GUWAHATI, Dec 30 - In an unprecedented twist to the ongoing Asam Sahitya Sabha controversy, Sabha president Dr Dhrubajyoti Borah today resigned from his post, deepening the crisis engulfing the apex literary body ahead of its centenary celebrations.
Announcing his resignation before the media, Dr Borah said that he was pained and constrained by the indifference of the Sabha management to the adverse public opinion building up against the Sabha in general and the general secretary in particular over various acts of omission and commission.
Similarly, Dr Borah added, the justified concern voiced by a number of well-regarded Assamese writers and intellectuals over the unsavoury developments concerning the Sabha was also ignored by the Sabha executive in the last meeting held yesterday.
�It is wrong and impudent to keep ignoring public opinion. Given the prevailing circumstances, I am not prepared to carry on with my responsibilities in the Sabha anymore,� he said.
Dr Borah said that he had urged general secretary Dr Paramanada Rajbangshi to quit temporarily in view of the recent developments several times in the greater interest of the Sabha but to no effect.
�I suggested that the general secretary quit temporarily as many as five times, the last time in the presence of steering committee members on the night before yesterday�s executive body meeting,� he said.
Dr Bora added that he did not have any personal ill will against the general secretary and that he wished him the best in life.
After Dr Borah�s resignation, vice president Dr Parag Thakur and treasurer Bipul Deuri have also resigned from their posts.
Meanwhile, Dr Rajbangshi said that the poll process for electing a new president and a general secretary would be hastened further. Yesterday�s executive body meeting had earlier resolved to complete the poll process by March.
A Sabha source said that its steering committee was likely to sit tomorrow to chalk out its course of action. �It is a constitutional crisis for the Sabha. The steering committee is likely to sit for a meeting tomorrow,� the source added.
