Bhupen Hazarika's son turns down Bharat Ratna as protest against Citizenship Bill
New Delhi, Feb 11 (IBNS): Amidst the strong protest over the Citizenship Bill across the northeast, Bhupen Hazarika’s son has decided to turn down the Bharat Ratna conferred to the Assamese singer earlier this year by the Narendra Modi government.
Tej Hazarika, son of Bhupen Hazarika, has told media that he will not be accepting the Bharat Ratna conferred on his father posthumously considering the present situation in Assam.
Earlier this year, Bhupen Hazarika was conferred the Bharat Ratna, posthumously.
On Saturday, in a bid to fuel the local sentiment in favour of his Government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that Bhupen Hazarika could have been alive to receive the Bharat Ratna award but it did not happen in the grand old party's regime as such honours were "reserved for some people at the time of their birth".
“It took years to award Bhupen Hazarika. Wish Bhupen Hazarika could be alive when he was awarded Bharat Ratna, but this couldn't happen... Now you decide who is responsible.” He also said, "It is during the BJP rule that Gopinath Bordoloi and Bhupen Hazarika have been awarded Bharat Ratna," he had said while addressing a rally.
What is Citizenship Bill?
The Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 is aimed to grant Indian citizenship to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
About 30 lakh people had submitted their claims for inclusion of their names in the final NRC during the claims and objections submission process ended on December 31 last.
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