On his remembrance day, Union Ports and Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal reached back to the soul of Assam — paying a heartfelt tribute to beloved singer and composer Jayanta Hazarika, whose melodies, Sonowal wrote, still touch every Assamese heart as deeply as ever.

Writing in Assamese on Thursday, 15 October 2026, Sonowal described Hazarika as 'দৰদী শিল্পী' — a compassionate, feeling artist — whose voice and music remain timeless across changing generations. 'Times have changed, generations have changed,' he wrote, 'but the intoxicating quality of Ranada's songs remains exactly the same.' The affectionate reference 'ৰাণাদা' (Rana-da) captures how deeply Hazarika is woven into Assamese cultural memory — not as a distant icon, but as a familiar elder.

A voice that became an emotion

Jayanta Hazarika was one of Assam's most cherished playback singers and composers, celebrated for songs that carried the emotional texture of everyday Assamese life — love, longing, the rhythm of the Brahmaputra valley. His music drew from folk traditions while finding mainstream resonance, making him a bridge between rural Assam and its urban audiences. Decades after his prime, his songs are still sung at family gatherings and cultural events across the state.

Sonowal's tribute describes Hazarika's songs as 'chapters of our emotions, our feelings, and our lives' — language that signals not just personal admiration but a shared cultural inheritance. It is the kind of tribute that lands differently from a man who governs a national ministry yet consistently reaches back to the culture that shaped him.

Sonowal's thread of cultural remembrance

Sarbananda Sonowal, a senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister of Assam, has a consistent record of publicly honouring Assamese artists, thinkers, and cultural figures through social media, particularly on anniversaries. In a national political career that now centres on India's ports and waterways, these tributes serve as an unbroken link to his home state's identity and its people.

Such cultural acknowledgments from prominent politicians reflect a broader pattern across India's states with distinct artistic heritages — where regional music, literature, and cinema carry deep identity weight, and where remembering an artist publicly is also a way of affirming a community's pride in itself.

Jayanta Hazarika's remembrance day is, for Assam, more than a date on a calendar. It is a moment the state collectively pauses — and today, its most prominent voice in New Delhi paused with it.