HAILAKANDI, Dec 27 - Uncertainty prevails over holding the 37th Annual Rabindra Mela at Hailakandi this year due to High Court ruling and objections of the heads of educational institutions in the district. The month-long fair is organised every year here from January 1.
Conceptualised by former Katlicherra MLA late Santosh Kumar Roy more than three decades ago, Rabindra Mela is organised annually to perpetuate the ideals of literary icon Rabindranath Tagore. The fair has turned out to be a symbol of integration as it cuts across the barriers of caste, creed and religion. The fair is like poush mela at Shantiniketan in West Bengal.
A meeting was convened by Deputy Commissioner Adil Khan with the Rabindra Mela Organising Committee, principals, head teachers and other prominent citizens to sort out pertinent issues that have acted as stumbling blocks to holding the fair, as in the previous years from January 1 next.
The meeting discussed threadbare the Gauhati High Court order asking for holding the fair after the High School Leaving Certificate Examination, Higher Secondary and other examinations by mid-March next.
A local resident here filed a case on public interest praying that the fair should not be held before and during examinations and the High Court passed the order asking the administration to look into the matter.
The principals and head teachers of different government and provincialised educational institutions of Hailakandi opined that holding the month-long fair in January would cause disturbance to the students preparing for different examinations. They pleaded for holding the fair in mid-March when the examination season is virtually over.
However, the members of the organising committee insisted on holding the fair in January, citing various reasons.
The meeting also discussed the constitution of a new organising committee, as the term of the present committee has expired. Deputy Commissioner Khan said the administration would extend all possible support and cooperation for conducting the fair if a new committee is elected by then.
Former minister Gautam Roy and former MLA Rahul Roy are the president and the working president of the present committee respectively.
