Writing a piece on Dr Bhupen Hazarika, widely addressed as Bhupen-da by billions of his fans and well wishers around the music world, appears to be a difficult job always. A genius of our time, who shaped the Assamese music and film industry for decades, Bhupen-da is known for his creations, performances and visibility whenever there was crisis in our society. A divine singer and an outstanding orator who nurtured poems while addressing the audience, Bhupen-da made the music lover across Eastern India, Bangladesh and Nepal astonished with his crisp voice, enlightened lyrics and sweet interactions with the common people. A recent release titled Bhupen-da Ka Surila Safar (Melodious Journey of Bhupen-da) may probably justify in describing the legendary cultural personality to the readers of Hindi literature.
Penned by Guwahati-based journalist Azhar Alam, the 184-page book (priced at Rs 300) is published by Assam Rashtrabhasha Prachar Samiti, which was launched by Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal a few months back. Sonowal termed the Bharat Ratna awardee as one of India’s most influential cultural figures. Brought to public in the midst of Bhupen-da’s year-long birth centenary celebrations (which began 8 September 2025), the book is understood to serve as a colossal bridge while introducing the rich cultural heritage of Assam and other north-eastern State to the Hindi-speaking people precisely in central and northern India.
Nobody can deny that Bhupen-da had a bigger than life image with his creations as a poet, lyricist, singer, music composer, author, journalist and filmmaker. The self-proclaimed Jajabor (wanderer) remains the most exposed, discussed and reported personality in Assam. The bard of Brahmaputra is equally popular in mainland India, and also in Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. The Indian government had conferred him Padam Shree, Padma Bhushan and later coveted Bharat Ratna. The pioneering film maker was also honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the first and only one from north-eastern region to receive the prestigious award till date. Bhupen-da becomes the first personality from Assam to be honored with the issuance of a non-circulating commemorative coin of Rs 100 (created solely for preservation as a heritage item) which was officially released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with a book on his life.
Born on 8 September 1926 at Sadiya in eastern Assam to Nilakanta Hazarika and Shantipriya Hazarika’s family, Bhupen-da had preliminary education in various parts of the State. After completing matriculation at Tezpur in 1940, he came to Guwahati for his IA course from Cotton College. Later he went to Banaras Hindu University and completed BA and MA in Political Science. Bhupen-da left for the USA to complete his PhD in mass communication from Columbia University in New York. He returned to Assam and also worked as a professor in Gauhati University for some time.
Forwarded by award winning Assamese film critic Utpal Barpujari, the book also comprises a number of photographs relating to Bhupen-da’s personal and social life as well as stills from movies where Bhupen-da used to work. The writer also documented some of the lyrics with Hindi translation for the benefit of readers. Azhar thus panned the enormous struggles faced by Bhupen-da where he was a real life warrior. In his death Assam wept for a week with newspapers and news channels reporting Bhupen-da and his immortal creations for the entire period. A rare gesture was shown by the people of Assam, when he was cremated in Jalukbari amidst thousands of attendants and billions sobbing round the world. Azhar deserves appreciation for his tedious job to pen a personality emerging as an ultimate identity for Assam and Asomiya people
After months of uncertainties, the Press Council of India (PCI) recently got its chairman, but the space of 13 working journalists remains vacant till date. Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, who served as the PCI chairman from 17 June 2022 to 16 December 2025, assumed the charge on 24 April 2026 once again. The retired judge of the Supreme Court of India was nominated for another term of three years. But the quotas for working journalists remain vacant as seven members, to be represented by professional scribes (other than editors) and six members, to be represented by journalist-editors, are yet to be picked up to complete the 15th council (https://presscouncil.nic.in/CurrentMemberPCI.aspx...
After Assam, Keralam and Puducherry (union territory), the State legislative assembly elections are knocking at the doors of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in the second half of April 2026. Meanwhile, the millions of voters have shown an extraordinary commitment to electoral politics as they participated in the largely peaceful single-phase assembly polls on 9 April recording a high voters’ turnout. Assam recorded 85.96% voter participation in 126 assembly seats, where Puducherry showcased over 90% voting in 30 constituencies followed by Keralam (140 seats) with nearly 80% turnout.
Assam’s 2.50 crore electorates (including 1.25 crore female voters and 6.4 lakh first-timers...
