MANGALDAI, Nov 10 � Music lovers of Darrang district irrespective of caste, creed and religion today came out in large numbers to Government HS School campus here where the �ashes� of the musical maestro has been kept in a temporary altar to pay last tribute for the public.
Earlier, the public took out a procession along the highways of the town with traditional �Gayan-Bayan� to escort the mortal remains of the �true son of the soil� from the Deputy Commissioner�s Office to the temporary venue in the school.
It may well be mentioned that Bhupen Hazarika during his teenage came to Mangaldai with his family and reportedly stayed here in a rented house by the bank of river �Bega� for few years which naturally helped him to build a strong relationship with its people and the environment. The legendary musician later in his number of creations like the song Mangaldai Tomare Nam Haok Mangale Tomar� (1974) expressed his love and affection to Mangaldai. On the other hand the musical genius was loved and respected by all sections of the people here and as a mark of it he was conferred the title �Sangeet Surya� in the golden jubilee celebration of Rongali Bihu in the year 2000.
Meanwhile, a strong follower of Bhupenda as well as a prominent businessman Prabhu Agarwalla has decided to construct a granite statue of Dr Hazarika in a suitable public place here within a very short time to keep the memories of the beloved artiste alive.
HAILAKANDI: High tributes were paid to legendary cultural icon, Dr Bhupen Hazarika in a public meeting organised in Hailakandi. It was presided over by the Deputy Commissioner of Hailakandi, BC Borah and was addressed by PHE minister Gautam Roy, Superintendent of Police Hemanta Bhattacharjee, District and Sessions Judge, Alakeswar Bhattacharjee, district Congress president, Ashok Duttagupta, president of Barak Upatyaka Banga Sahitya O Sanskriti Sanmilan, Nitish Bhattacharjee, eminent educationist Manash Kanti Das, Brojendra Kumar Sinha, disciple of Bhupen Hazarika, Lilabati Deb, Joint Director of Health Services, Dr AC Sharma among others.
Speaking on the occasion, all the speakers highlighted the various aspects on the life of Bhupenda. They said that Dr Bhupen Hazarika was the mouthpiece of downtrodden and underprivileged people and all his writings and songs tried to highlight the problems of the masses. They held the view that the contribution of Dr Bhupen Hazarika towards the people of Assam will never be forgotten. Some personal experiences with Bhupenda were also highlighted by the speakers.
The memorable songs of Bhupenda both in Bengali and Assamese were performed by the local artists of Hailakandi.
RANGIYA: More than 20 different organisations including Rangiya Press Club, Rangiya Press Guild, Swar Gosthi, besides other bodies here at Pragati Sangha premises at Murara of the locality paid their community tributes to legendary singer Dr Bhupen Hazarika on Wednesday after his last rites were performed in Jalukbari.
The members of the bodies mourned his death deeply and observed minute�s silence and prayed for Dr Hazarika�s departed soul to rest in peace.
The members of various organisations here also took the oath to work in the line of Dr Hazarika�s ideals with a broad view to keep the sacrifice of the former alive ever in various fields.
Digboi: Life in Margherita subdivision came to a standstill spontaneously from the late afternoon of November 5 last as a mark of love and respect to the undying memory of the most illustrious musical maestro who kept the people of all ranks, ages and communities enthralled by the stirring powers of his songs, lyrics and music. The people throughout the subdivision muttered their silent prayers just as Bhupenda progressed in his great departure from here to eternity, from the temporal reality of shapes and sounds to the eternal reality of ever inspiring, ever bright and ever vibrating memories.
One could see temporary altars, public squares here and there throughout the subdivision at Margherita, Digboi, Ledo and Jagun areas being thronged by large gatherings of admirers in the evening hours offering floral tributes, burning incense sticks and lighting earthen lamps before the huge, life-size photo prints of the people�s artiste par excellence.
Various student bodies including AASU, ATASU etc., took the lead in organising these homage programmes. At the Swahid Bedi of Digboi, the paying of homage to Dr Hazarika through rendering of his own numbers by various local artistes continued in the evening hours of the past five days.
On November 8 life in the subdivision came to a halt with the business community keeping their shutters down and the public vehicles being off the roads throughout the day. The banks and other financial institutions along with the State Government offices remained closed. The general office of the Assam Oil Division of IOCL at Digboi also did not function, however, the refinery continued with its normal run.
