Kokrajhar, Nov. 16: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has assured the Bodo people that he would urge the authorities concerned to include a Bodo department in Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Attending the 63rd Bodo tunlai sun (Bodo Literary Day) celebration organised by the All Bodo Students Union (Absu) at Mavlankar Hall, Constitution Club of India, New Delhi, Kejriwal said he would personally take the initiative of asking the governor of Delhi for a plot of land to institute the Bodo Cultural Research Centre in the capital.

He also called upon Absu and the Bodo people to observe the day every year in Delhi to highlight Bodo literature and culture among the people of India and assured full support for holding such programmes.

Bodo Literary Day was observed for the first time among the Bodo community in neighbouring Nepal, where they are known as Meches.

A six-member team of the Bodo Sahitya Sabha (BSS) from Assam, including its president Kameswar Brahma and general secretary Kamala Kanta Mushahary, visited Nepal's Jhapa district to celebrate the occasion.

A senior BSS functionary said the Nepal chapter of the BSS was also formed on this occasion.

The day was observed by the district and unit committees of the Bodo Sahitya Sabha, and educational institutions in different parts of Assam, Bengal and Meghalaya.

In Kokrajhar, the Bodoland University and Kokrajhar Government College observed the day on the Bodoland University campus here in Kokrajhar with a daylong programme. A special programme - Dr Suniti Kumar Chatterji memorial lectures - was also organised as part of the celebrations.

The programme was attended by last descendants of Sidli state - Pradip Narayan Dev and Prithiraj Narayan Dev Mech, descendant of Lakhipur Mechpara state - Dipen Narayan Dev, Bodoland University vice-chancellor Hementa K. Baruah, Bodo historian Hiracharan Narzinary, Kokrajhar Government College principal Binoy Kumar Brahma and others.

The BSS flag was hoisted and homage was paid to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the development of Bodo language and literature.

In his greetings, Absu president Promod Boro said, "The union salutes the deceased great souls, including founder president Jaybhadra Hagzer and founder secretary Sonaram Thausen, for their noble and visionary contribution to establish the BSS in 1952." Absu requested all the Bodo-speaking people to continue their efforts to propagate the language through literary activities.