Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal attended the open session of the 59th Annual Conference of Bodo Sahitya Sabha at Daoharu Fwthar, Khoirabari in Udalguri district on Wednesday.

Speaking on the occasion as chief guest, Sonowal said, “Bodos with a great sense of discipline and unity is a living example that when a community joins hand in hand no force in the earth can act as an obstacle in their march towards growth and development.”

He reiterated that the Bodos through their sincerity, hard work, and determination along with other indigenous communities have given a holistic and bold outlook and boosted the spirit of the greater Assamese society to establish themselves in the world platform.

He further said the government is always committed to the cause of the indigenous ethnic communities.

He also said the Assam government has already announced that Rs. 10 crore would be provided to the corpus fund of Asom Sahitya Sabha, Rs. 5 crore to Bodo Sahitya Sabha and Rs. 3 crore each to the other indigenous sahitya sabhas in Assam under Bhasha Gaurab Achoni.

Sonowal also ceremonially launched a mobile app named ‘E-Thunlai’ and E-book and E-library projects of Bodo Sahitya Sabha.

Sonowal also announced that more good news would come to BTAD shortly and the long-pending demands of Bodo people would be fulfilled soon.

The CM urged young writers and litterateurs of the state to aspire for winning awards like Nobel Prize.

Speaking on the occasion, BTC chief Hagrama Mahilary thanked the Assam government for granting Rs. 5 crore to Bodo Sahitya Sabha’s corpus fund.

He also informed that efforts are being made to insert a clause in the proposed MoS which will be signed between the Centre, Assam government and the NDFB along with other Bodo groups to start courses of Bodo language in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and Delhi University.

Mahialry also lauded the efforts of the union and state government to resolve the long-pending political issue of Bodo by proposing the MoS wherein all the factions of NDFB have been brought to the negotiation table.

Mahilary also asserted that Bodos are plagued by many socio-economic issues at present and the demand for separate statehood for Bodos would not be viable in this situation.

He also claimed that this year will be a blessing for the Bodos as the MoS will address their grievances inclusively.

The BTC chief also opined that the students’ community must be kept away from the purview of protests.

Shajid Khan is Northeast Now Correspondent in Udalguri. He can be reached at: [email protected]