Vajpayee gives away Sankaradeva Awards

NEW DELHI, March 2: The prestigious Srimanta Sankaradeva Awards were given away by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to five eminent personalities from the fields of art, culture and literature at a glittering function here today. Barring a last-minute disappointment in the form of the President K R Narayanan's inability to attend the function on health ground, the function earned laurels for the Assam Government, with speakers including the Prime Minister lauding the efforts to bring the awards to the national mainstream from Assam. A messages by the President was read out by the Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta. The function, attended by several Union Cabinet Ministers, members of the Parliament belonging to various political parties, prominent personalities and representatives of various embassies, however, saw the Assam Congress MPs keeping away from it. While few leaders like APCC president Tarun Gogoi had left the capital a day before, others who were present in the capital did not attend it. The awardees included Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra (1997), Bhabendra Nath Saikia (1998), Ustad Amjad Ali Khan (1999) and Sonaram Chutia (2000). All the recipients, except the ailing Haram Das, were present to accept the awards. Haram Das's son, Bishnu Prasad Das, accepted the award on his behalf. The award carries a cash reward of Rs 3 lakh, a citation, a medal and a plaque. The function was covered live by Doordarshan in the Northeast, following an order by the Gauhati High Court. The star of the show was clearly the sarod maestro, Amjad Ali Khan, who came to the function accompanied by his wife, Subhalakshmi Baruah, and their two sons. The function also saw the Prime Minister at his best and his witty remarks made the jam-packed audience burst into laughter on several occasions. Contrary to the apprehension of the organisers, the response was overwhelming with the result that over 500 people were left waiting outside high and dry on the lobby of the Ashok Hotel. A visibly moved Vajpayee appreciated the idea of honouring artistes and literary figures and said he would be requesting all the States to institute such awards to honour such eminent personalities. Setting up of the Sankaradeva Kalakshetra at Guwahati has turned the city into the cultural capital of Assam, he further remarked. Saying that he himself felt highly honoured to be giving away the awards to such distinguished personalities, the Prime Minister said that the great saint, philosopher and reformer's teachings played a major role in Assam's struggle to move forward in these trying times. "He was among those saints of the country who kept the light of hope burning when there was darkness all around" he added. The Prime Minister in his style of mixing serious observations with humour, however, refrained from mentioning any controversial issue including the State's insurgency problem. He also did not take the bait of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan's appeal to develop Assam's flagging tourism. Earlier, welcoming the gathering, the Chief Minister said that the multi-faceted genius of Srimanta Sankaradeva and his extraordinary contributions to humanity are still to be known well outside the Northeast. "In the present times, when the evil forces of terrorism, violence, hatred and restlessness are engulfing our country and the mankind as a whole the world over, the relevance of Srimanta Sankaradeva's ideals are felt more and more acutely", he said.