DIBRUGARH, Nov 1 - The Chavang Kut, a traditional festival of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo origin was celebrated by the Kuki community in Gandhinagar here today.
The function started with prayer and thanksgiving by Dr L Doungel, Chairman of the Kuki Worship Service, Dibrugarh. Dr Doungel, addressing the gathering, expressed his satisfaction and happiness for declaring the festival day as restricted holiday. �I would like to convey my sincere thanks to the Government of Assam, particularly to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. This will be written down in the history. Today the Chief Minister has made us feel proud,� he said.
Dr Doungel also thanked the Kuki Inpi Assam (KIA), the Kuki Students� Organisation (KSO) of Assam for their role and efforts to make November 1, a restricted holiday.
Earlier, the welcome speech was delivered by P Chongloi. He also expressed his gratitude to the State government for listening to the prayers of the minority Kuki community. He said that the act of Sonowal is a testimony of his sincerity to unite and integrate all indigenous tribes of Assam. The other speakers included Mangcha Haokip, Sangboi Doungel, Benjamin Lhungdim, Jangmang Haokip and Siehmang Haolai.
The �Kuki Chavang Kut� was officially declared a restricted holiday by the Government of Assam yesterday. It may be noted that the festival was celebrated several times here in the city by the Kukis of Upper Assam and Dibrugarh in particular.
The festival is an age-old traditional festival that originated during the prehistoric time when people were animists and worshipped their traditional gods and supernatural forces and spirits. Today, the powerful spirit of the �Chavang Kut� transcends across the sovereign borders of India where the diaspora Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribes belonging to the same common origin are also living in the sovereign nations of Myanmar and Bangladesh.
