Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) has appealed to the Assam government to make the Samadhi Kshetra of maestro Dr Bhupen Hazarika spacious enough with a pattern that is more developed than that of Rajghat. The students' body has also urged the state government to do all to make the creations of the polymathic bard spread worldwide.
The students' body paid tributes to the life-size statue of the maestro on the bank of Dighalipukhuri in Guwahati and in all district headquarters in the state today. This tribute-paying programme marked the onset of AASU's year-long centenary celebrations of Dr Bhupen Hazarika.
Speaking at the programme, AASU's chief adviser, Dr Samujjal Bhattacharjya, said, "A polymath of repute, Dr Hazarika's diverse creativity needs wide coverage in school curricula. Apart from Gauhati University, Dibrugarh University and Tezpur University, the main universities of the country should institute a chair each in the name of Dr Hazarika. The state government should liaise with governments concerned to this effect. The government should also establish an international research institute in the name of the balladeer. The government should also take measures to rename Guwahati Railway Station as Bhupen Hazarika Railway Station, besides introducing 'cultural trains' in his name in the country for the spread of his creative culture."
The chief adviser of the AASU said, "The Samadhi Kshetra of the maestro is very congested. The government needs to make it spacious enough."
AASU president Utpal Sarma said, "The government should take initiatives to introduce the song - Manuhe manuhar babe - of the Bard of the Brahmaputra as a prayer song in schools in the state, as the message that the song conveys will help students etch humanity in their characters instead of demonic nature. This song got this message well across during the 1960 linguistic conflicts in the state."
On the Samadhi Kshetra of the maestro, Sarma said, "The government should make the Samadhi Kshetra more spacious with a pattern that is more developed than that of Rajghat."
AASU general secretary Samiran Phukon appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do something that would make the creations of the maestro vibrant among the people of the nation.
From 6 pm, the AASU started its programme 'Uddipona' near the bard's statue on the bank of Dighalipukhuri."
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