Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Guwahati: Admirers converged on the Kamarkuchi memorial near Guwahati on September 18. They gathered one day before the first anniversary of the death of Assamese icon Zubeen Garg. Supporters sang his hits and sketched portraits. Others laid hand-woven gamosas featuring lyrics from his songs as tokens of remembrance.
The event, titled Zubeen Divas, runs for three days starting September 19. The state Cultural Department, Kalaguru Artist Foundation, and the Zubeen Garg Fan Club organized the services. His wife, Garima Saikia Garg, attended opening prayers and Naam-prasanga rituals alongside mourners. Performers arrived from across Assam to host tribute shows and showcase personal art.
Garg drowned last September 19 while swimming near Lazarus Island in Singapore. He was supposed to perform at the North East India Festival the next day. His death sparked massive grief throughout Assam. An investigation followed. The Assam Police CID Special Investigation Team charged seven people in December. Four of those suspects face murder counts in a special fast-track sessions court.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the Assam Assembly in November that the death was a case of "plain and simple murder." Despite this claim, the Singapore Police reached a different conclusion. Their investigation found no evidence of foul play.
Updated at 18th September 2026 at 9:50pm
Legal proceedings in Guwahati have yielded new details regarding the singer's final hours. Debajyoti Hazarika, an Assamese expatriate who attended the yacht outing, recently gave a deposition in court. He claimed the group would have scrubbed the party had they known about the singer's underlying health issues. Hazarika stated that those present were unaware of any physical conditions that should have kept Garg off the water.
While Singapore authorities officially labeled the death an accidental drowning, the ongoing legal battle in India continues to scrutinize the events on that boat. Hazarika's testimony marks the latest development as the fast-track court works to process statements from witnesses present during the incident.
Updated at 19th September 2026 at 9:47am
Beyond the memorial walls, the political pressure is mounting. Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi has formally urged the Assam government to declare September 19 a public holiday, officially cementing the date as Zubeen Divas. Gogoi also hammered the state for the sluggish pace of the ongoing probe, pointing out that construction at the Zubeen Kshetra site remains unfinished a full year later.
The push for answers isn't slowing down. Veteran actor Arun Hazarika visited the site to demand justice while warning against rushing to judgment at the expense of others. Meanwhile, singer Angaraag Papon Mahanta weighed in on the legacy left behind, encouraging the next generation of performers to keep singing Garg's hits regardless of their technical polish.
As the anniversary hit, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took to social media to mark the occasion, posting photos with the late singer and sharing a brief message: Miss you Zubeen. Beyond the gatherings, theaters across the state marked the date by re-releasing Garg's final film, Roi Roi Binale, bringing his work back to the big screen for those mourning his loss.
Updated at 19th September 2026 at 5:49pm
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma pushed beyond social media posts to mark the date, participating in a blood donation drive at the BJP headquarters in Basistha on September 19. Minister Keshab Mahanta and party workers joined the effort, which Sarma had previously coordinated as a state-wide initiative.
Political activity spiked in the hill districts as well. The National People's Party used the anniversary to open its new district office in Haflong. Working President Jomsh Changwa attended the ceremony, where members lit lamps and laid flowers before a portrait of the singer to signal a fresh start for the party's local operations.
In Mahmorah, the Milon Gaon Panchayat completed a project to honor the musician by placing a statue of him at the local playground in Kochumari. MLA Suruj Dehingia led the ceremony on September 19 for the memorial, which was built using 15th Finance Commission funds.
Updated at 19th September 2026 at 9:50pm
A judicial commission headed by Justice Soumitra Saikia is currently conducting a separate inquiry into the circumstances of the singer's death. The legal case, which saw charges framed in May 2026, remains at a standstill without a verdict. Seven individuals face charges, including festival organizer Shyamkanu Mahanta, manager Siddhartha Sharma, bandmate Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, and singer Amritprabha Mahanta. Zubeen's cousin and former police officer, Sandipan Garg, is charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, while two security officers face counts of criminal breach of trust.
Public frustration is mounting over the slow progress of the Zubeen Kshetra memorial at Kamarkuchi. While the state allotted 10 bighas for the project, the site currently consists only of a boundary wall built at a cost of 3 crore rupees. Skeptics point to the speed of flyover construction projects as a contrast to the inactivity at the memorial site, which still lacks a formal design plan.
In a separate development, Minister Keshab Mahanta announced the release of 1 crore rupees for infrastructure upgrades at Zubeen Greens in Kaliabor. The funding aims to bolster the venue as a dedicated space for future commemorative events.
