Bhupen Hazarika's 86th birthday observed

The state government would also provide facilities for research and propagation of Bhupendra Sangeet, Gogoi told reporters on the sidelines of a function to observe the 86th birthday of the legendary music maestro.

Gogoi offered flowers to the Asom Ratna and participated in an all-faith prayer meet at his samadhi kshetra (cremation ground) in the Gauhati University campus.

He described Hazarika as a uniting force who tried to bond different communities of the state through his songs that spoke about building a new Assam and a new India.

Eminent artistes sang songs composed by Hazarika on peace, love and brotherhood in view of the prevailing situation in the state.

The maestro's only son, writer Tez Hazarika who lives in the USA, in a media article said, "my father grew out of the narrow confines of religious or political sectarianism as he discovered the greater world, ever seeking a place for Assam in it."

Socio-cultural and student organisations paid rich tributes to Bhupenda as he was popularly known and his songs played.

This is the first birth anniversary of the singer, composer, film-maker, poet, lyricist after his death on November 5 last year.