Zubeen's wife appeals for peace when his mortal remains arrive

Guwahati, Sep 20 (PTI) Garima Saikia Garg, wife of Zubeen Garg, on Saturday appealed to the public to maintain peace and not to harbour ill feelings against the singer’s manager Siddhartha Sharma, who she described as "like our own brother." ''Zubeen will come home soon and I request all to show the same love to him as they did during his lifetime so that he can rest peacefully'', a sobbing Garima said with folded hands in an appeal on Facebook.

People have showered immense love and respect on Zubeen and ''he also loved them unconditionally'', she said, appearing for the first time on any media platform following the singer's death in Singapore.

''Please ensure that his last journey is peaceful without any hurdles or any untoward incident'', his wife said.

Police and the administration are ''helping us a lot and we are waiting for Zubeen's arrival so that we can see him for one last time and bid him farewell with love, respect and dignity'', Garima added.

Police have tightened security around his residence in Kahilipara area here and have urged people to not visit the area from 9 pm till his body is shifted to Sarusajai Stadium where people can pay their last respects to him.

Regarding the FIRs filed against Zubeen's manager, Garima said that he has been with the singer from the very beginning of his career and was ''like our own brother''.

"During COVID, Zubeen had a major seizure attack and had to be taken to Mumbai. It was Siddhartha who accompanied us and took immense risk to take care of Zubeen and helped him recover," she said.

''Zubeen never said an unkind word to Siddharth and would not hear anything against him by anyone. Therefore, I appeal to all to let him be with Zubeen in his last journey and not harbour any ill-will towards him'', Garima said.

She said this was a time when ''all of us should be together.....our family should be together''.

''I need Siddhartha's support as I know that if he is not by my side, I will not be able to do anything. There are many unfinished works of Zubeen which will remain incomplete if he (Siddhartha) is not there'', she added.

She appealed to all not to hold him responsible for Zubeen's death as ''he will be scarred for life'' and to withdraw all FIRs against him.

Multiple FIRs were filed against his manager and chief organiser of North East India Festival (NEIF) Shyamkanu Mahanta and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had directed the DGP to transfer all the FIRs to the CID and to register a consolidated case for a thorough investigation.

Zubeen died on Friday in Singapore, reportedly while "swimming in the sea without a life jacket." His mortal remains are scheduled to arrive in New Delhi on Saturday night, and will be flown to Guwahati on Sunday morning, an official said. PTI DG DG MNB