HT Correspondent
HOJAI, March 16: The department of history of the Rabindranath Tagore University has organized a national seminar on ‘Nationalism and Nationalist Upsurge Against the Colonial Rule with Special Reference to the Unsung Heroes of North- East Bharat’.
The seminar, sponsored by the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) in collaboration with the Itihas Sankalan Samiti, Assam, was held on March 14 and 15.
The inaugural ceremony began with the welcome address of Amalendu Chakrabarty, vice-chancellor of the Rabindranath Tagore University. Afterwards Utpal Phukan, director of IQAC of the university gave a brief description about the Rabindranath Tagore University. The convener and head of the department of history, Pallabita Das explained the purpose of the seminar.
The inaugural ceremony was attended by Rajib Handique, head of the department of history, Gauhati University as the chief guest. In his persuasive speech, he recalled the unsung heroes of Northeast India as well as the contribution of Rabindranath Tagore in the nationalist upsurge in India. The keynote speech was delivered by Subhajit Choudhury, assistant registrar of the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati also spoke about the contribution of Rabindranath Tagore to the Indian national movement, the role of the INA and the contribution of the unknown heroes of Northeast to the freedom struggle.
The first volume of the department’s annual periodical ‘The Tales of Time’ was also inaugurated by Rajib Handique within this inaugural ceremony. The editors of that periodical are Parishmita Hazarika, Jonali Das and Gautam Sarmah, the faculty members of the department of history. The periodical is enriched by the different write-ups written by the teachers and students of the department.
The technical session was conducted both online and offline platforms at the Bharat Tirtha Bhawan and the commerce laboratory of the university. More than 25 papers were presented and discussed in this session.
Rajib Handique, Uttam Bathari and Subhajit Choudhury were presented as the resource persons for the technical session on the first day. The resource persons for the second day of the technical session were Sagar Barua, former principal of the Khagarijan College and Kamal Nayan Patowary, principal of the Nalbari College. The technical session on the second day consisted of the presentation and discussion of more than 30 papers. The organizing committee for this seminar had received papers from various institutions in Assam, Northeast as well as from various parts of the country.
Finally, the valedictory session began with the inaugural address by the registrar Tilak Chandra Kalita. Nitin Kumar, assistant director of ICHR (research) delivered the valedictory speech and discussed the work of freedom fighters of Northeast. He also informed the audience on the various facilities offered by the ICHR for research.
A book exhibition cum sale centre was also inaugurated at the premises of Rabindranath Tagore University under the leadership of ICHR Librarian Muktinath Sharma. The students of the department also staged dance performances. Chief convenor, Pallabita Das and co-convenors Parishmita Hazarika, Jonali Das and Gautam Sarmah thanked ICHR and all stakeholders for their kind cooperation.