Tezpur, July 16: Padma Shri awardee, eminent educationist, author and translator Gita Upadhyay was cremated with full state honours in Tezpur on Wednesday, following her death after a prolonged illness. She was 87.
The Assam Government accorded state honours in recognition of her outstanding contribution to literature, education and society. Upadhyay passed away at her residence in Tezpur on Monday night.
Born on February 14, 1939, at Gangmouthan in the then Darrang district, now Biswanath, she was the granddaughter of freedom fighter Babu Chabilal Upadhyay, the first elected president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee. She also played a key role in establishing the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (BGP) and served as its founding president.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed grief over her demise, describing her as a distinguished educationist and author whose contributions to Assamese and Nepali literature would continue to inspire future generations. He also noted that she had been honoured with the Padma Shri and the Sati Sadhani Award.
Leaders and members of the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh paid floral tributes to Upadhyay at her residence before her funeral. A delegation led by BGP Assam Working President Thandi Newar draped her coffin with the organisation’s flag and observed a minute’s silence in honour of her lifelong service to the Indian Gorkha community. BGP National President Nityananda Upadhyaya described her death as an irreparable loss to the literary, educational and Gorkha communities, while Assam unit president Amar Adhikary called her a guiding light for the community. General Secretary Nanda Kirati Dewan announced a week-long mourning period in her memory.
Upadhyay was among Assam’s most celebrated literary and academic figures. She received the Padma Shri in 2025, the Sati Sadhani Award in 2026, the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2016 for her Nepali novel Janmabhumi Mero Swadesh, based on the life of freedom fighter Chabilal Upadhyay, and the Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize in 2013 for translating Jyoti Prasad Agarwala’s Assamese play Karengor Ligiri into Nepali.
A former Head of the Department of Political Science at Sibsagar College, she dedicated more than three decades to teaching and became the first Gorkha woman from Assam to earn a postgraduate degree. She authored and translated around two dozen books in Assamese and Nepali, including works such as The Diary of Anne Frank, Ramayan and Muna Madan, helping strengthen literary and cultural ties between Assamese and Nepali-speaking communities.
She also served as president of the Nepali Sahitya Parishad (Assam) and the Akhil Asom Lekhika Sanstha. Gita Upadhyay is remembered for her enduring contribution to literature, education and cultural harmony, leaving behind a legacy that continues to inspire generations.
