HT Correspondents
JORHAT, Sept 20: Jorhat witnessed a complete shutdown on Saturday as the state mourned the death of Assam’s most popular singer, Zubeen Garg.
Business establishments, offices and educational institutions remained closed, while the otherwise busy streets wore a deserted look with only the occasional car or motorcycle passing by.
Related Posts:
The grief also resonated on social media platforms, where tributes, poems, personal memories and photographs of the late singer flooded Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
By evening, silence gave way to the sound of Garg’s songs being played from a mini truck moving through the town.
Across communities, people gathered at street corners and crossroads, particularly at Baruah Chariali, to light earthen lamps in front of the singer’s photographs and posters in a collective act of remembrance.
The Jorhat Press Club joined organisations and individuals in offering condolences.
Calls for performing Garg’s last rites in Jorhat and for constructing a samadhi sthal gained momentum during the day.
The Asam Sahitya Sabha, Jorhat MLA Hitendra Nath Goswami, several organisations and a mass signature campaign appealed to chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to fulfil the public demand.
Asam Sahitya Sabha president Dr Basanta Goswami told reporters at Chandrakanta Handique Bhawan that the literary body had received widespread appeals for a memorial in Garg’s home district.
He said he had written to the Chief Minister after consultations with organisations and discussions with the Jorhat MLA.
MLA Hitendra Nath Goswami said the chief minister had assured him that the request would be considered.
The district administration has begun identifying possible sites in Jorhat for the memorial, with three to four locations capable of accommodating seven to eight lakh people being shortlisted.
Several cultural organisations also met Jorhat Deputy Commissioner Jay Shivani on Saturday to submit a memorandum urging the government to establish the memorial.
They pointed out that cultural icons Bishnu Prasad Rabha and Dr Bhupen Hazarika have their samadhi sthals at Tezpur and Guwahati respectively, and that Garg too deserved a final resting place in his native district.
Meanwhile, the Central Puja Coordination Committee, Jorhat, announced that all puja committees will refrain from taking out the customary Mahalaya procession scheduled for Sunday morning, as a mark of respect to the late singer. The procession usually draws large crowds at dawn to welcome Goddess Durga and herald the Durga Puja festivities.
