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Assam bids adieu to singer Zubeen Garg, thousands throng cremation site
Zubeen Garg’s cremation took place at Kamarkuchi in Sonapur, located 25 km away from Guwahati, at a specially designated site, which will be later converted to a memorial by the Assam government
GUWAHATI: The last rites of Assamese singer Zubeen Garg, who died in Singapore while swimming in the sea with a few friends and associates on Friday, was performed on Tuesday on the outskirts of Guwahati in presence of thousands of his ardent fans and admirers.
The 52-year-old’s cremation took place at Kamarkuchi in Sonapur, located 25 km away from Guwahati, at a specially designated site, which will be later converted to a memorial by the Assam government. A second memorial will be built at Jorhat, Garg’s hometown, located 300 km east of Guwahati.
Garg, a singer, lyricist, composer, actor and filmmaker, was also vocal on political and social issues in the state.
He had gone to Singapore to take part in the North East Festival, an annual event held abroad to showcase the region’s culture. He is believed to have suffered from epileptic seizure.
The funeral pyre was lit by Garg’s younger sister Palmee Borthakur, who was accompanied by Rahul Gautam Sharma, a writer, lyricist and actor, and Arun Garg, a digital creator and close associate of the family. A group of priests chanted mantras while a team from Assam Police gave a gun salute according state honour to the singer. Thousands of his admirers, who had gathered at the site, sang ‘Mayabini’, one of Garg’s iconic songs which he had desired to be sung during his funeral.
Many dignitaries, including Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, union ministers Sarbananda Sonowal, Kiren Rijiju, Pabitra Margherita, Assam assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary, Congress leader and leader of opposition in the state Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, members of the state cabinet and MLAs were present at the site.
“The last time that I got to see beloved Zubeen. From now on he will live in Assam’s soul , mind and hearts...,” Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X.
Representatives of many prominent organisations like Assam Sahitya Sabha, the state’s premier literary body, All Assam Students Union, the most influential student body, and those from indigenous bodies also paid their last respects.
Garg’s family members including his wife Garrima Saikia Garg, father Mohini Mohan Borthakur, and popular singer Angaraag Papon Mahanta, who is also from Assam and was a close friend of Garg, too offered their condolences. Garg’s wife Garrima broke down at the site. Thousands of Garg’s followers had thronged the cremation site since Monday night and waited for many hours in the scorching heat to be part of their icon’s last journey.
His body had been kept at Sarusajai Stadium for public display since Sunday afternoon after it reached Guwahati via Delhi from Singapore. On Tuesday early morning the body was taken from Sarusajai Stadium to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital for a second post-mortem.
Though a post mortem had been done in Singapore, the state government decided on Monday to carry out one more, following demands in Assam in order to rule out foul play. The post mortem was carried out by a team of four expert doctors from GMCH, Pragjyotishpur Medical College and AIIMS-Guwahati.
After the post-mortem, it was taken back to Sarusajai Stadium and from there to Kamarkuchi. A convoy of buses carrying 85 family members of Garg’s family, friends and close associates including his wife Garrima Saikia Garg and many security vehicles accompanied the body.
The death certificate issued by Singapore authorities had stated drowning as the cause of his demise. But there have been allegations and speculations about negligence, foul play or conspiracy associated with the death by many in his home state. The report of the post-mortem conducted at Singapore is not available yet.
Videos circulating online, and verified as correct by those present with him, showed Garg, who has had bouts of epileptic seizures in the past, swimming in the sea first wearing a life jacket and then without it. He is stated to have had a seizure while swimming. Though attempts were made to revive him at the spot and later at the Singapore General Hospital, he was declared dead at 5.13 pm Singapore time.
After his death, several first information reports (FIRs) were filed at many police stations against Shyam Kanu Mahanta, organiser of the North East Festival, and Garg’s manager, Siddharth Sharma, accusing them of foul play. The state government has transferred all the cases to the state criminal investigation department (CID) for a thorough probe.
Garg had burst into Assam’s music scene in 1992 following the release of his debut album Anamika while he was still a graduate student of B. Borooah College in Guwahati. Over the past 33 years, he has recorded over 36,000 songs in 40 languages and dialects (the details are kept at a Guwahati library which has all his albums) and acted in and made many successful films.
He is accredited for single-handedly reviving both Assam’s music and movie industries with his music and blockbuster films like Mission China and Kanchenjunga. He also stayed in Mumbai for a few years and sang for many Hindi movies including the popular Ya Ali of Gangster (2006) but later returned to Assam.
But more than his music and movies, he is loved by millions in Assam and the northeast across generations for being vocal on issues he believed in– from opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to denouncing the caste system and saying that he believed in just humanism.
He took on politicians, parties and even the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) refusing their diktat not to sing Hindi or Bengali songs on stage. Garg was also a philanthropist and since his death hundreds have recounted how he helped them in their studies, medical treatment and businesses.
Despite his immense fame, he was very down to earth, a quality that endeared him to the masses who felt he was one among them or a member of their family. Though he liked to enjoy the perks of his stardom he was always comfortable in simple joys like sipping tea at roadside stalls.
After Garg’s death, most shops and business establishments in many places across Assam downed shutters spontaneously. The state government announced a four-day state mourning till Tuesday.
All educational institutions across Assam are shut on Tuesday and all offices in Kamrup (Metropolitan) district where the cremation site is located, have been declared closed by the state government. Liquor shops will also remain shut for two days till Tuesday while shops have been allowed to open after 2 pm after cremation gets over.
Garg married fashion designer Garrima Saikia in 2002. The couple has no children but have adopted many. His mother Illy had passed away earlier, and Garg’s other sister Jongki, who was also a singer, had died in an accident in 2002. Garg’s 85-year-old father, Mohini Mohan Borthakur, who was a magistrate, poet and writer, is the only other surviving member of the immediate family besides Garrima.
