GUWAHATI: Bangladesh will pay a tribute to the Bard of the Brahmaputra, as singer-song writer Bhupen Hazarika is known, on his seventh death anniversary on November 5.
As part of the cultural evening hosted by the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in association with Guwahati-based socio-cultural organisation, Byatikram Mass Awareness & Social Development Organization, a host of musical soirees and songs of the bard are being lined up at the event in Dhaka.
A team of 20 delegates from Assam including Bhupen Hazarika’s sister, Sudakshina Sarma, his nephew, Rishiraj Sarma, Padmashree Surjya Kanta Hazarika, Sangita Kakot and, Abhijit Kumar Barua among others will grace the occasion.
“The delegation from Assam will reach Dhaka on November 4. We have taken this initiative with the help of Liaquat Ali Lucky, the director general of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, who is inspired by the songs of the legend and is known as Junior Bhupen da,” Saumen Bharatiya, president of Byatikram MASDO and the general secretary of Friends of Bangladesh, Assam chapter said.
“The objective of the cultural programme is to promote cordial relationship between Assam and Bangladesh with the help of the songs of Bhupen Hazarika. The legendary singer is the pioneer of the cordial relationship between Assam and Bangladesh. He has always pitched for peace among humanity, for which he is very popular in Bangladesh,” Bharatiya said.
Byatikram along with the Bhupen Hazarika Cultural Trust, in association with Friends of Bangladesh, Dhaka and Assam chapters, had in 2016 organised a two-day event to commemorate the birth anniversary of the bard in the Bangladeshi capital city. Cultural and social organisations of India and Bangladesh had for the first time collaborated to pay tributes to the life and work of the legendary singer in Dhaka.
Hazarika’s songs, especially his rendition of Joy joy nabajata Bangladesh, struck an emotional chord during the Liberation War of 1971. In 2011, Hazarika was posthumously conferred the Muktijoddha Padak in recognition of his contribution to the Bangladesh War of Independence.