Seven years have passed since the demise of Bharat Ratna Bismillah Khan but the promise to make a mausoleum and monument in the Shehnai player's memory remains unfulfilled.
The state government announced plans to open a shehnai academy in Lucknow, a museum and a mausoleum in Banaras in the memory of the great artist after his death in August 2006 but nothing happened for seven years, according to Bismillah's family.
"We have been receiving only assurances for the last seven years. If a mausoleum and a monument is not built in his memory, how will people know about him 50 years later? Coming generations will forget about his contribution to music," Bismillah's son Nazim Hussain told PTI from Banaras.
Hussain said his family and sitar player Pt Dev Vrat Mishra wrote a letter to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav after waiting for years to see some progress on the issue.
"We wrote a letter to the Chief Minister on August 18 and a couple of days back, Banaras District Magistrate called us at his office. He went to Khan saab's grave with local officials. We hope that this time the government will fulfill its promise," Hussain added.
When contacted about this development, DM Pranjal Yadav confirmed that the initial work to build a mausoleum has begun but did not divulge details.
"All I can say at this moment is that the work has begun," he said.
Bismillah Khan's grave is at same Dargah Fatman area in Nallapura locality of the city where the maestro used to play mourning tunes during the month of Muharram.
