Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has alleged that certain groups and political parties are exploiting the death of late singer Zubeen Garg for political mileage, just a day after violent clashes broke out in Baksa district linked to protests demanding justice for the artiste.
Taking to X, Sarma wrote, “When Zubeen was alive, the entire ecosystem tried to defame and pull him down. Today, after his death, the same people worship him as a god. These are not real admirers – they are fake fans whose only motive is to use his name to attack and oppose BJP. True love and respect are shown when a person is alive, not when it becomes convenient after death.”
The Chief Minister’s remarks followed incidents of unrest in Baksa, where police used tear gas and baton charges to disperse protesters who attacked a convoy transporting five individuals arrested in connection with Garg’s mysterious death in Singapore on September 19.
Sarma accused some political parties of pushing a “false narrative” for their vested interests. “Zubeen’s death cannot be a political advantage for anybody, but the prevailing narrative created by a section is that his death happened, and we must keep the issue alive till the assembly elections,” he said, warning that such actions could harm Assam’s social harmony, “just like the movement against the Citizenship Amendment Act did.”
Urging people to maintain peace and trust the judiciary, Sarma appealed not to be swayed by politically motivated campaigns. He further criticised individuals who, according to him, “were never Zubeen’s fans but have now deleted their old social media posts and are pretending to be his admirers” to provoke public sentiment.
The Assam government has already constituted a 10-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by ADGP (CID) Munna Prasad Gupta to investigate the circumstances surrounding the singer’s death, in coordination with Singapore Police authorities.
