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Statue of Rasaraj installed at Tezpur

By Correspondent

TEZPUR, July 15 � �Lakshminath Bezbaroa dominated the Assamese literary scene for about half a century. During his lifetime, he devoted himself to revive the lost glory of Assamese language and literature�.

The above was observed by Dr Nagen Saikia, former president of Asam Sahitya Sabha, while attending a function arranged on the occasion of unveiling of a statue of Rasaraj Lakshminath Bezbaroa here on July 9 last.

�During those days, Assamese was not used in schools and courts of the State. Lakshminath Bezbaroa fought an incessant battle with many of his contemporaries to establish a proper place for Assamese in the State. His literary and cultural crusade was aimed at the overall development of the Assamese society, he recalled.�

Unveiling the statue of the literary icon in front of the SBI main branch here, the noted litt�rateur further stated that during this time the famous Assamese periodical Jonaki was launched under the leadership of Chandra Kumar Agarwala. He was the editor and the publisher of the journal. Lakshminath Bezbaroa actively participated in this venture.

His first satirical pieces appeared in the pages of Jonaki during the second year of publication. He wrote extensively under the pseudonym Kripabar Barua. HemchandraGoswami, another stalwart of the time also worked to make Jonaki a successful venture of the period. �Lakshminath Bezbaroa has to his credit three historical plays and four farces. Even the first Assamese film made by Jyotiprasad Agarwalla was based on Lakshminath�s play Joymoti. Bezbaroa was overwhelmed by Jyotiprasad Agarwalla�s Joymoti and conveyed this feeling to the filmmaker by writing a note of appreciation on the film during the last days of his life.

Bezbaroa was equally pioneering and prolific when it came to writing prose. His favourite form of writing prose was the historical novel and he easily cast himself as the master of this genre in Assamese literature when he wrote his acclaimed Podum Kuwori.

Bezbaroa was an unashamed liberal and all his observations of people and places were strongly tinged with this sense of rationalisation. His thought provoking essays on the position of religion in everyday life reflects his rationalisation as well as his liberal outlook. Though patriotism was a dominant emotion whenever he wrote a personal essay, he could just as easily slip into the analytical world of spirituality in his later works.

He said and added that Bezbaroa was a sensitive artist, and as the literary stalwarts of the Jonaki Era, the age of romanticism in Assamese literature, through his essays, plays, fiction, poetry and satires was amply reflected.

Dr Saikia also said that the creative literature of Lakshminath Bezbaroa reflected the deeper urges of the people of Assam and cemented his position as a doyen in the renaissance time that shaped Assamese language and literature.

It may be mentioned here that the act of erection of the bust of the Sahityarathi, designed by eminent sculptor Biren Singha, was an initiative by the State Bank of India here as a part of its social responsibility in collaboration with the district administration. Nevertheless, it was primarily an initiative of noted litt�rateur, social worker and Chief Manager of Tezpur SBI, Sibananda Kakoti.

The august meeting was held under the chairmanship of Sonitpur DC LalitGogoi and was attended by Mahendra Aditya Sahu of SBI, MLA Rajen Borthakur, Samir Mukherjee, noted social worker D Lakhi Goswami, SubhasChandra Pati, Kangse Banik, AGM, among others.

The event started with banti prajalan by the chief guest and was marked with presentation of Bezbaroa�s Asom Sangeet by Asomiya Jana Sanskritik Gosti.

Delivering the welcome address, Kakoti chief gave a vivid account of the Branch�s customer service and various community service programmes. He said the vast contribution and role of Lakshminath Bezbaroa in the resurgence of Assamese language and literature will be reflected through the erection of the bust, though it was a small acknowledgement only for which he along with the SBI community felt highly honoured.

RajenBarthakur appreciated the noble initiative of the SBI. Several other speakers too appreciated the SBI initiative.

Lalit Gogoi recalled the unmatched contribution of the Sahityarathi towards the Assamese socio-cultural and literary arena. He also recited a few verses penned by Bezbaroa. The role of SBI too was highly appreciated by the deputy commissioner.

The vote of thanks was subsequently offered by Sibananda Kakoti.

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