Silchar: The central committee of the Barak Upatyaka Banga Sahitya O Sanskriti Sammelan is hosting a two-day Syed Mujtaba Ali Literary Festival at Banga Bhawan, Silchar, which concludes on Sunday. The event marks the 122nd birth anniversary of the celebrated author and scholar.

The festival opened on Saturday with an inaugural session led by former Assam University Vice-Chancellor Dr. Tapodhir Bhattacharjee. Subhasis Talapatra, former Chief Justice of the Odisha High Court and a noted Mujtaba Ali researcher, attended as chief guest, while Prof. Mithilesh Chakraborty, another Ali scholar, was special guest.

In his address, Talapatra urged people to read more Bengali literature, calling it the truest tribute to Mujtaba Ali. He also spoke at length about Ali’s life and writings. Dr. Bhattacharjee delivered a detailed lecture on the author and praised the organisers for their efforts.

The first day included a discussion session. Sunday’s programme features paper presentations from 11 am, followed by a session on Ali’s works chaired by Prof. Debashish Bhattacharjee, Head of the Bengali Department at Assam University.

Students and researchers from across the Barak Valley and Assam University are participating. Prof. Dipendu Das of the university’s English Department will deliver the keynote address. The closing ceremony at 3 pm will include poetry recitations by leading poets.

The inaugural session was presided over by Barak Banga central committee president Sanjib Deblaskar, with Cachar district committee general secretary Uttam Kumar Saha delivering the welcome address and Santasree Shome anchoring the proceedings. Saha spoke about the life and times of Ali, while Prof. Mithilesh Chakraborty highlighted the significance of his short stories.

Central committee general secretary Gautam Prasad Dutta noted that the festival has been held annually since 2014, rotating among different districts. “Last year it was hosted in Sribhumi. Next year it will be organised in Hailakandi or another district,” he said.

The event was attended by central literary secretary Dipak Sengupta and members Taimur Raja Choudhury, Biswanath Bhattacharjee, Shipra Purkayastha, Paritosh Dutta, Bibhash Ranjan Choudhury, Anil Paul, Binayak Choudhury and Saibal Gupta.

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