Bharat Ratna for Bhupen Hazarika a victory for humanity & diversity, says son

Tej Hazarika, the son of the late singer-composer Bhupen Hazarika, said Sunday the government's decision to confer Bharat Ratna on his father is a victory for humanity, diversity and India's secular character.

The government had on Friday announced that former president Pranab Mukherjee, the late Bharatiya Jana Sangh leader Nanaji Deshmukh, and Bhupen Hazarika would be conferred the Bharat Ratna — the country's highest civilian award.

An e-mailed statement issued on Sunday quoted Tej Hazarika, who lives in the USA, as saying, "In his songs, blueprints for the youth and future of India can be discovered."

Tej, reacting to his father being conferred the country's highest civilian award, said, "In his songs, he celebrated the richness of indigenous people not only of the Northeast but all of India and he advocated their inclusion in the Indian experience as essential to the success of Indian civilisation as a whole."