“Bhupenda’s ‘Bharat Ratna’ a display of short-lived cheap thrills”: Tez Hazarika

Guwahati, February 11, 2019:

Tej Hazarika, Bhupen Hazarika’s son who lives in the US, is apparently more ‘Axomiya’ than the politicians of Assam who are trying to impose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 to serve “national interests”. After bombshell reports of Tej’s plans to renounce the ‘Bharat Ratna’ conferred to the late maestro, he has penned a poignant letter.

InsideNE has received a copy of his official statement, where he discusses at length the issue of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 as well as his father’s ‘Bharat Ratna’. In the statement, Tej expresses grief over his father’s name being used for political purposes. “I believe that my father’s name and words are being invoked and celebrated publicly while plans are afoot to pass a painfully unpopular bill regarding citizenship that is actually undermining his documented position”, he wrote.

Tej, while asserting that Bhupenda would never have approved of the “unconstitutional”, “undemocratic” and “un-Indian” Bill, also added that adopting the Bill would deliver “a wreaking blow to the harmony, inner integrity and unity of the secular and democratic Republic of India.”

On the question posited to him by journalists regarding whether or not he would accept the award on his father’s behalf, Tej states: “A) I have not received any invitation there is nothing to reject, and B), how the center moves on this matter far outweighs in importance the awarding and receiving of such national recognition-a display of short-lived cheap thrills.”