‘Tremendous honour to receive Bharat Ratna on my father’s behalf’

Tej Hazarika, the son of famed Assamese singer-composer Bhupen Hazarika, has said that he has been invited by the Indian government to accept the ‘Bharat Ratna’ on behalf of his late father and it will be his “tremendous honour” to receive the country’s highest civilian award. On the controversy over his remarks made on February 11 through a Facebook post, Tej said: “It is unfortunate that (some) people would completely misinterpret my public February 11th statement regarding the ‘Bharat Ratna’ itself by sadly misrepresenting my view of it. In the Facebook post, he had said that his father’s name and words are being invoked and celebrated publicly while plans are afoot to pass a “painfully unpopular” Citizenship (Amendment) Bill that is “actually undermining his documented position.