Dancers at a previous Bodo Sahitya Sabha session. A file picture

Jan. 17: History is being recreated for the 46th annual conference of the Bodo Sahitya Sabha.

A replica of the gate of the erstwhile Bodo-Kachari kingdom of Dimapur will welcome delegates to the conference, beginning Friday at Mungkhlong Fwthar in Dhekiajuli town of Sonitpur district.

Over 3,000 delegates from across Assam, West Bengal, Nepal and Bangladesh are expected to attend the conference.

With just one more day to go, there is a rush to complete all arrangements in time for the beginning of the three-day conclave. An organising committee and 23 sub-committees have been formed to ensure smooth management of the event. Praneswar Basumatary is the chairman of the committee and Puduram Boro its secretary.

“Apart from the main gate, which has been designed by local artist Abhiram Basumatary, there will be replicas of the same structure in front of the pandal, delegates’ hall and exhibition hall,” said Tulon Mushahary, finance secretary of the organising committee.

“We have completed over 90 per cent of the work and can’t wait to welcome the guests,” Boro said.

A team of 2,000 Bodo girls and boys has been trained as volunteers. Over 600 boys and girls will participate in the march past.

The budget for the conference is Rs 90 lakhs. While chief minister Tarun Gogoi and Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) chief Hagrama Mohilary have donated Rs 5 lakh each for the conference, another Rs 13 lakh has been contributed by unit committees under the Tezpur Bodo Sahitya Sabha and various individuals.

“We are thankful for the co-operation extended to us by people from all walks of life,” Mushahary said.

The chief minister is scheduled to inaugurate the first session of the conference. Bengali writer Shibnath Barman will be the chief guest.

Mohilary, Asam Sahitya Sabha president Kanaksen Deka and representatives of various organisations are also expected to attend the event.

Parliamentarian Mani Kumar Subba will inaugurate the conference. Banraja, the official publication of the Bodo Sahitya Sabha, will be released during the first session.

Formed on November 16, 1952, the Bodo Sahitya Sabha — Bodo Tunlai Afat in the local language — has spearheaded the campaign for development and promotion of the Bodo language.

Besides developing the script of the language, the Bodo Sahitya Sabha has earned for the Bodo people the right to study from the primary to the university level in their mother tongue. The Bodo language has since been included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.