Guwahati, Sept 20: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma left for Delhi on Saturday to receive singer Zubeen Garg’s body, arriving from Singapore around midnight, and accompany it to Guwahati, an official said.
Sarma said he has asked the airport authorities in Delhi that he should be to go up to the aircraft to receive the body of Zubeen, who died in Singapore on Friday, and pay his tributes to the singer.
The CM was accompanied by Union Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita, a close friend of Zubeen since their college days in Jorhat.
The mortal remains of the singer will be brought to Guwahati by a special aircraft. It is likely to arrive in Assam on Sunday morning.
“I will be going to Delhi later today to receive our beloved Zubeen’s mortal remains, which will arrive from Singapore. From there, we will immediately bring the body back to Guwahati, hopefully by 6 am on Sunday,” Sarma said in a post on X.
Sarma said the body has been handed over to the Indian High Commission in Singapore and the accompanying team members of the singer.
The chief minister, before leaving for the airport, reviewed arrangements for the second time during the day at Guwahati’s Sarusajai Sports Stadium, where his body will be kept for people to pay their last respects.
Sarma also directed Minister for Cultural Affairs Bimal Borah to oversee the preparations at the stadium.
After arrival in Guwahati, the singer’s body will be placed in a flower-bedecked ambulance and brought out through the VIP exit.
His body will first be taken to his Kahilipara residence, where members of the family will spend some moments with the mortal remains, and no public will be allowed, the CM said.
“Strict security arrangements will be ensured near his residence. I request people to stay away when Zubeen’s body is taken to his home so that his family members, particularly his 85-year-old ailing father, can spend time before the body is taken to the stadium,” he said.
The singer’s family members have requested that they be allowed at least one and a half hours time before his body is taken to the stadium.
Guwahati Commissioner of Police Parthasarathi Mahanta visited the residence to oversee the security arrangements in the locality.
Sarma said several organisations from Jorhat have demanded that the singer’s last rites be performed in the Upper Assam town, and a memorial dedicated to him established there.
“The government will not make any independent decision regarding the last rites of the singer. We will first consult his family whose wish will be the top priority, and also several organisations of the state, including the Asam Sahitya Sabha (ASS) and the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), and the people who were closely associated with him, before we make a final decision,” the CM said.
The Assam Sahitya Sabha has also written a letter to Sarma, urging him to hold the singer’s last rites at Jorhat. (PTI)
