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MANGALDAI: The prestigious Shwaheed Mozammil Hoque Memorial Matribhasha Award 2026 will be conferred on Karbi-Assamese folk artiste, 'Queen of Melody,' and Padmashree awardee Pakhila Lekthepi. The award was announced on Saturday by the All Assam Goria-Moria-Deshi Jatiya Parishad, Darrang District Committee, and Shwaheed Mozammil Hoque Memorial Matribhasha Divas Management Committee.
The award will be presented during the 19th Central Matribhasha Divas to be observed on October 5 and 6 at Mangaldai with a two-day programme, in memory of Shwaheed Mozammil Hoque, the first martyr of the Medium Movement, 1972
Addressing a press meet presided over by Parishad's Darrang president Babul Moksed Ahmed and General Secretary Sahabuddin Ahmed, Central Chief Advisor and Chairman of the Divas Management Committee Dr Sahir Bhuyan said that Pakhila Lekthepi has been selected for her five-decade-long outstanding contribution as a Karbi folk music sadhak, vocalist, composer, and lyricist. He said that by writing, tuning, and singing songs in the Karbi language, using rare, ancient, and almost extinct words of the indigenous Karbi mother tongue and presenting them in traditional tunes in a new form, she has taken Karbi folk music to the pinnacle of popularity and enriched the Karbi mother tongue.
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