People Of Assam Will Never Forget Respect Shown By PM To Bhupen Hazarika: Himanta

Expressing gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his presence at Bhupen Hazarika's birth anniversary celebrations here, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said it healed the wound the people had felt at the “failure” of the then PM to pay respects to the musical maestro on his demise.

"When Bhupen da died (in 2011), the people of Assam wanted a representative of government of India to come and pay respects. We wanted the prime minister to come and lay a garland when he was being cremated," Sarma said, speaking at a programme as part of Hazarika's birth centenary celebrations.

"But, our dream did not come true," he said, in an apparent reference to the then Congress-led central government and prime minister Manmohan Singh, who was also a Rajya Sabha member from Assam.

"Today, Modi ji has come to be part of Bhupen da's birth centenary celebrations...The way he has shown respect for Bhupen da, the people of Assam will never forget it," Sarma said.

The chief minister also recounted how Hazarika's songs and other creations advocated social equality and a deep sense of nationalism.

Sarma also thanked the BJP-led central government for its respect for the "Bard of Brahmaputra", by bestowing the Bharat Ratna, naming the Dhola-Sadiya bridge after him and releasing a Rs 100 coin in his memory.