TEZPUR, April 29 � Asam Sahitya Sabha, the apex literary body of the region, as part of its centenary celebration programme began its �setu bandhan� and �ujjiban� programme from the historic Tezpur town on Tuesday in a bid to bridge the gap among the common masses and to revitalise its past glory.
The programme began with an interaction programme between the leading citizens from across the district and the Sabha�s president, Dr Dhrubajyoti Bora, secretary, Dr Paramananda Rajbongshi, treasurer, Bipul Deuri, Dr Parag Thakur, convenor, centenary year celebration committee, Manik Ahmed, convenor, cultural sub-committee, Debajit Bora, convenor, publicity sub-committee, Nitananda Bora, sabha�s life-time member, and Dipankar Hazarika.
Emphasising on the importance of the programme in the nation-building process, the president of the Asam Sahitya Sabha, Dr Dhrubajyoti Bora said that compared to the rural areas, the interest of the people living in the urban areas on the apex literary body is less. �Therefore, we are of the opinion that with reference to the unmatched contribution of the rural people towards the literary body, the Asam Sahitya Sabha will have to go forward with the cooperation of the people living in the urban areas.�
He pointed out that the Sabha had nearly completed hundred years of its existence and �now we will have to think very minutely as to what we should do in the next 150 years for the greater Assamese nation through the Sabha�s platform, reflecting the dream of Sankardev and cultural icons � Kalaguru Bishnu Prashad Rabha, Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Natasurya Phani Sharma, Padmanath Gohain Barua and Dr Bhupen Hazarika.� In his long discourse, Dr Bora further stated that the Assamese language, which had earlier to face touch challenges, due to the presence of various local dialects at different places in the region, has today gained its universal form, becoming a lingua-franca for every community in the region. � This has become possible only because of positive role played by the apex literary body,� he said.
Speaking about the background of the creation of the Asam Sahitya Sabha, Dr Bora said that during the British period in the region, the Britishers felt that without the cooperation of the elite section of the Assamese society, they wouldn�t be able to rule in the region, and accordingly they did a lot for the Assamese language, which, in turn laid out the path for the building of a platform like the Asam Sahitya Sabha. Urging people from every walk of life to get involved in the �setu bandhan� programme, he also said that the people who had unmatched contributions in creating the Asam Sahitya Sabha, were always united in avoiding all sort of divergent issues like caste and community. He also said that during the last 30 years, some ethnic communities have been trying to establish their own identity while people hailing from the erstwhile east Bengal are trying to become members of the Assamese society by accepting Assamese language and culture. However, giving a clarification on the ongoing debate of definition of Assamese language, Dr Bora added that those who accept Assamese as the first, second or third language are Assamese.
On the august occasion, Dr Lakhi Goswami, Jamini Baisya, Dr Satish Chandra Bhattacharjee, Dipti Bora, Asharjya Kakoti, Geeta Uppadhyay, Gahan Mahanta, Bhubaneswar Saharia, Sirajul Haque, Dr Saru Saharia Nath, Rabin Sarma, Bipin Kakoti, Brindaban Goswami among others also spoke.