As Assam goes to the single-phase polling tomorrow (9 April 2026), nearly 2.49 crore registered voters (including 5.75 lakh young/first time voters) will exercise their franchise to elect 126 representatives for the State legislative assembly. Under the guidelines of Election Commission of India, all types of campaigning had already came to a halt at 5 pm on Tuesday (48 hours prior to voting) where the authority urged all candidates, political parties, and media outlets to strictly follow the guidelines. The same timeline is made applicable for Kerala and Pondicherry as well, whereas Tamil Nadu will vote on 23 April, and West Bengal going for polling on 23 and 29 April next....
Landlocked Himalayan nation Nepal prepares for its ninth national election on 5 March, which was necessitated with the collapse of its government in Kathmandu during September last year following an anti-corruption mass uprising, which was initiated by the young people and resulted in the killing of dozens of agitators and injuring hundreds other. The south Asian country of around 30.55 million people, sandwiched between two giants India and Tibet/China, has readied all necessary arrangements for the single day polling through ballot papers under the protection of nearly 3,50,000 security personnel (with additional armed forces kept ready for an unwanted emergency situation...
Even all political parties, not to speak of millions of fans and well-wishers of Assam’s revered cultural icon Zubeen Garg, continue preaching for sparing the maverick singer’s name in doing politics, his mysterious death last year in a foreign land may dominate the electoral politics in the forthcoming legislative polls. Indications surface that Assam assembly elections (scheduled for March-April 2026 along with West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry) will observe a high voltage campaigning on Zubeen’s unexplained demise in Singapore on 19 September 2025 and subsequent investigation and judicial processes. Even after five months of his final departure, Zubeen continues...
As Bangladesh has constituted a new government under the leadership of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) after a largely fair & peaceful national election on 12 February 2026, the people of eastern India (the region virtually embraces the poverty stricken country except a few kilometers in Myanmar and the Bay of Bengal) hope for a progressive regime in Dhaka enjoying political stability and pursuing economic developments to over 170 million people in the south Asian nation. The Muslim majority country continues to grow as a headache for the north-eastern states, more precisely Assam, for at least two reasons namely unabated influx of migrants and regional security...
Amid high security arrangements across the country, polling begins this morning at 7:30 am for the highly projected 13th Jatiya Sansad election in Bangladesh, where over 2000 candidates representing 50 political parties along with many independent contestants are in the fray. The Muslim majority nation has over 12.77 crore registered voters including 6.27 crore women and 1,232 third-genders, who are voting for electing 299 representatives (out of 300 seats in the national assembly). Over 42,000 polling centres will facilitate the electorates to exercise their franchise (through ballots in person) till 4:30 pm (on 12 February 2026). The election will be conducted...
As Bangladesh heads for 13th Parliamentary election and the referendum on July National Charter simultaneously on Thursday (12 February 2026), the interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus urged all participating candidates to rise above personal and party interests to prioritize greater interest of the Muslim majority nation regardless of the poll-outcomes. Addressing the nation of over 170 million people ahead of the much watched electoral exercises, Nobel peace laureate Dr Yunus commented that victory as well as defeat is an integral part of democracy and hence after the election, they should dedicate themselves to build a new, just, democratic, and inclusive...
Is it possible to have a quasi-judicial body like the Press Council of India to survive for weeks without its chairperson? Should the largest democracy on Earth put such an example where its government recognized autonomous media watchdog faces an existential crisis as the 15th council of PCI still devoid of a functioning head and 13 seats? How come a press council runs its business without filling these 13 seats, meant for millions of media professionals, for more than a year now, whereas the term of a council is limited to three years only? Many such pertinent questions emerge among media professionals in the south Asian nation, as the regular three-year term (as well as...
Amid an existential crisis in the Guwahati-based Assam Tribune group of newspapers, which worsened after the Covid-19 pandemic, a popular Assamese weekly newspaper lost its publication in the latter part of 2025. Asom Bani, once a mainstream weekly for Assamese readers for decades, stopped hitting the stands from September last year, as the management lost interest in continuing its printing every Friday. Even though the seven-decade-old Assamese-language weekly was lost from the media market, the management did not make any statement about Asom Bani’s fate. Prior to its departure, the weekly was merged with Dainik Asom, an acclaimed Assamese daily from the prestigious media house, as its...
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