GUWAHATI, Aug 5 - Rich tributes were today paid to the memory of Lokapriyo Gopinath Bordoloi, Assam�s first Chief Minister and a valiant freedom fighter, at Navagraha Gopinath Kshetra on the occasion of his 69th death anniversary.
The function held on the occasion began with an all-faith prayer where woman members of Sarania Ashram and representatives of local Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist and Christian communities participated.
Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup Metro Biswajit Pegu welcomed the guests and explained the purpose of the function. Captain Robin Bordoloi, son of the Lokapriyo, in his speech, described Bordoloi as a caring husband, a loving father, and a great leader of Assam.
Veteran journalist DN Chakravartty, while paying tributes to Bordoloi, described him as the chief architect of modern Assam, a great visionary and a defender of Assam from the clutches of Pakistan as engineered by the Cabinet Mission of the British government.
He said that it was Bordoloi who did the pioneering work for the establishment of Gauhati University, Assam Medical College, Assam Engineering College, Assam Agriculture College and Gauhati High Court.
�Bordoloi, who had great love and affection for the tribal communities, created the tribal belts and blocks to ensure protection and to promote advancement for the tribal communities of Assam. Bordoloi was untiring in his efforts to consolidate the unity and amity of the hills and plains people of the composite State of Assam. It was Bordoloi who earned love and respect from all the tribal communities of the hills district of the composite Assam. He would long be remembered as a lover of humanity, a great patriot, and the only statesman of Assam,� Chakravartty said.
