

OUR CORRESPONDENT
TEZPUR: “There is no such thing as ‘mainstream’ in Assam — only a shared, common stream that all communities must work together to sustain,” Axam Xahitya Xabha (AXX) President Dr Basanta Kumar Goswami said on Saturday.
Presiding over an academic session on ethnic communities as part of the Xabha’s community coordination meet in Ledo, Dr Goswami said that people of all communities and ethnic groups in the state needed to move forward through cooperation while preserving their distinct identities. “Mutual trust must be the foundation of this effort,” he said, adding that Assam’s ethnic communities now had an opportunity to come together on a common platform, and that this opportunity should not be allowed to pass.
Earlier, Dr Ranjit Dutta, President of the Reception Committee, delivered the welcome address, while Xabha Principal Secretary Debojit Bora outlined the objectives of the event. Bora said that the initiative, driven by a resolve for unity, peace, and coordination, sought to build a bridge of dialogue with the principal office-bearers of ethnic literary organisations that had lived in harmony in Assam for generations and upheld the Assamese identity. “The objective of the AXX is to bring leaders of all communities together under its banner,” he said.
The academic session brought together scholars and litterateurs from several communities, including Dr Phaguna Barmahalia (Gauhati University), Dr Karmi Khalen (Doomdooma College), Dr Sharanan Deuri (former president, Deuri Sahitya Sabha), Dr Amiya Patar, Dr Tulsi Sonowal (Moran College), Kamsing Hanse (former president, Karbi Lammet Amei), Anil Panging, Biswanath Rabha Tara, Jagyeswar Chetia, and Paim Thi Gohain.
In the evening, Mohan Moran, district Central Representative of the Xabha, inaugurated a session of literature, poetry, and song, conducted by Pulak Kumar Gogoi, Vice-President of the Xabha’s publicity sub-committee. Two books, including ‘Asomor Tai Janagosthi’ and ‘Parbatiprasad Baruah Rachanavali,’ were released on the occasion.
The two-day meet, organised by the AXX through its Swajatiya Maitreebandhan Sub-Committee in association with the Tinsukia District Sahitya Sabha, and managed by the Ledo Shakha Sahitya Sabha, is being held at the Ledo Railway Rangamancha.
Organisers said that the coordination meet would be attended by the presidents of numerous ethnic literary and cultural bodies.
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