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Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Sobering Truth

The death of Zubeen Garg, Assam’s most beloved musical son, was always destined to become more than a personal tragedy. In a region where celebrity, politics and grievance frequently blur, his drowning off Singapore’s Lazarus Island last September was swiftly recast as something more sinister in form of a murder plot and a betrayal. The Assam government’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) obliged the mood, filing a mammoth 12,000-page charge sheet accusing organisers, managers, security staff...

Sobering Truth

The death of Zubeen Garg, Assam’s most beloved musical son, was always destined to become more than a personal tragedy. In a region where celebrity, politics and grievance frequently blur, his drowning off Singapore’s Lazarus Island last September was swiftly recast as something more sinister in form of a murder plot and a betrayal. The Assam government’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) obliged the mood, filing a mammoth 12,000-page charge sheet accusing organisers, managers, security staff and Garg’s cousin of criminal conspiracy and murder. Five people now sit in jail following Garg’s death. Yet the cold, clinical testimony now emerging in a Singapore coroner’s court tells a very different story which is far more banal. According to this, Garg was not pushed, drugged or attacked. He was dangerously drunk on a pleasure yacht with friends and colleagues. His blood-alcohol level was 333 milligrams per 100 millilitres, more than four times Singapore’s legal driving limit and squarely in the range of severe intoxication, marked by impaired coordination, judgment and reflexes. While he initially wore a life jacket, he later removed it. Offered a second one when he went back into the water, he declined. He swam alone towards Lazarus Island, went limp, floated face-down, and drowned. Investigators have ruled out any sign of assault. The injuries on his body came from frantic attempts to revive him. Medications for epilepsy and hypertension were found in his blood. The Singapore police, quite clearly, do not suspect foul play. The cause of death, the autopsy concluded, was drowning. But in Assam, the SIT has built a case premised on murder and conspiracy, even as Singapore’s investigators have found no such thing. One may admire the emotional impulse behind the SIT’s zeal that Garg was a cultural icon, and grief seeks someone to blame. But criminal law is not meant to be an instrument of collective catharsis. What, then, of those arrested? The evidence so far suggests not villains but bystanders to a catastrophe born of recklessness. Murder requires intent or at least knowledge that death is likely. What emerges from the Singapore inquiry is not intent but misadventure. The political afterlife of Garg’s death in Assam has been less dignified. In a state where institutions are often bent by populism, the SIT’s sprawling charge sheet looks less like a careful prosecution and more like an attempt to keep alive a narrative that the facts no longer sustain. The inclusion of family members, bandmates and security staff smacks of dragnet justice. None of this diminishes Garg’s loss, nor the pain of those who loved him. But grief does not license the invention of crimes. Assam’s authorities should take note. If the final findings confirm what has already been placed on the record, the arrested should not merely be acquitted. They should be released promptly, with apologies. The truth, in this case, seems sobering and far more banal.

US Vice President JD Vance, his family arrive in Delhi

  • PTI
  • Apr 21, 2025
  • 2 min read


NEW DELHI: US Vice President J D Vance arrived here on Monday on a four-day visit to India against the backdrop of ongoing negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement between the two strategic partners to address a variety of issues, including tariff and market access.


Vance is accompanied by his Indian-origin wife Usha Chilukuri and their three children Ewan, Vivek, Mirabel and a delegation of senior US government officials.


The US Vice President and the Second Lady were received at the Palam air base by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.


The American leader was also accorded a ceremonial welcome on his arrival.

In the evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host a dinner for the Vances after holding wide-ranging talks with the US Vice President.


External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Indian ambassador to US Vinay Mohan Kwatra are expected to be part of the Indian team to be led by PM Modi at the talks.


The focus of the meeting is likely to be on early finalisation of the proposed bilateral trade pact as well as ways to boost overall trajectory of ties between the two countries.


Besides Delhi, Vance and his family will travel to Jaipur and Agra.

Vance's first visit to India comes weeks after US President Donald Trump imposed and then paused a sweeping tariff regime against around 60 countries, including India.


New Delhi and Washington are now holding negotiations to seal a bilateral trade agreement that is expected to address a variety of issues, including tariff and market access.


Vance and his family are scheduled to leave for Jaipur on Monday night.

In Delhi, the US Vice President and his family are staying at the ITC Maurya Sheraton hotel.


On April 22, the Vances will visit a number of historical sites in Jaipur, including the Amer Fort, also known as Amber Fort. The fort is a UNESCO world heritage site.


In the afternoon, the US Vice President is scheduled to address a gathering at the Rajasthan International Centre in Jaipur.


Vance is expected to delved into broader aspects of India-US relations under the Donald Trump administration during his speech that is expected to be attended by diplomats, foreign policy experts, Indian government officials and academia.


The US Vice President and his family will travel to Agra on the morning of April 23, people familiar with the matter said.


In Agra, they will visit the Taj Mahal and Shilpgram which is an open air emporium showcasing various Indian artefacts, they said.


After concluding their visit to Agra, the Vances will return to Jaipur on the second half of April 23.


The US Vice President and his family will depart for the US from Jaipur on April 24, according to the people cited above.

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