GUWAHATI, Nov 5 - The State today paid homage to cultural icon Dr Bhupen Hazarika on his sixth death anniversary. Various memorial programmes across the State marked the occasion, as people remembered the Bard of the Brahmaputra and recollected and acknowledged his timeless contributions.
The Bhupen Hazarika Samadhikshetra (memorial) at Jalukbari in the city was a hub of activities since morning hours, as thousands of people turned up at the site to pay tribute to the singer-lyricist-composer. The evergreen numbers of the maestro that were played on at the background made the ambience evocative.
Students of Gauhati University took out a procession from the main gate of the varsity to the memorial.
As Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal was out of Guwahati, his media adviser Hrishikesh Goswami represented him at the function held on the occasion. Among those present at the site were former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.
Talking to media persons, Gogoi called for promoting the ideals of harmony and brotherhood as espoused in the songs of Dr Hazarika. He also called upon all concerned, including the people, organisations and the government, to contribute to the treatment of ailing filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi who had been Dr Hazarika�s most trusted and loved companion for around four decades.
A CD based on Dr Hazarika�s compositions titled Aah Aah Olai Aah with the message of road safety was also released at the function by Goswami and Assam Chief Secretary VK Pipersenia. The CD has been brought out by the transport department in view of the growing number of road accidents in the State.
In another tribute-paying ceremony organised under the aegis of the All Assam Students Union on the bank of the Dighalipukhuri, thousands of people remembered their beloved musician. The day�s proceedings began with a formal paying of homage before his statue by AASU president Dipanka Nath, general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi and adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya.
In the evening, people lit up 10,000 earthen lamps along the banks of the historic water-body as a mark of tribute to Dr Hazarika.
Interacting with the media, Bhattacharya demanded that the music maestro be honoured posthumously with the country�s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna. He also urged the State government to include Dr Hazarika�s masterful creations in the educational curricula for promoting and propagating the maestro�s legacy.
The newly introduced walking zone on the MG Road near Panbazar also had Dr Bhupen Hazarika as the main theme today. The entire evening was dedicated to the legendary musician, said Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) commissioner Monalisa Goswami.
While thousands paid homage to the maestro by visiting the memorial at Jalukbari and the statue site at Dighalipukhuripar, some of his diehard fans chose to be different.
Surendra Nath Das, a Guwahati-based retired Assam government official, is one such fan who has turned most portions of his double-storey building virtually into a Dr Bhupen Hazarika archive, and observed the occasion with daylong rituals.
Like in the previous years, Das who had structured a memorial of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner and even named his campus as �Azan Fakir Aru Bhupen Hazarika Kshetra�, greeted everyone who visited the place located in Beltola�s Basisthapur area today.
Nearly 300 advocates, in their complete dress code, gathered on the bank of the Brahmaputra today to pay tribute to cultural icon Dr Bhupen Hazarika by singing his immortal song Manuhe Manuhar Babe on the occasion of his death anniversary today.
A tribute-paying programme was also organised at the CJM Court campus today where the Bard of the Brahmaputra was fondly remembered by the legal fraternity under the aegis of the Lawyers Association, Guwahati (LAG).
Along with mass singing, some other cultural programmes were also organised on the occasion, with Dr Bhupen Hazarika�s music as the focal theme. Earlier, the tribute function was inaugurated by LAG president Sailen Das by lighting the ceremonial lamp.
