The North East Bengali literary body (Uttar Purba Bangla Sahitya Sabha) held its annual meeting here on Friday to discuss various issues relating to Bengali language and the Bengali identity in the region.
Delegates from different states of the region, including writers, poets, intellectuals, journalists, a retired Vice-Chancellor and a sitting legislator, dwelt upon the state of Bengali literature in the region.
The conference felt that Bengali students are opting not to select their mother tongue as part of the subjects they study and that this is a matter of serious concern. It urged the parents to encourage their wards to learn their mother tongue.
The conference also noted that Bengalis were an integral part of the “rainbow” called the North East. It recalled that the 1.5 crore Bengalis of the region were indigenous inhabitants of undivided Assam and migrated to the peripheral areas long before the British era.
It resolved to work in tandem with the local majority population towards a harmonious progress and protection of all identities and cultures.
Attendees said that there was an unjustified propensity among a section of people to dub all Bengalis as “Bangladeshis”.
It further decided to constitute a 21-member coordination committee to fulfill the prime object of the body to give a fillip to the use of the Bengali language and to create fraternal relations with other literary organisations of the region.
