In a shocker from Assam’s Dhemaji, a youth allegedly set the traditional Assamese dhol and ‘gamosa’ on fire by pouring petrol on it. The incident was reported from Silapathar town.
It is pertinent to mention that the Assamese dhol and ‘gamosa’ are considered very close to the sentiments of the Assamese people and the act has greatly angered the locals.
According to reports, the youth, identified as Ranjan Sangmai, had set the dhol and ‘gamosa’ on fire which belonged to one of his co-performers.
The reason for the escalation is said to be due to his co-performer’s refusal to go for an event on Sunday night, citing personal reasons.
However, an upset Sangmai set the dhol and ‘gamosa’ on fire on Monday morning as a way to express his anger.
Meanwhile, agitated locals have expressed displeasure over the incident and urged the authorities to take strict action against the accused youth.
Earlier this year in March, a major controversy over ‘gamosa’ transpired after the Bangla Sahitya Sabha on its first state-level conference honoured ‘Assamese-Bangla paired gamosa’ to their guest including Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu.
With the photo of Ranoj Pegu adorning the paired gamosa around his neck, a photo of state sports minister Bimal Borah smiling as he was looking at the gamosa on his hands was also making rounds on social media.
Following the controversy, Pegu issued a statement.
He said, “At the first conference of Bangla Sahitya Sabha, they kept the photo of Rabindranath Tagore on one side while on the other side photo of Lakshminath Bezbaruah was seen. They identify themselves as Bengali-speaking Assam people. They honoured me with the paired gamosa at the event.”
“Gamosa got the GI tag which means that no other state or region can claim gamosa as their own. It was just an event where they honoured us with the gamosa. I don’t feel there should be any controversy regarding this matter as gamosa will always remain gamosa and no other region can claim it to be theirs,” he added.
However, his statement was not accepted by the masses.
