66th session ends: Sabha urged to bring people closer

DIBRUGARH, February 11: Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta today called upon the state's apex literary body, the Asam Sahitya Sabha to take on the role of a coordinating body among the ethnic literary organisations of the Northeast, saying this would go a long way in achieving the Sabha's theme of unity in diversity. He said such a coordination move would not create any conflict, rather it would help in better understanding of each other's strengths and weaknesses, and also help in arriving at lasting solutions. "Two persons may speak different languages, but feeling are the same, and this is why literature portrays human feelings and thoughts on a given subject. Literature, according to Mahanta, promotes unity and goodwill among sections of a society. Literature has a major role to play to give directions to the people, especially in times of crises, he observed. Inaugurating the third open session of the 66th session of the Sabha at the Sahityarathi Kshetra here this afternoon, Mahanta told a packed, 10000-strong audience that the Sabha has a big role to play so as to arrive at solutions to problems staring at the face of the state, the number of which is increasing day by day. He said he is convinced that administrative measures alone are insufficient to give succour to the people at large in Assam today. He appealed to poets, artistes and authors to resort to greater creativity so that the general masses get to know the crux of a situation and themselves decide on their future course of action. "Violence, hitherto little known in the state, has unfortunately become routine in the last two decades," he said, and attributed this to the confusion among a section of the population. He said that the Sabha can also play a leading role in creating a congenial atmosphere for peace, development and prosperity. He took note of the fact that despite the pull of time, the Sabha's goals remain the same. At the session, the Assam cooperative minister Nurul Hussain announced a donation of Rs 1 lakh towards compilation of the Sabha's proposed encylopaedia. This amount was saved from the Sabha's last session at Hajo, where he was the president of the reception committee. The local Asom Bikash Mancha today announced an annual grant of Rs 1.20 lakh for the Sabha, to carry out its routine activities. The NGO also announced that it would extend further financial commitments for specific projects. Like yesterday, when a cash amount of Rs 16000 was donated by several individuals for the encyclopaedia, today too, about Rs 12000 was donated by several individuals for the same purpose. The Sabha president, Homen Borgohain gratefully acknowledged the gesture by the citizens by announcing the donors' names over the loudspeaker. The donors included a four-year old child of the city, Chandan Baruah, who paid a rupee. The Chief Minister too announced a grant of Rs 3 lakh towards the Sabha today. Presidents of several literary bodies addressed the open session today, which was dedicated to this year's session theme "unity in diversity." They included the president of the Bodo Sahitya Sabha, Dileswar Boro, joint secretary of the Nepali Sahitya Sabha, Dambaru Dahal, president of the Garo Sahitya Sabha, Polen R Marak, and the noted writer, Taburam Taid. Accounts submitted : The accounts sub committee of the reception committee of the session today submitted its interim accounts at the third open session. The reception committee treasurer, Debi Prasad Bagrodia assured to submit the final, audited accounts well before the deadline of May 11 this year. As per the accounts declared today, the collections amounted to Rs 7091000.00 and the expenditure Rs 6377573.65. Harmony programme : Earlier this morning, the Saharia family here today formally handed over a gift deed to the Sabha's functionaries. As per this deed, the Saharia town hall here is now a property of the Sabha, which will utilise the same for its proposed harmony complex, a multi-crore project. This was followed by a Harmony meeting which was attended by the Assam Chief Minister. This meeting was held at the Chowkidinghee playground. From this venue, a cultural procession with the theme of unity in diversity marched to the Sahityarathi Kshetra. Session concludes : The 66th session of the Sabha came to an end today with the fourth cultural extravaganza, dedicated to the memory of Umesh Chandra Banerjee. Till late this evening, crowds continued to throng the Kshetra, with the book fair and exhibition grounds unable to cope with the sea of humanity. Till 8 this evening, more than one lakh people visited the Kshetra today, and the crowd continue to choke the ground, till the time of writing this.