I could not figure out clearly whether the mail was written by Buljit Buragohain or Chittaranjan Pathak. Our sincere thanks for highlighting the subject. The matter has been drawing attention of many concerned citizen of the state/region for quite sometime now. Unfortunately it hasnt got a proper public forum to be discussed. I hope, through this platform the matter will be rationally analyzed leading it to a logical conclusion.
I completely agree with the mailer, the nomination procedure is far from perfect. People who are entrusted with the responsibility lack insight and understanding the value of recognizing talents and excellence. One of the speakers (mind you, he is not from our region) in a recently held seminar in New Delhi had pointed out that somebody gets medal by shooting a man and people like Lou Majaw who has dedicated his whole life for music will never be conferred with a Padma Bhushan or any such honour. We were touched by the speakers radical comment who was speaking only the truth. Besides pressing the concerned agencies to give the matter serious thought we must also bring about a change in our peoples mind. Some of our people still think working way to public recognition is not-so-nice thing for artists and artistes. Sometime ago I happened to meet an artist from Guwahati with whom I was sharing the same issue. He was cool about not being recognized as that is not the reason why he works. True, but we must acknowledge that recognition doesnt only honour the talent in a person but also inspired younger talents. Rajni Brahma Basumatary On Wed, 31 Jan 2007 Buljit Buragohain wrote : > Padma awards and Asom > Sir, The Government of India has declared this years Padma awards. Asom > has got a disappointing tally of only two awardees. Posthumous Padma Bhushan > to late littérateur CP Saikia and Padmashri to Dr. Temsula Ao give an > impression that many other deserving candidates have been overlooked. It > seems our government machinery is too pre occupied with law and order and > survival to give any serious consideration to forwarding the names of the > deserving candidates for the Padma awards. Since 50 years of inception of the > Padma awards, less than 45 Asomiya personalities have been conferred these > awards. Only one Asomiya personality has been awarded Padma Vibhusan, the > second highest civilian award. The recipient was former Chief Minister Bimala > Prasad Chaliha. Literary giants like Surjya Kumar Bhuyan, Nalini Bala Devi, > Maheswar Neog, Atul Chandra Hazarika were not given anything more than the > Padmashri. Many deserving candidates from Asom have never been awarded these > titles. > >Most of the times, our State government and the concerned bureaucracy have not >been very effective in identifying and forwarding names of the deserving icons >from the State. Otherwise how so many of our literary and cultural giants have >never been conferred these awards. Nirmal Prabha Bordoloi, Jogesh Das, >Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya, Hem Barua, Mitradev Mahanta, Binanda Chandra >Barua, Ambikagiri Rai Choudhury, Bishnuprasad Rabha, Tarunchandra Pamegam, >Phani Sarma, Parbati Prasad Barua, Raghu Nath Choudhary are some of the names >which come to my mind. All these icons were alive when these awards were >instituted. Neighbouring West Bengal has till now produced about 20 Padma >Vibhusan awardees compared to our single score. There must be something wrong >in our nomination process or may be our government machinery is too >preoccupied to give this area a serious thought. The Government of Asom >without any political undertone or other motives should vigorously lobby for >the > deserving candidates from the State. > >Some of the names which government should seriously consider for nominations >in coming years are Zubin Garg (music), Homen Borgahain (literature), Hiren >Gohain ((literature), Nalinidhar Bhattacharjya (literature), Hiren >Bhattacharjya (literature), Sobha Brahma (art and culture), Dulal Roy (art and >culture), Khagen Mahanta (music), Mamoni Roysom Goswami (literature) etc., The >list will be quite long and it becomes quite frustrating when one sees many >people getting awarded just because of their proximity to Delhi government >circle or the press. Arm chair conservationist like Sunita Narain gets awarded >with Padmashri where as likes of our Dharanidhar Boro risk their lives day and >night to save our wild life and forest in Kaziranga. Yours etc., CHITTARANJAN >PATHAK, Perth, Australia.
