Bharati campus in Santiniketan.

The singer said he had been asked to prepare one or two songs to sing before Shah but there had been no directive from party leaders on the lyrics or the song.

“We will not dictate which song the Baul will sing. It depends on the artiste,” said Shyamapada Mondal, Birbhum’s BJP president.

The folk singer, who has been living in Santiniketan for years with his family, said he would also share with Shah the sufferings Baul singers faced during the lockdown.

“I want to share our experiences of how the lockdown led to great suffering for us, and of how we survived with the help of people. I will demand the central government do something for Baul singers,” said Basudeb, who gets a monthly dole of Rs 1,000 from the state government.

Shah’s menu for Sunday’s lunch would be prepared on Saturday, sources said. All items would be decided by Basudeb’s family members and neighbours.

“We eat rice bought from ration shops and simple Bengali fare. We would like to offer our guest our daily fare,” said Basudeb’s Urmila.