Chord of Harmony: The Sattras & Dargahs of Assam, like the subjects themselves, is actually a reflection of the philosophy of humanism and universal brotherhood propagated by the great saints of Assam, Srimanta Sankardeva and Azaan Pir—a philosophy nurtured and carried forward by the later apostles and followers of both the saints. The Sankardeva movement, spearheaded by the Vaishnavite monasteries called the sattras, not only watered down the system of discrimination on the basis of caste, but also strived to save the society from practices of religious bigotry and untouchability by creating a system of harmonious co-existence. If the sattras remind people of Sankardeva’s contribution to social cohesion and the socio-cultural and literary resurgence in Assam, the dargahs, as the graves of the Muslim spiritual leaders are known, have remained the strongest symbols of the teachings of the Muslim pirs who did come to spread Islam, but stressed on unity among people of all faiths. No wonder, these dargahs spread across Assam are a favourite destination of both Muslims and Hindus, besides people of other faiths. Wasbir Hussain and Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta bring out the stories of these religious leaders who were great unifiers of people by featuring some of the sattras and dargahs.
Security forces killed a hard-core ULFA member at an encounter in Goalpara district on Sunday.The encounter took place in the wee hours at Balbola under Dhupdhara police station in the district. An AK-56 rifle, over 100 live bullets, magazines and a hand grenade were recovered from his possession.
Acting on some intelligence inputs a joint team of police and Army carried out the operation and the encounter took place. The ULFA cadre died on the spot while three to four others managed to escape.
The Bodo Sahitya Sabha will stage a 2-hour dharna Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on April 12 alleging non fulfillment of their demands related to Bodo-medium schools.
The Bodo literary body will also burn copies of "The Assam Venture Educational Institutions (Provincialization of Services) Act, 2011" and "Assam Non-government Educational Institution (Management...
ULFA’s pro talk leaders are all set to hold the second round for formal talks with the Centre on Monday. A set of crucial issues are expected to come up during the meeting with the home ministry in Delhi.
A high-level pro-talk ULFA delegation, led by chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, left for New Delhi on Sunday to hold the second round of talks with the Centre to resolve the long-standing issues.
The delegation is scheduled to meet Union Home Secretary R K Singh on Monday to review the progress of the talks and to ensure that the process was expedited.
The leaders will also urge the Centre to ensure that the security and basic needs of cadres living in designated camps were looked...
Popular Assamese singer cum composer Charu Gohain is dead. He was 61 who breathed his last at around 10-45 on Saturday morning at the Guwahati Medical College Hospital where he was undergoing treatment from February 22.
His condition deteriorated on Friday night and was shifted to the ICU. But he died on Saturday morning.
A pall of gloom has descends into the entire state. His mortal remains consigned to flames at Nabagraha cremation ground in presence of hundreds of his well wishers. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi along with many parties, organizations and individuals condoled his death.
ULFA on Saturday claimed to have blown up a vital unit of the Numaligarh Refinery Limited in Golaghat district on its Raising Day. But the refinery authorities refuse to read it.
Officials said there was an explosion at the hydrogen cracker plant area of the refinery at about 6:35 pm when the fire broke out. They said that the cause of the blaze was yet to be ascertained. Fire tenders posted at the refinery have rushed to the spot to douse the flames. The extent of damage has yet to be ascertained. On the other hand, ULFA in a statement has owned up the responsibility.
Security forces on Saturday arrested four persons and recovered a crude bomb on the ULFA raising day.
Police arrested the four persons from Nalbari district charging them with harbouring ULFA militants and recovered one live round of .9 mm pistol from their possession.
They were identified as Deepak Patowari, Hitesh Deka, Pabitra Deka and Achyut Mazumdar. Police claimed to have possessed incriminating documents from them.
On the other hand, SSB jawans recovered a crude bomb from a remote location in Baksa district on Saturday.
Assam assembly on Saturday observed its platinum jubilee in Guwahati where Veteran political leaders turned nostalgic.
Speakers after speakers remembered the golden days of the House when it held its first session in 1937 in Shillong.
Former MLA Premadhar Bora, Speaker Pranab Gogoi, former chief minister PK Mahanta were prominent among those who attended the low profile function. The grand function is scheduled for April 20 to be attended by prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh who represents the state in the Rajya Sabha.
Amid a simmering controversy over anomalies in HSLC examinations a SEBA official attacked journalist when they visited the headquarters on Saturday.
The official in question was administrative officer Kaushik Chandra Deka who attacked the video journalist of a private satellite news channel and tried to snatch the camera. Other journalists lodged a written complaint against Deka before chairman Shantikam Hazarika who promised to take action against him.
The Board of Secondary Education, Assam has ordered an enquiry into the Goalpara incident where wanton cows destroyed hundreds of HSLC answerscripts on Friday.
SEBA chairman Shantikam Hazarika told reporters on Saturday that the Board had already initiated an inquiry into the incident. He said that the answer scripts had been evaluated already and so it was not going to affect the future of the students.
Tension prevails in Gossaigaon following a shoot out leaving a local businessman injured.
The incident took place at around 7-30 in the evening at Charaibeel when he was trying to escape from a group of youths who tried to kidnap him at gunpoint.
Later he was rushed to the hospital. Security forces have launched an operation to nab the culprits.
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