TEZPUR, Oct 21 � Urging people from every walk of the society to make the dream of Bhupen Hazarika of transforming the Assamese nation into the best, Union Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal said that the cultural icon who was a lyricist, musician, singer, poet and film-maker from Assam had an unmatched contribution towards the Assamese culture and literature, and it was because of him that the identity of the Assamese nation has been established at the international level. The central minister laid the foundation stone of the Bhupendra Bhawan, held in connection with the concluding programme of the year-long golden jubilee function of Tezpur Sahitya Sabha. Sonowal said that Dr Bhupen Hzarika�s songs, written and sung mainly in the Assamese language himself, are marked by humanity and universal brotherhood and have been translated and sung in many languages, most notably in Bengali and Hindi, and are based on the themes of communal amity, universal justice and empathy. They have become popular not only among the people of Assam, but among people living across the globe thereby introducing the Assamese nation to the world.
�We will have to acknowledge that our cultural heritage is today in a rich position only because of stars like Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha, Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Phani Sarma and Dr Bhupen Hazarika,� he said adding that the multifaceted genius, Dr Bhupen Hazarika was a remarkable poet, music composer, singer, actor, journalist, author and film-maker. He is the only living legend of Assam�s film industry and has been therefore, rightly hailed as the uncrowned king of north-eastern India�s cultural world and his dignity must be kept in a high position by following his ideology.
The Central Minister who was for the first time, attending a series of meetings here including a worker�s meet at the district library here, an interaction meet among the sports personalities and various sports organisations at Tarun Som Sangha said that he has a responsibility as an Assamese youth towards the region, and that he would try his level best to address every issue in the Parliament with sincerity.
The central sports minister also said that Tezpur would be given priority in the field of sports. He said that altogether 150 sportsmen would be prepared from Assam to participate in the next Olympics to be held in Brazil.
Earlier, Tezpur MP RP Sharma, said that Tezpur is the cultural capital of Assam with six of its stars Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha, Phani Sharma, Dr Bhupen Hazarika, Padmanath Gohain Baruah and Hem Baruah shining brightly. Speaking on the occasion, DC, Lalit Gogoi emphasised that Tezpur would be a milestone. In his brief speech, he also said that Bhupendra Bhwan would be a centre for research of Assamese culture where the culture of every community of the region would get top priority.
Taking part in the programme as a special guest, a brother of Dr Bhupen Hazarika, Nipen Hzarika appreciated the Tezpur Sahitya Sabha for taking such an initiative and urged it to name the Bhawan as Dr Bhupen Hazarika Bhwan in place of �Bhupendra Bhawan�.
The function was presided over by the president of Tezpur Sahitya Sabha, Suresh Kumar Arya. Earlier, secretary of the golden jubilee celebration committee of Tezpur Sahitya Sabha, Pulin Kumar Bhattacharya in his welcome address urged the Central Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to take bold steps to represent every issue in the Parliament. In the programme presidents and secretaries of the former bodies of the Tezpur Sahitya Sabha were felicitated.
