GUWAHATI, 24 Nov: Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein was conferred the prestigious Lachit Barphukan Award for the year 2022 in a function organised at the Sankardev Kalakshetra here in Assam on Thursday.
The award was conferred by the Tai-Ahom Yuba Parishad (TAYP), in recognition of the “selfless contributions of Mein in the welfare of the society and for promotion and preservation of Tai culture.”
While receiving the award, Mein said, “It is high time to include the history of Northeast region in the CBSE syllabus, so that our children read about our own history.”
He advocated conducting cultural exchange programmes and symposiums for all the ethnic groups of the NE region and South East Asian countries in Guwahati, “it being the gateway to the region, for strengthening the people-to-people contact and also for creation of a Tai tourist circuit in the region to attract tourists from the South East Asian countries.”
Mein urged the young generation to “maintain the age-old cordial relations between the people of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.”
He expressed gratitude to the TAYP for the recognition, and lauded the Assam government “for organising such a massive event in Assam and also in the national capital for making people know about the valiant great hero of Assam, Lachit Barphukan.”
“Lachit Barphukan should be recognised as a national war hero. Barphukan was the force behind unification of Assam forces and protected not only Assam but also entire Northeast region from foreign invasion,” Mein said, and added that “the defeat of the Mughal army in the battle of Saraighat and Ithakuli by the Ahom army under its commander-in-chief Lachit Barphukan had weakened them and prevented further expansion of the Mughal kingdom to South East Asian countries and Tibet.”
Among others, Assam Police Commissioner Harmeet Singh, retired advocate general Ramesh Borpatra Gohain, Kamrup Metro Joint Commissioner Partha Sararhi Mahanta, Padma Shri awardee Dr Jogendra Nath Phukan, IIT Professor Laboinya Kishore, Tai-Ahom Yuba Parishad Central Committee president Dilip Gogoi, and organising committee president Dulal Gohain were present on the occasion. (DCM’s PR Cell)
