Push for wax Bhupen Hazarika at Madam Tussauds

GUWAHATI: Encouraged by the response from Madame Tussauds Wax Museum authority in London, the Bhupen Hazarika Cultural Trust (BHCT) has expedited contacts with the Bangladesh High Commission in Britain to ensure the name of the balladeer from Assam is picked when the selection committee of the museum sits in May to select the names of personalities whose wax statues will be installed in the museum.
BHCT secretary Gautam Sarma informed TOI that the trust constituted to take forward the legacy of Bhupen Hazarika is seeking help from the Bangladesh government as well as from the Indian states where his works remains scattered.
"To get Bhupen da's statue selected for installation in the prestigious Madame Tussauds Wax Museum we have to present his contributions to the world before the selection committee. Bhupen da was a singer to whom geographical boundaries hardly mattered - he even lent support to freedom fighters during the Liberation War of Bangladesh with his spirited composition 'Jai Jai Nabojato Bangladesh, Jai Jai Mukti Bahini'."
He added: "The Bangladesh government has acknowledged his contribution to the country's freedom struggle by posthumously conferring him with the Muktijoddha Padak, the country's highest civilian award. So we want to present before the museum's selection committee his contributions to the people of the world beyond boundaries."
Sarma said Bhupen Hazarika's songs and articles will be send to London by the end of March. "They have informed us that despite demands from all over the world, only eight statues are installed in the museum. We are putting in our best effort to ensure that the icon of the east figures among the other great personalities in the museum," Sarma said.
Bhupen Hazarika's songs were widely accepted and lauded across the world. Eight evergreen songs of Bhupen Hazarika - including 'Manuhe manuhor babe jodihe akono nabhabe (If human beings don't care for fellow human beings tell me who will care) - were even translated into Japanese. "If everything goes well we can expect Bhupen da's statue installed in Madame Tussauds Wax Museum by the year 2014", said filmmaker and Bhupen Hazarika's companion Kalpana Lajmi.
Bhupen Hazarika's biographer and member of the trust Surjya Hazarika said, "Till date, no personality from the northeastern states of India has been honoured by the prestigious wax museum in London. As far as contributions to the world is concerned, I believe Bhupen da sang keeping one world in mind," he noted.