Will live only as human: Brahmin youth tears sacred thread at Zubeen Garg cremation site

In a rare gesture at late iconic vocalist Zubeen Garg’s cremation site in Assam, a youth publicly tore off his sacred thread (lagun in Assamese), traditionally worn by Brahmins, and declared he would live only as a human, rejecting caste and religion.

Sun Bhagawati, a youth in his early thirties, asserted that he was only following the ideals of his idol Garg and appealed to people to live only as humans by breaking the boundaries of caste-religion.

"By birth, my caste is Brahmin. But I have no caste, no religion. We must live as humans. Here I break it," Bhagawati told reporters, pulling out the thread from beneath his clothes and tearing it in front of the cameras.

"Jai Zubeen da (elder brother). I will never wear it again. People should live as humans only, not as Hindu-Muslims. Here I throw it in the dustbin," Bhagawati said, while throwing away the symbol of Brahmanism. "I appeal to all people to live as humans and leave aside caste-religion."

Garg had proclaimed that he had no religion-caste and he was just a human. The singer, born as Jibon Borthakur into a Brahmin family, had on several occasions said he had once torn off his lagun to use it as a rope to fix a mosquito net.

Asked why he took the drastic step, Bhagawti said: "In the last few years, I have been seeing only Hindu-Muslim talk on social media. Within Hindu religion also, there are so many castes. If you are a Shudra, I cannot eat from your hand. I don't want to talk about those thousands of rules and regulations."

"That is why I finished everything here in front of Zubeen da," he added. The youth also said he would not pass on the tradition to his son. "I have a six-year old son. I will never give the sacred thread to him. All must learn how to live like a human. Humanism is above everything.

"All of us must contribute to nation building through education, not through religion. I don't want to speak much. Zubeen da has gone, let him live peacefully wherever he is," the youth said.

Bhagawati's action has drawn the attention of netizens with the video going viral. While most of the people have welcomed the gesture, some criticised it too.

Assam minister Pijush Hazarika slammed the youth and said the investigation into Garg's death is going on efficiently. "But I am strongly opposed to anyone publicly tearing his lagun in front of the cameras. I strongly condemn this incident. This is against our sanatan tradition," he added.

Hazarika stressed that Garg wanted a society where everyone would live together happily. "Therefore, I urge everyone not to send a negative message to society through such actions," he added.

The celebrated singer died in Singapore on 19 September while swimming in the sea. He had gone to the Southeast Asian nation to attend the 4th edition of the North East India Festival.