Tej Hazarika, the son of Assamese singer-composer Bhupen Hazarika, has said that he had been invited by the Union government to accept the Bharat Ratna on behalf of his late father and it that would be his “tremendous honour” to receive the country’s highest civilian award.
On the controversy over his remarks made on February 11 through a Facebook post, Mr. Hazarika said: “It is unfortunate that (some) people would completely misinterpret my public February 11th statement regarding the ‘Bharat Ratna’ itself by sadly misrepresenting my view of it.”
In the Facebook post, he had said that his father’s name and words were being invoked and celebrated publicly while plans were afoot to pass a “painfully unpopular” Citizenship (Amendment) Bill that was “actually undermining his documented position. It would in reality be in direct opposition to what Bupenda believed in his heart of hearts.”
Mr. Hazarika said it was a “tremendous honour for me and my family to be invited” by the Indian government to accept the ‘Bharat Ratna’ on behalf of his late father.
“The Government of India has graciously extended me an invitation to accept the Bharat Ratna for my father. He sacrificed much and devoted selflessly to the cause of a united and progressive India and now he is being recognised for that with this well-deserved award,” Mr. Hazarika said in a statement issued to PTI in New York.
“It will be my dreamlike privilege to receive it for my father and his fans and followers everywhere. As always, I will strive to follow in my father’s footsteps to work to bring light where there is darkness,” he said.
