| GUWAHATI: The Opposition Congress and the ruling dispensation in Assam are engaged in “deliberations” over a proposed memorial in honour of three-time chief minister Tarun Gogoi who breathed his last here on Monday evening.
The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee has urged the state government to ascertain as soon as possible, land for cremation, and subsequently, the construction of a memorial in the city. However, the state government has said that it has, till Tuesday evening, not been able to ascertain any plot of land “in the heart of the city” for building a memorial in honour of the 86-year-old veteran Congress leader. The last rites of the former chief minister are scheduled to be performed here with full national honours on Thursday, even as the cremation venue is yet to be decided by the government. The state is currently under three days of mourning. Assam PCC leader, Ripun Bora had even asserted that “if the government fails to find a suitable plot of land for cremation/memorial in the city, for a leader who has served the state as chief minister for three straight terms, and the country as Union minister, not to mention his invaluable contributions, then the party would be compelled to take its own measures for the cremation at the Manabendra Sarma Complex in Dispur.” Speaking to reporters on Monday, Assam Cabinet minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma informed that the matter has been taken up with the chief minister and Kamrup (Metro) deputy commissioner. “The district administration has explored all options, but has not been able to find a plot in the heart of the city for the cremation/memorial site. However, if the party wants, then two places (on the outskirts of the city) – Amingaon and Sonapur – can be explored,” Sarma said. The minister said the plot referred to by the APCC at Chachal could not be selected as under the wetland law, construction is barred there. “We hope they (Opposition) will understand as the same situation arose after the demise of (music maestro) Dr Bhupen Hazarika. However, thanks to the benevolence of the Gauhati University authorities, a plot could be allotted for a memorial (at Jalukbari) at that time,” Sarma said. The minister however said that the departed leader’s family members have not spoken to him in this regard as yet. It may be mentioned that there were demands raised from the former chief minister’s home town (Titabor) in regard to his cremation there. “But the family members have spoken to me and said that they would prefer his cremation in Guwahati,” Sarma said. Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly, Debabrata Saikia has also written a letter to the chief minister, requesting the state government to construct a memorial at a suitable site in the city. “In 2001, Assam was grappling with an economic crisis, law and order/insurgency problem and secret killings. But the able leadership/administration of the three-time chief minister in the subsequent years, peace returned to the state. There was progress and development in the form of new infrastructure, including medical colleges, roads, Assam Secretariat complex, etc,” Saikia wrote in the letter. “The onus is on the state government to honour the departed leader’s immense contributions to Assam. Hence I request you to take measures for construction of a memorial at a suitable cremation site to keep his contributions and ideals alive in future,” he wrote in the letter to Sonowal.
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