Vadra, who is on a two-day trip to the state to shortlist Congress candidates for the upcoming assembly polls, also said Garg was “above politics”.
She made an unscheduled visit to Garg’s cremation ground, ‘Zubeen Khetra‘, at Sonapur on the outskirts of Guwahati in the morning without any media presence.
Vadra was accompanied by Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi, Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia and AICC general secretary Jitendra Singh.
Asked about her visit to ‘Zubeen Khetra’, Vadra said, “We should not take political benefits from these things. This is an emotion. Yesterday I spoke to my party workers about it. When Zubeen ji died, those who are not from Assam saw how much people loved him and how they respected him. Every member of each family cried. We saw all these on social media and the news.”
The Congress MP also said that those who are outside Assam witnessed that people’s emotions ran high after the death of Zubeen as they were attached to the personality.
“Yesterday, I told party workers that Zubeen ji was the voice of Assam’s soul, Assam’s expression. Assam’s culture was upheld by Zubeen Garg. All his songs, if you listen, do not speak about hating someone or attacking someone. It was simply not there,” Vadra said.Garg’s every song and every word had the “message of love and unity”, she said, adding that his renditions upheld Assam’s identity, culture, and civilisation.
The celebrated singer died under mysterious circumstances in Singapore on September 19 last year while swimming in the sea.
He had gone to the island country to attend the 4th edition of the North East India Festival (NEIF).
The Wayanad MP claimed that many people whom she spoke to felt that the “everyday talk of violence and attack nowadays is not the culture of Assam”.
“Yesterday, I was telling my party workers that we are also fighting for the same. In a way, our fight is to protect Assam’s culture and civilisation. We do not want to use Zubeen Garg for politics, and nobody should do it. He was above politics,” Vadra said.
Garg’s attachment to the people was “emotional”, and “he was not in politics or wanted to become the CM”, she added.
“When I visited there (Zubeen Khetra) in the morning, frankly, it was an emotional moment for me too. I did not know much about Zubeen ji earlier, and I have tried to know and understand him…When I went there, I saw people doing whatever they felt. They are visiting the place even at 1 am,” the Congress MP said.
Vadra also said someone was seen lighting incense sticks while a person was leaving a book there, and many left flowers at the place.
“There are very few people with whom people are attached in this way. And they are very special,” she added.
The Congress leader said the ‘Zubeen Khetra’ should be a sacred place as the entire country knows about him now.
“It should not be associated with any negative sentiment. We all should respect the place.
“That is why I went there. I did not go there for political reasons. As I came to Assam for the first time after his demise, I thought I should go quietly and pay my respects. There should not be any drama. That’s what I wanted,” Vadra added.
Though no media person was present at ‘Zubeen Khetra’ when the Congress leader visited, a mobile phone clip of Vadra offering tributes to the singer went viral on social media.
During her visit to the Garg’s cremation ground, around 3-4 people, mostly women, offered ‘Gamocha’ (Assamese scarf) to Vadra and tried to touch her feet, which she instantly resisted.
The women were seen clicking photos, while some captured selfies.
Vadra was also seen talking with the people, and there was hardly any security seen in the viral video clip.
