Asam Sahitya Sabha President Dr Basanta Gosami Wins Rongbong Terang Memorial Award 2026

Asam Sahitya Sabha President Dr Basanta Kumar Goswami was presented with the Rongbong Terang Memorial Award for the year 2026 on Sunday at an event organised at Bokoliaghat Higher Secondary School Auditorium in the Karbi Anglong district of Assam. The event was held to commemorate the birth anniversary of eminent litterateur and Padma Shri awardee Rongbong Terang, whose novel ‘Rongmilir Hahi’ explores the deep connection between the people of the hills and the valley of Assam.

The honour included traditional Karbi garments, an Angavastra (a stole), and a memento. Accepting the award, constituted by Singthu Publications and presented annually, Dr Goswami said, “The Asam Sahitya Sabha for the duration of 2025-27 is striving to create an atmosphere of camaraderie among all the tribes and people of the state.”

“Rongbong Terang is a distinguished personality from Karbi Anglong who went on to be honoured with the Padma Shri. The bridge he built between the hills and the valley through his works is exceptional. Apart from his work on Rongmilir Hahi, he has produced several plays, stories, novels and so on. His words as a guardian of the Assamese people are of paramount importance and wisdom. The Asam Sahitya Sabha has always tried to encourage Karbi youths in the field of literature.”

On the other hand, Sadin-Pratidin Group’s founder and Editor of Asomiya Pratidin daily, Jayanta Baruah, who was invited as the guest of honour for the event, acknowledged Singthu Publications’ initiative to constitute and present the award for the last nine years. He also expressed hope that the youth can use the bridge built by Rongbong Terang with his work as a foundation to create more literary works in this line.

Speaking about his own initiatives after publishing the Braille version of the Hemkosh dictionary, Jayanta Baruah said, “We are including many regional languages in the Hemkosh. However, we are taking another step after this of creating a glossary of tribal languages and culture, which will include over 30,000 words of each tribal language.”

“Initially, we are taking up four languages—Karbi, Rabha, Mising and Bodo. In the later stages, we will also include Tai, Moran-Matak, Koch-Rajbongshi, Deuri, Tiwa and other tribes as well and publish the second part of the glossary. The first part is expected to be completed within the first half of this year.”

Apart from the award, the event also witnessed the launch of seven books. Among the dignitaries present at the event were Assam Legislative Assembly Deputy Speaker Dr Numal Momin, Asomiya Pratidin Associate Editor Prakash Mahanta, Asam Sahitya Sabha General Secretary Debajit Bora and other notable personalities.