GOALPARA, March 25 � Focusing on the future challenges that the All Assam Students� Union (AASU) is likely to face, immense pressure is being exerted on Dr Samujjal Bhattacharya not to quit as adviser to the student body, even as he has publicly revealed his decision to quit.
There seems to be a general consensus among leaders representing various organisations and also among some of the guest speakers, who aired their views in the open session of the 16th AASU conference held at Dudhnoi today.
Vice-Chancellor of the Assam Agricultural University Kamal Malla Buzarbaruah in his speech at the open session, came out openly in support of Dr Bhattacharya remaining as AASU adviser, as his quitting would create a vacuum which would prove to be a big challenge for the AASU leadership.
Exhorting the people to project a positive image of Assam with sincerity and hard work, Buzarbaruah, who was the guest of honour, set each letter of the acronym for IMAGE as Innovation, Mastery, Authentic, Guts and Ethics. He said it ought to be the benchmark the Assamese community should embrace if at all it wanted to make Assam a progressive state.
He also urged the Assamese youths to explore three important and major sectors � tea, agriculture and oil � for opportunities and exploiting economically.
Vice-Chancellor of the Gauhati University Dr Mridul Hazarika, who was another guest of honour, said that he was greatly inspired by the convergence of all the different ethnic communities under one roof and lauded the efforts of the AASU to bind them together to build one greater Assamese society.
Dr Hazarika also pointed out instead of pursuing selfish ends and exerting themselves, the Assamese people should foster a new thinking process where all communities could be included without having to lose their self-identity. He also said that the greater Assamese society should embrace change according to the changing times and needs.
On the educational front, Dr Hazarika lamented that although education had spread to every nook and corner of the State, there was a dearth of quality education and urged those responsible for shaping the future of students, to take on the challenges confronting them.
The chairperson of the reception committee of the 16th AASU convention and also Principal of Bikali College, Dhupdhara, Dr Malina Devi Rabha in her welcome speech, traced the history of Goalpara and lamented that even though the district had a rich culture and abundant resources and despite it being one of the oldest districts, it still remained underdeveloped.
Dr Rabha called for setting up a technical institute, a university and some ancillary industries related with Asia�s largest banana market for the economic upliftment of the people of Goalpara district.
AASU general secretary Tapan Gogoi explained the objective of the meeting which was chaired by president Shankar Prasad Rai. The chief guest was Rabha Hajong Autonomous Council (RHAC) Chief Executive Councillor Tankeswar Rabha.
The open session started with a chorus symbolising the bonding of various enthic communities, which was directed by Gopi Rabha. The music was rendered by acclaimed artiste Jiten Deka.
Representatives of various other organisations spoke at the open session, where they deliberated on key issues like non-implementation of the Assam Accord, erosion and NRC update.
Meanwhile, AASU vice president Dipanka Kr Nath and Lorin Jyoti Gogoi have been tipped as the next president and general secretary respectively of the student body.
