A CORRESPONDENT
DHUBRI: The 512th birthday anniversary of Bir Chilarai was celebrated under the auspices of Dhubri district unit of Asom Jatiyabadi Yuba Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP) in Dhubri with a pledge to set up a research centre in the name of the great worrior.
The Bir Chilarai statue was first installed in the western Assam way back in 1988, when even the statues of Bir Chilarai had not been installed in Amingoan near Saraighat bridge and North Salmara of Bongaigaon district.
Speakers spoke at a length about the life on the Bir Chilarai at the Bir Chilarai Park in Dhubri, with his heroic events and contributions in battles while defending the western Assam territory. The meeting was addressed by Koch Rajbongshi leaders like Tarani Kanta Rai, Suchibrata Singha Choudhury, Biswajit Kalita, Pulakesh Chandra Rai Bepari and other eminent speakers of Dhubri district.
To make it a memorable celebration of the great worrior, an art competition was held among the students of school, and later prizes among the winners and consolation prizes among the participants were given away by guests and chief guests.
Later, advisor of AJYCP central committee, Hemen Chakraborty said that Dhubri district unit of AJYCP had all along been making an effort to preserve and protect history, heritage and culture of this part of western Assam.
"But now we feel a need to focus on it to give it a shape by setting up an institution which will carry research works on history, heritage and culture. This will be a full-fledged institution, and we will soon call a meeting to discuss the pros and cons about constituting a body of research centre to be named after Bir Chilarai," Chakraborty informed. A veteran leader and president of Simanta Chetana Mancha, Purvottar, Udayan Chakraborty echoed the same need and said that many events in history were yet to be researched thoroughly.
"People of this part of western Assam suffered a lot due to partition of the country in 1947 and subsequent formation of states. People of same cultural background and language are living in Rongpur district of Bangladesh, Coochbehar and Jalpaiguri districts of North Bengal and districts of western Assam. With a view to work on historical and cultural unity , we need a research centre which will build a cultural bridge among people who once lived together and had same cultural unity and identity," Chakraborty said.
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