On the occasion of Asom Divas, the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal paid tributes to Swargadeo Saulung Sukapha and participated in a thought-provoking meeting organised at his official residence in New Delhi on Friday.
Setting the context to the top of the line discussion on the role of Assam and Northeast, Sarbananda Sonowal said, “Today on the pious occasion of Assam Day, we pay our sincere homage to the great unifier and the founder of the great Ahom dynasty in Assam, Swargadeo Saulung Sukapha. The priceless contribution of this great soul to unify the various communities to build the greater Assamese society remains the cornerstone of our identity.”
“The vision and value system that the great Swargadeo Sukapha ingrained while building the greater Assamese society still helps the Assamese society to represent our society and Assam at the national as well as International stage with great pride,” the union minister further said.
The Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Prof. Shantishree Dhulipudi Pandit highlighted the forgotten dynasties of India that immensely contributed to protect and enrich the nation. She talked about the Ahoms, Cholas, Mauryas and others.
Prof. Kapil Kapoor spoke about the great Ahoms and how it protected the entire Northeast region from brutal invasions. Prof Kapoor also spoke about the ancient historical connections that the people of the Northeast shared with the central India. He gave references of Mahabharata and other important treaties that carry witnesses of the Pan-Indian approach of the Kings of North-East.
The chairman of the Special Centre for Study of Northeast India, Prof Vinay Kumar Rao spoke about the journey of the Ahom kingdom. He touched upon the role of Ahom dynasty in giving the contemporary cultural as well as geographical shape of Assam. Prof Rao also stressed on the importance of preserving the monuments that represent the glorious years of Ahom kingdom.
Leading intellectual & eminent historian Hindol Sengupta focused on the distortion of Indian History, from where many names of the brave warriors of India including the Ahoms were erased in order to colonise the Indian minds.
The thought provoking meet was attended by intellectuals and thought leaders from different streams including Professors, Head of Departments from different faculties of JNU as well as Delhi University; intellectuals from leading think tanks; academicians, technocrats as well as senior bureaucrats from the Assamese society based in Delhi NCR, representatives from Assam Association Delhi (AAD), Assam Association Gurgaon (AAG) and Assam Association Noida among other senior officials of various ministries were present on the occasion.
