DIBRUGARH, Nov 12 � With slogans �Bhupenda amar houk� rending the air, the ashes of music maestro Dr Bhupen Hazarika were immersed in the Brahmaputra at Kachari Ghat by the district administration here today.
The urn containing the ashes was carried to the immersion site in a procession. Officials from the district administration led by DC Dr KK Dwivedi, MLA Prasanta Phukan and SP Arabinda Kalita along with senior citizens, police personnel, members of the Asam Sahitya Sabha, All Assam Mottock Yuba Chatra Sanmilan and Assam Jatiyatabadi Yuba Parishad marched from the Chowkidinghee ground to Kachari Ghat. Members of the local AASU unit joined the procession on motorbikes. Students from Gurukul Junior College also took part in the procession.
The urn was given a guard of honour by the police at Kachari Ghat before the immersion. The immersion was done from a boat. The boat carrying the ashes was moved from the bank towards the depth of a canal of the river. The DC, SP, MLA, municipal board chairman Chandrakanta Baruah and the priest conducting the immersion ritual were in the boat during the immersion.
Our Tinsukia Correspondent adds: People of Tinsukia district of all ages and from different religions, castes and creeds have paid rich tributes to music maestro Dr Bhupen Hazarika since the urn containing his ashes reached here on November 10.
The urn was taken to Margherita from Tinsukia in the wee hours on November 11 and received by the SDO (Civil) along with a large number of Bhupenda�s followers. People thronged the India Club premises where the last remains of the music maestro were kept for public view.
At Digboi, people in thousands thronged the Digboi Bihutoli to pay their homage to the legendary singer on November 11. The urn was later taken to Doomdooma, Kakopathar and Dhola on November 11 and 12 where people paid homage to Bhupenda.
At Chapakhowa, headquarters of Sadiya subdivision, the birthplace of Bhupenda, thousands of people from remote areas came down to pay their respects at the Sahitya Sahitya Sabha Bhawan.
At all the places, people organised all-religion prayers for the eternal peace of the departed soul. The ashes kept in Sadiya will be immersed in the Parasuram Kunda on Lohit river in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh on November 13.
The ashes brought to Tinsukia and Margherita subdivisions will be immersed in the middle of Lohit river at Dholla Ghat where the erstwhile Sadiya town existed before the earthquake of 1950.
Meanwhile, people of Tinsukia have demanded that the Dhola-Sadiya bridge being constructed over the Brahmaputra river be named after the great son of the North-east. The people of Sadiya have demanded that a cultural complex be built on a 50-bigha plot of land allotted to the late music maestro.
Our Jonai Correspondent adds: Several organisations of Jonai in Dhemaji district today paid floral tributes to the urn containing Bhupen Hazarika�s ashes and prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul. About 5,000 people, including the members of students� unions like the Jonai units of AASU, AJYCP, TMPK (Mising), AGSU and representatives of business associations and others, besides prominent citizens, paid tribute to the music legend.
The Jonai subdivisional administration with the help of the student bodies arranged the programme today at the Jonai Higher Secondary School playground under foolproof security.
The Jonai Donyi-Polo Yelam Kebang has also expressed grief at the death of Dr Bhupen Hazarika and conducted a prayer programme in this regard.
The Jonai SDO (C) Arpan Kumar Saikia, who paid tribute to Bhupenda�s ashes, informed that the ashes would be kept till November 13 before immersion at Karengchapori Ghat along the Brahmaputra in the evening.
A retired CID official of Ngorlung village of Arunachal Pradesh, Akeng Taying, who was reportedly familiar with the music legend, also paid tribute in the Assamese tradition.
Our Kokrajhar Correspondent adds: Dr Bhupen Hazarika�s ashes were immersed in the Gaurang river near Patharghat here today with due honours. Hundreds of admirers and fans of Dr Hazarika thronged Patharghat to pay tribute to the late music maestro.
A number of people including students and prominent citizens of Kokrajhar have paid tribute to the holy ashes of the legend on the Kokrajhar Deputy Commissioner�s office premises since November 10.
