Tussle over the legacy of legendary singer Bhupen Hazarika, between his son Punnag Tez Hazarika and Kalpana Lajmi, longtime companion of the singer, has dampened the mood of a massive fan-followings of the late singer in Assam.
The squabbling over the right to preserve the legacy of the singer came to open soon after his son Punnag Tej Hazarika, refused to recognise the Bhupen Hazarika Cultural Trust (BHCT), which the late-singer founded during his lifetime. According to rules framed to define the successor of the trust, the late singer’s long-time companion filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi has become the chairman of the trust. Though, trustees also offered a seat to Tej Hazarika in the management of the trust but he refused and went on accusing the trustees of trying to hijack his legendary father’s immortal works. In what Tej Hazarika who lives in New York was believed to have been prompted by a section of family members, he told reporters, “They are more intend of holding on to my father’s estates rather than preserving his legacy. I have zero trust in the Trust. ”In an obvious reference to Kalpana Lajami, he also alleged that some of the people, who surrounded his father during his last ailing years, kept him away from his near and far close family and friends. Kalpana Lajmi, filmmaker and late Hazarika’s companion of last 40 years vehemently denies all these charges, and says, “The Trust will continue to work as per the wishes of Bhupen Hazarika. We will ensure that his compositions are not twisted and deformed and are preserved in the true form.”
Members of the Trust Sunil Nath pointed out that it was formed by Hazarika himself in the year 2000 and the committee of trustees had been changed by Hazarika several times. The Trust members maintained that they would not be deterred in their mandate to preserve Hazarika’s compositions in the purest forms. Hazarika had breathed his last at a Mumbai hospital on November 5 due to multiple organ failure. In fact trouble was brewing since the ailment of Bhupen Hazarika started about six months back, but it took an ugly turn after his death only. If insiders are to be believed the root cause of tussle is the agreement between late Hazarika and Kalpana Lajmi which gives the trust the sole right “to promote the research for music, songs and lyrics made and created by Dr Bhupendra Kumar Hazarika,” to “promote the research for articles, scripts for films, videos, essays and books” written by Hazarika for “development of the Indian music, nationally and internationally” to “establish a museum with a view to preserve his books, awards, certificates and records”. The list of about 1,500 songs, nearly half-a-dozen books, films — he produced Ek Pal and directed 14 films — and an equally enviable collection of awards, including the Padma Shri and the Dada Saheb Phalke, have been made the property of the Bhupen Hazarika Cultural Trust (BHCT) that the singer had set up on February 15, 2000 by a deed. The deed also gives the charitable trust its office on the premises of Hazarika family’s house at Nizarapar in Guwahati.
As son of music maestro is not willing to recognise the trust set up by his father, the family members and his son have announced to set up a legitimate foundation to preserve and spread the true legacy of his father as also to use its financial and social capital to promote the true legacy of the bard. The infighting over the legacy has forced many social organisations, which wanted to preserve the contribution and memories of its legendary singer and one of the biggest icons of this century, to distance itself from the family affairs.