Letters to the Editor: Bharat Ratna for Zubeen

Bharat Ratna for Zubeen

Through this column of your esteemed daily, I would like to highlight the growing public sentiment that the Government of India should confer the Bharat Ratna posthumously upon Zubeen Garg, one of Assam’s most celebrated and influential cultural icons.

Zubeen Garg was far more than a singer. He was a composer, music director, lyricist, actor and filmmaker whose extraordinary contribution transformed the cultural landscape of Assam. Generations of Assamese people deeply connected with his music, which resonated with their emotions, aspirations, and everyday lives. For millions, he was not merely an artiste but a heartthrob and a beloved cultural voice.

His contribution also extended beyond Assam. By taking Assamese music and culture to wider audiences while remaining firmly rooted in his linguistic and cultural identity, he demonstrated the richness of India's extraordinary diversity. His work helped bring greater visibility to Assamese culture and, more broadly, to the artistic identity of the Northeast.

The Bharat Ratna is India's highest civilian honour and must naturally be conferred according to established norms and institutional considerations. However, the overwhelming affection and respect of the people for Zubeen Garg deserve serious attention. Recognising his contribution would not merely honour an individual artiste; it would acknowledge the immense cultural contribution of Assam and the Northeast to the national fabric.

Zubeen Garg's stature was created through decades of artistic work and through an unparalleled bond with the people. A posthumous Bharat Ratna, if considered appropriate under the prescribed norms, would therefore represent national recognition of a legacy that Assam has already embraced. I sincerely hope the Government of India will consider this demand with due respect and sensitivity.

Heramba Nath,

Hindumaizali, Kamrup

Guest faculty remuneration

When highly qualified teachers are paid barely enough to make ends meet, the crisis is not merely about salaries—it is about the value we place on education. The recent recruitment notice for Guest Faculty in Geography at Jagannath Barooah University, offering a fixed remuneration of only Rs 15,000 per month, deserves serious public attention. The post requires candidates to possess NET/SLET or a Ph.D., yet the remuneration amounts to roughly Rs 500 a day. Such a wide gap between academic qualifications and compensation is difficult to justify.

Guest faculty may be appointed on a contractual basis, but their responsibilities are hardly temporary. They teach classes, prepare lessons, evaluate students, guide academic work and contribute to the institution's educational standards. Expecting such professional responsibilities for a meagre honorarium can drive talented scholars away from teaching and, in the long run, undermine academic quality. Universities should aim to enhance the value of academic labour rather than diminish it. If institutions are being upgraded to university status, their faculty policies should also adhere to higher standards. The government and universities must review such remuneration, introduce transparent pay scales and ensure timely payment with basic professional safeguards. Education cannot flourish when its educators are forced to scrape by. It's time to take action and restore dignity to the teaching profession.

Dipen Gogoi,

Teok, Jorhat

Assam’s flood resilience

It is heartening to learn from your esteemed daily that the CM is focusing on sustainable and innovative solutions to tackle the state's perennial flood problems. Better be late than never. Assam needs flood-resilience lifetime, as it has become an economic crisis rather than a seasonal disaster.

The recurring natural hazards continue to disrupt the state's agriculture, tea plantations, fisheries, livelihoods and infrastructure every year. The CM has rightly said that mere declaration of Assam floods as a national calamity can not solve the problem. Rethinking flood management in the state demands shifting from reactive structural defenses to ecological river basin governance. It needs to protect vulnerable riverside communities while transforming recurring monsoonal catastrophes into lasting climate resilience. We must re-evaluate our relationship with rivers to grasp Assam's flood narrative, as 36 per cent of the river basin drainage area in India lies within the state. We, therefore, need to build long-term climate resilience, which requires shifting away from sole reliance on ageing structural barriers towards integrating the management of the Brahmaputra and Barak river basins. Also, adopting a holistic basin-wide approach can definitely go a long way to manage both the rivers' water flow, sedimentation and flood diversion channels. At the same time, we must assign equal importance to ecological restoration, risk-based spatial planning and community-centred adaptation.

By aligning policy with hydrological realities, the state can transform its frequent and complex water crisis into a blueprint for water-forward stability. The use of advanced technology and better mitigation measures can surely help minimise the impact of floods across the state.

Iqbal Saikia,

Guwahati.