After students' resentment, Tezpur University to honour Zubeen Garg with statue, scholarship

Tezpur, Assam: Assam's Tezpur University on Tuesday announced it will erect a statue of cultural icon Zubeen Garg on the campus and also mulled conferring an honorary doctorate (posthumously) on him, the institution said in a statement.

The varsity will also institute a scholarship in his name, with the announcements coming following resentment among students, who alleged that the university authorities had failed to show due respect to Garg after his death.

The university had witnessed a heated exchange of words between Vice Chancellor Shambhu Nath Singh and students on Monday evening, leading to a situation where the VC had to nearly flee from the spot to escape the pupils' ire.

The students had submitted a list of demands on Sunday, including a week-long 'shradhanjali' (homage) to Garg and an apology to the people of the state for "late response" in offering condolences over Garg's death.

"The university hereby informs that it accepts all the points mentioned in the letter for further needful administrative action," the statement said, referring to the list of demands from the students.

It said that in honour of the cultural icon, the university is proposing to build a statue of Garg at a designated site on the campus.

"The university is mulling to confer upon him an honorary doctorate (posthumous) in recognition of his contribution to Assamese culture and music. The university shall institute a scholarship in his name within the Department of Cultural Studies to support and nurture young talent in the field of art, culture, and music," the statement said.

It stressed that in no way is the university or the VC supportive of any work that is detrimental to the interests of the state or the varsity students.

On another demand, the statement said the nomenclature of the students' representative body, Tezpur University Students' Council, is a statutory provision under the Tezpur University Act, 1993. In order to consider a change in nomenclature to Tezpur University Students' Union, the institute will initiate the due process for amendment of the Act in Parliament.

Garg (52), who died while swimming in the sea in Singapore last week, was cremated with full state honours on Tuesday at Kamarkuchi, on the outskirts of Guwahati.