Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: Political chatter in Assam is blaming singer Zubeen Garg’s fans for the cancellation of the Japanese Prime Minister’s visit. The rumors claim traffic congestion, caused by the repainting of a local graffiti portrait, forced a change in travel plans. Official sources have offered no evidence to back this theory.
The trouble began when authorities painted over a portrait of Garg in Guwahati to prep for the visit. Fans were furious. They gathered to repaint the mural, which choked local roads with traffic. Minister Pijush Hazarika later lashed out at these crowds. He claimed that "anarchic forces do not want Assam’s development."
Despite this rhetoric, no government authority in India or Japan has cited a security threat. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma clarified that he has not been told why the trip was called off. He plans to meet External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Delhi to get the facts. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told local officials the visit was scrapped due to unavoidable scheduling constraints.
Japanese reports suggest the Prime Minister simply ran out of time. Her agenda is packed. A quick trip to a regional city became impossible within the current window. Observers note that when a similar visit was cancelled in 2019, the government explicitly cited security issues. This time, silence from the top suggests the traffic incident is being used as a convenient scapegoat.
Comments