DIGBOI, Feb 1 � The 7th Special Annual Session of Asam Sahitya Sabha got off to a colourful start this morning at the Ningrula Harmony Ground at Ledo with State Power Minister Pradyut Bordoloi, president of the reception committee, planting an Ashok sapling as a mark of healthy growth and regeneration.
Dr Ram Kumar Mukhopadhyay, secretary of the Regional office of Sahitya Akademi, opened the Dr Mamoni Raisom Goswami Book Fair organised on the occasion for the book lovers. Dr Mukhopadhyay lauded the continuous efforts of the Asam Sahitya Sabha over the last 95 years in motivating and moulding the literary talents of the State. The exhibition was inaugurated by State Agriculture Minister Nilamoni Sen Deka.
The first day�s highlight was the Asam Sahitya Utsav chaired by Sahitya Sabha president Rong Bong Terang and attended by the representatives of the literary organisations of various communities, both of the State and outside, various socio-cultural and ethnic organisations and associations of communities like Bodo, Singpho, Mising, Dimasa, Karbi, Deuri, Moran, Tai Ahom, Muttack, Bhojpuri, Nepali, Sema, Tangsa, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Bengali, Tea Tribes, etc.
Pinaki Thakur, a renowned Bengali poet from Kolkata, inaugurated the unique event of free exchange and sharing of opinions. Thakur in his speech expressed that it was an unforgettable experience for him to have joined such a mega literary event. He underlined the necessity of an ideal, a guiding force in all creative activities including literature.
Earlier, Pradyut Bordoloi welcomed the gathering and traced the variegated history of Ledo in its emergence as a throbbing industrial centre in the last few decades of the 19th century and finally converging itself into a strategic spot for combating the advancing Axis powers by the Allied Forces in course of the World War II. Ledo woke up to an unbelievable resurgence of activities as the base camp of General Stilwell�s wonder project of the Ledo Road linking India through Myanmar with China, Bordoloi added. Participating in the event as the chief guest, Nilamoni Sen Deka referred to historical allusions as old as 1837 and 1841 regarding the existence of a trade link from Ledo via Myanmar to China. Deka called upon the Sabha to cultivate a broader and more scientific outlook and guide the new generation of writers so as to infuse in them a greater sense of responsibility to forge a sense of harmonious living in the State.
Speaking on the occasion, Bodo Sahitya Sabha general secretary Kamala Kanta Mushahary urged upon the Asam Sahitya Sabha to take the lead in sorting out solutions to the problems affecting the region and evolve a common strategy towards development of the vernacular medium schools of Assam.
During the Sahitya Utsav, six artists namely, Nani Borpujari, Amin Ul Haque, Kishore Das, Champak Borbora, Debananda Ulup and Bandana Bordoloi were felicitated. Apart from the Sabha president, several other eminent litterateurs including Dr Kutub Uddin Ahmed, Dr Balendra Kumar Das, Dr Parag Kumar Bhattacharya, Bhupen Saikia, Sabha vice-president and Dr Pradeep Bhuyan, former general secretary of the Sabha released more than 60 books. Releasing the souvenir published by the reception committee, Sabha president Terang hoped that the publication would be a significant contribution to the literary field of the State.
