GUWAHATI, Nov 9 � After four days of mourning since November 5, the mortal remains of Dr Bhupen Hazarika, the towering maestro of Assamese music, were consigned to flames at the cremation ground prepared for him on the Jalukbari campus of Gauhati University (GU). The last rites of the great artiste were performed with full state honour. His fans bade him adieu with tears and slogans.
Tej Hazarika, son of the great artiste, lit the funeral pyre in traditional attire around 10.27 am amid hymns chanted by the priests and the slogan �Bhupen Hazarika Amor Haok� (Long Live Bhupen Hazarika) from thousands of his fans renting the air. After lighting the pyre, Tej Hazarika offered �pranipat� in reverence to the crowd.
The several thousand-strong crowd, assembled on the occasion on the about ten bighas of GU land just near the Jalukbari square, which has been turned into the cremation ground of the master artiste, stood up to pay their last respects to the genius with many of them in tears when the pyre was lit.
Before the pyre was lit, jawans of the Assam Police offered a 21-gun salute to Dr Hazarika around 10.17 am.
Dignitaries including Governor JB Patnaik, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Union Minister of State (Independent) for Development of the North East Region (DoNER) Pawan Singh Ghatowar, State�s Ministers Himanta Biswa Sarma, Pradyut Bordoloi and Rockybul Hussain, Chief Secretary Nava Kumar Das, GU Vice Chancellor OK Medhi, faculty members of the University, Director General of Police Sankar Barua and secretary of the All India Congress Committee Jaydev Jena were present on the occasion. Ghatowar represented the Prime Minister, while Jena represented UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on the occasion.
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhubaneswar Kalita, its other office-bearers, Opposition leaders Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, Thaneswar Boro, Chandra Mohan Patowary, Brindaban Goswami and Hemen Das and the family members of the
famous bard were also present at the cremation ground.
The Governor and the Chief Minister, along with the other dignitaries, paid floral tributes at the mortal remains of Dr Hazarika.
AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharjya, singer Zubeen Garg, ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and his wife Kaberi Kachari, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti general secretary Akhil Gogoi were also present on the occasion.
The family members of the artiste were allowed to pay their last respects to him before the pyre was lit. His sister Sudakshina Sarma, brother Samar Hazarika, sister-in-law Manisha Hazarika, nephews Mayukh Hazarika and Rishiraj Sarma, among others, paid their tearful homage to the artiste.
Many of the fans of the artistes were seen eager to shower flowers on the burning pyre and many also came with costly cameras to take snaps of the event. The eagerness of the fans to see the last rites of their beloved artiste was such that some of them even precariously climbed the roofs of the nearby University quarters, the trees available on and around the ground and the mobile water container stationed inside the ground.
Delay in performing the last rites made most of the fans hysterical and it resulted in awkward jostling. A near stampede situation occurred due to this in the press gallery, though none of the media persons who were dislodged from their chairs sustained any major injuries. The rituals started about three-and-a-half hours behind the schedule as the authorities could not start the Jalukbari-bound move of the cortege, at 6 am� the time fixed for the last journey of the body.
The delay occurred due to the rush of the fans on the road to have a last glimpse of their beloved artiste and many of these fans followed the cortege on foot to the cremation ground.
Fans of the artiste also rushed to the cremation ground in thousands through the main entrance, overrunning the police barricade immediately after the cortege of the artiste entered the ground.
The love of the fans towards the legendary artiste was such that they brought innumerable earthen pots to carry home the ashes from the pyre of the maestro. There was a heavy rush for collecting the ashes.
A few youths of Bakulpath, Jalukbari led by Shiddhartha Borua offered hundreds of mineral water bottles to the people present at the cremation ground.
