HT Correspondent
LEDO, Jan 19: The two-day extensive programme of the Ledo Rashtriya Sahitya Sanmilan National, held on January 17 and 18 at the Ledo College auditorium under the 83rd Margherita Legislative Assembly Constituency in Tinsukia district, concluded successfully.
The inaugural day began with a tribute ceremony in memory of Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Agarwala and Sudhakantha Dr Bhupen Hazarika, along with a homage to Zubeen Garg. The programme was formally inaugurated by lighting the ceremonial lamp by Dr Pronoy Phukan. This was followed by a chorus performance of “Ledo Ekhoni Dhuniya Thai” by Babita Das Chaudhury and her group.
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Dr Ranjit Dutta, president of the Ledo Rashtriya Sahitya Sanmilan, delivered the welcome address, while the conference was formally inaugurated by noted litterateur from Jharkhand, A N Pathak (Abhayananda Pathak). The chief guest, Sahitya Akademi Award winner Basudev Das from Kolkata, delivered the keynote address.
Speeches were later delivered by poet and professor Ritu Sen Choudhury from Kolkata, litterateur Mukut Sharma from Guwahati and poet-critic Uday Kumar Sharma. Poetry recitations by Rijumoni Saikia Tamuly, Geetanjali Borkotoky Bhagwati, Afruja Akhtar, Kaniska Bhattacharya, Purushottam Upadhyay from Kolkata and others added vibrancy to the event.
Dr Chitrajit Saikia presented a lecture on “Assamese Novel: A Brief Overview”. Under the moderation of Dr Pronoy Phukan, a poets’ gathering (Kabi Samaroh) was organised, where poets from across the country, including Rajarshi Patranabish, Sarbajit Sarkar, Sanket Mhatre, Rituparna Khan, Biman Saha, Bikash Gan Chaudhury, Purushottam Upadhyay, Bobby Pawar, Diganta Bhajani, Ritu Sen Choudhury, Sarthak Roy Choudhury, Shashikant Singh, Kaniska Bhattacharya, Tapan Baruah, Rudra Gogoi, Pranabjyoti Dutta and others, recited their poems.
On the second day, January 18, the national literary programme was moderated by chief secretary Ranajyoti Neog and editor Arunjyoti Nibonua, with senior journalist Jagat Changmai present. The session, presided over by Dr Ranjit Dutta, was held in the presence of Ledo College principal Dr Kripaprasad Upadhyay. Poets Sukumar Chetia (Dibrugarh), Geeta Devi Neog (Ledo), Nilu Das (Margherita) and Sanket Mhatre (Mumbai) recited their works.
The national award presentation ceremony followed, during which the Dr Birendra Nath Baruah National Award was conferred on Abhayananda Pathak of Dhanbad, Jharkhand. The Bhupen Chandra Neog Folk Culture Award was presented to Dr Anil Saikia of Moran, while the Suren Phukan Social Benefactor National Award was conferred on Dr Pushpa Gogoi of Dhemaji.
The second-day session was inaugurated by noted thinker Dr Mayur Bora. Under the moderation of Tapan Baruah and Dr Bikash Baruah, the first, second and third sessions of the poets’ conference were held, during which more than 150 poets from different parts of the country recited poems. Several books were also released on the occasion, including Dr Ranjit Dutta’s poetry collection “Adhalikha Kobitar Dare”, Pranabjyoti Dutta’s “Chintar Shilalipi”, along with three other books titled “Jeevanar Rong”.
