Tezpur, Nov. 15: The Assam chapter of Sanskar Bharati today organised various events here to celebrate the concluding ceremony of 150th birth anniversary of Assamese literary icon Lakshminath Bezbaroa.

More than 3,000 school students, along with 150 women, sang the historic song Aami Asomiya nohou dukhiya written by Bezbaroa, at the Collegiate School playground in Tezpur.

Bezbaroa made pioneering contributions to almost all forms of Assamese literature — poems, novels, short stories, collection of folk tales, dramas, biographical works and satirical essays. Dispur recently approached Calcutta University to institute a chair in the name of Bezbaroa.

Union human resource development minister Smriti Irani last month said she would appeal to the UGC to institute a chair in the name of Bezbaroa in every university of the Northeast.

“It is sad and unfortunate that Bezbaroa, better known as ‘Rasaraj’ meaning ‘The King of Humour’ in Assamese literature, has not yet been introduced in world literature. We will try to ensure that Bezbaroa gets the deserving place in Indian as well as world literature,” Pranjal Saikia, Assamese cine artiste and president of the Assam chapter of Sanskar Bharati said while addressing the function.

According to Saikia, Sanskar Bharati seeks to preserve art and culture and create a platform for the cultural integration of the country. “We have two objectives: strengthen the emotional bonds between Assam and the rest of the country and weed out the influence of Western culture,” said Saikia.