PASIGHAT, Nov 2: Sahitya Akademi Award winner Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi inaugurated the two-day ‘Multilingual writers’ meet’ at the College of Horticulture & Forestry (CHF) here in East Siang district on Saturday, in the presence of noted litterateurs from across the country.
The event is being hosted by the Sahitya Akademi, in collaboration with the Imphal (Manipur)-based Central Agricultural University and the Arunachal Pradesh Literary Society.
In his inaugural address, Thongchi expressed hope that the new generation of writers would be able to learn from the writers from different parts of the country who are going to showcase their writing skills in different genres during the meet.
Highlighting the literary activities in Arunachal, Thongchi said, “In early days, Assamese was taught in the state, and the first written literature was shown in Pasighat. Tagang Taki had been honoured by the Sahitya Akademi with a Bhasa Sanman Award in 2013 for Adi language. He became the first writer from this state as his Adi grammar, written in Assamese, was published in 1957.”
Tongchi said Pasighat has given the state its greatest writer, late Lummer Dai, “whose books brought him immense popularity among the readers in Assam, and now his name has been written in golden letters in the annals of the literary history of Assam as one of the greatest writers in the Assamese language.”
Thongchi also mentioned the contributions of noted writers Mamang Dai and Yumlam Tana, who write in English.
“The literary activities in Arunachal received the attention of the nation when our writers started to win the Sahitya Akademi and other prestigious literary awards, along with a Padma Shri Award by Mamang Dai,” Thongchi said.
CHF Dean Dr BN Hazarika, who has himself published 20 books, threw light on the Assamese language and culture, and expressed hope that “the young writers would give more exposure to Assam and the Assamese literature at the national level.”
Sahitya Akademi Vice-Chairman Madhav Kaushik, its Secretary Dr K Sreenivasarao, writer and historian Viswas Patil, and retired IAF pilot and writer Mohonto Panging Pao also spoke.
Kaling Borang (Adi), Saumya Joshi (Gujarati), Nomi Maga Gumro (Hindi), SV Satyanarayana (Telugu), Ishraqul Islam Mahir (Urdu) and Mohonto Panging Pao read out self-composed poems on the first day of the programme.
Among others, Padma Shri Award winner Mamang Dai was also present. (DIPRO)
