Sameer Tanti gets Assam Valley Literary award

Noted Assamese poet Sameer Tanti has won the 23rd Assam Valley Literary Award.

Speaking at the award ceremony here last evening, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, said literature has a major role in nation-building and “strengthening the bonds of amity’’.

“Assam has a rich heritage in language and literature and the State has contributed significantly to the Indian literary tradition. In our State, from the days of Srimanta Sankardeva to the present, art and literature has played a major role in nation-building and unifying the society,” he said.

Gogoi called upon the tea industry to open more schools for the children of tea labourers so that such sections are not deprived of quality education.

“The tea industry needs to do more for the uplift of tea labourers who are among the major deprived groups,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, noted litterateur Pratibha Ray said literature is the only true unifying force in the society.

“Neither politics nor religion is the main unifying force. It is literature which unites the people,” she said.

She said that even though literature in India comes in different languages, there is a close relation between works of writers belonging to various States.

Tanti said the growing disparity among sections of the society is a major cause for concern as it leads to discontent and strife.

“There is an urgent need to bridge the gap in order to ensure that society can prosper and progress,” Tanti said.

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