Chief Minister Sarma, meanwhile, has distanced his office from the ongoing murder trial. Addressing the media on September 19, he stated that the government would defer to the courts regarding the legal proceedings and let the public dictate how Zubeen Divas is observed in the years to come.
Updated at 20th September 2026 at 1:47am
Public impatience reached a breaking point on the anniversary as thousands choked the roads toward the Sonapur memorial. Traffic in Kamarkuchi and Khanapara stalled for hours, leaving commuters stuck for over 90 minutes on the short haul to the site. The gridlock highlighted the logistical strain of the event as the government's grand plans for Zubeen Kshetra remain stuck behind an incomplete boundary wall.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma faced heat for his shifting rhetoric regarding his initial vow to ensure 100 percent justice. After making public commitments in October 2025 to pursue the truth even if it required international intervention, he walked back his involvement following the December chargesheet. On September 19, Sarma told reporters he would defer entirely to the courts, stating: The judicial proceedings are underway. As Chief Minister, I cannot comment on a matter that is before the court.
The legal fight remains trapped in a procedural mire. While charges were framed in May 2026, a verdict is nowhere in sight. The defense continues to challenge the process, with bail applications still clogging the Supreme Court docket. Meanwhile, questions persist regarding the 20 witnesses who were present on the yacht in Singapore. While authorities treated them solely as witnesses, critics continue to press for clearer answers on why those who organized the trip faced no charges.
Construction at the site has also become a lightning rod for anger. Despite a cabinet allotment of 10 bighas, the project has yet to move beyond a 3 crore rupee wall designed to stop landslides. Observers are comparing the stalled project to the state's rapid pace on flyovers, accusing the government of foot-dragging. Beyond the memorial, the Chief Minister confirmed plans to visit Madhupur Satra to negotiate land expansion with the West Bengal government, signaling a shift in administrative focus away from the ongoing controversy.
Updated at 20th September 2026 at 1:49pm
Sarma’s earlier political gamble now haunts his office. In a September 27, 2025 live broadcast, the Chief Minister claimed: "The day I will fail to give justice to Zubeen, the public can punish me. If we cannot give justice to Zubeen, why would people vote for us in 2026?" The government has since retreated from these guarantees, pivoting toward a stance that the matter rests solely with the judiciary.
Court records now show that witnesses including Parikshit Sharma, Sushmita Goswami, and Pratim Bhuyan traveled from Singapore to testify in October 2025. Despite their proximity to the yacht events, they remain strictly classified as witnesses. Meanwhile, the legal path forward remains clouded by the Singapore coroner’s March 2026 finding that linked the death to a high blood alcohol level, directly conflicting with the state’s murder theory.
The Chief Minister shifted his public focus on the anniversary of the death, prioritizing border security over the local controversy. On September 19, 2026, Sarma announced that Assam Police had handed two convicted individuals over to the BSF for deportation to Bangladesh, citing a robust mechanism to purge the state of unlawful residents.
Updated at 20th September 2026 at 5:48pm
A fresh political headache emerged following the anniversary as Guwahati Central BJP MLA Vijay Gupta faced backlash for claiming the icon recorded just 3,000 songs. Singer Simanta Shekhar publicly dressed down the legislator, telling him to study the singer's actual body of work, which includes over 38,000 tracks across 40 languages. Gupta walked back the error in a Facebook post, claiming he meant to say 30,000 and apologizing for the oversight.
The BJP's commemorative efforts went beyond local events, with party members hosting a series of statewide blood drives. The campaign yielded 1,869 units of blood, with the flagship event at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Bhawan in Basistha bringing in 116 units. Chief Minister Sarma, who participated in the drive, pushed for a move away from purely musical tributes, urging supporters to honor the singer through humanitarian service.
Updated at 21st September 2026 at 9:50am
The fallout from MLA Vijay Gupta's botched math regarding the icon's catalog continues to spread. While Gupta apologized on Facebook for claiming Garg recorded only 3,000 songs instead of over 30,000, the backlash intensified on September 20. AASU President Utpal Sarma torched the legislator during an appearance in Morigaon, telling reporters that Gupta, whom he dismissed as a fallen leaf, lacks the standing to even be mentioned in the same breath as the late musician.
Gupta also faced heat for bringing up the 2016 film Mission China during his initial comments, a move critics labeled as uninformed. By tethering his apology to a promise to preserve the singer's legacy, the MLA has attempted to cool tempers, but student leaders and fellow artists remain unimpressed by the political posturing surrounding the anniversary.
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