Tezpur airport to be renamed Jyoti-Bishnu Airport, says CM Sarma

Guwahati, June 9: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday announced that Tezpur Airport will be named Jyoti-Bishnu Airport, in honour of two of Assam’s most revered cultural icons — Jyoti Prasad Agarwala and Bishnu Prasad Rabha.

The announcement came during Sarma’s address in the Assembly as part of the ongoing special session, where he addressed the long-standing demands from Tezpur residents to name the airport after Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika.

Acknowledging the cultural significance of Tezpur and the sentiments of its people, Sarma said the state government plans to honour the town by naming the airport after Agarwala and Rabha — stalwarts of Assam’s literary and cultural renaissance.

“I want to tell the people of Tezpur that, in time, we will bring the proposal to name Tezpur Airport as Jyoti-Bishnu Airport to the Assembly,” he assured.

Explaining the government’s rationale behind naming Dibrugarh airport after Dr Hazarika, he said, ““Assam has two Bharat Ratnas — Bhupen Hazarika and the state’s first Chief Minister, Gopinath Bordoloi. We have decided to name the airports in the state’s two capitals — Guwahati and Dibrugarh — after them.”

Earlier, on May 19, public resentment was palpable in Tezpur after the Chief Minister’s announcement that Dibrugarh Airport would be named after Bhupen Hazarika, bypassing Tezpur — a town long associated with the iconic artist and where local residents had passionately demanded the airport bear his name.

A public meeting was held at Tezpur Sahitya Sabha Bhawan, organised by senior journalist and social worker Manoj Borah, where various social organisations expressed their disappointment over what they called the State and Centre’s indifference to a 15-year-old demand.

Today’s announcement, however, is likely to bring some measure of satisfaction to the people of Tezpur.