Zubeen to be cremated with full state honours on Sep 23 near Guwahati: Himanta
Guwahati (PTI): Popular singer Zubeen Garg will be cremated with full state honours on September 23 at a village near Guwahati, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday.
The decision to cremate Garg at Kamarkuchi NC village was taken during a cabinet meeting, considering the family's wish that his last rites be performed at a place in or around Guwahati, Sarma said at a press conference.
There were also demands from the people of the Upper Assam town of Jorhat, where the singer had spent his formative years, that he be cremated there, he said.
''We discussed both the proposals. Zubeen does not belong to the government, and so his family's choice should be given priority,'' Sarma said.
His wife Garima Saikia Garg and sister Pamle Borthakur pointed out that it would not be possible for his
85-year-old ailing father to go Jorhat for the last rites and even later during anniversaries or other rituals, it would be difficult for the family to go there, the CM said.
''Three of my cabinet colleagues - Ranoj Pegu, Keshav Mahanta and Bimal Borah - and also a delegation of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) had discussed the matter with his wife and she had conveyed the family's decision to hold the last rites in Guwahati'', Sarma said.
Besides, Garg had lived in Guwahati for the most part of his life, he added.
''We, however, respect the sentiments of the people of Jorhat, with the Cabinet deciding that his ashes will be immersed there and a memorial will be built there,'' Sarma said.
Regarding the request of the people of Jorhat to at least take Garg’s mortal remains there for one last time, the CM said that his body was not in a condition to be taken there and again brought back to Guwahati for cremation.
A memorial will also be built at the place where he will be cremated near Guwahati, he added.
The cremation site encompasses 3.3 acres of government land where some local people had set up a plant nursery, and they eagerly gave it for Garg’s funeral, he said.
The CM said that he had visited the site while returning from Delhi on Sunday and will go there again on Sunday night to review arrangements for the cremation.
He said that the place can accommodate around 5,000 people and appealed to Garg's fans to pay their last respects to him at the Arjun Bhogeswar Baruah Sports Complex, where his body will be kept till the morning of September 23.
The state government had declared a three-day mourning till September 22, but it has been extended by another day for his cremation, the CM said.
On the day of the cremation, the highway adjacent to the site of the last rites will remain closed for heavy vehicles.
Sarma also said the Singapore government has issued the singer's death certificate, which states that he died due to drowning.
''The Indian High Commission in Singapore has sent us the death certificate, and we have also requested that the postmortem report be also sent to us at the earliest,'' Sarma added.
Garg died in Singapore while swimming in the sea on Friday.
Regarding the investigations into the case registered by the CID following Zubeen's death, the CM said that statements of those who filed multiple FIRs against the two accused are being recorded.
Both the accused - North East India Festival (NEIF) Chief Organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta and the singer's manager Siddhartha Sharma - are now not here, and ''my top priority now is to ensure Zubeen's last rites are conducted smoothly,'' he said.
Besides, the place of occurrence is Singapore, so the police of that country will investigate the case, and ''we can only look into whether he was taken there as a part of a conspiracy'', Sarma said.
''We shall proceed step by step, but let me first fulfil my duty and responsibility of giving Zubeen the farewell he deserves with dignity and respect,'' the CM said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
