Guwahati: Assam Linguistic Minority Development Board chairperson Shiladitya Dev responded on Monday to the growing controversy surrounding the use of paired Assamese-Bangla gamosa at the state representative conference of the Bangla Sahitya Sabha, saying there is nothing improper with doing so and that it is a sign of intercommunal harmony.
He also questioned how wearing both “gamosas” might cause a stir when the session opened with the national song “O Mur Apunar Dekh.”
“There was a clear indication from the conference of the Bangla Sahitya Sabha that Bengali society wanted to spread a message of communal harmony along with the Greater Assamese society. Every Bengali speaking people in the state knows the importance of the ‘Assamese Gamosa’ and they respect it by heart. They don’t place a ‘Gamosa’ on bare ground to offer Namaz, rather, adorn it in the neck. In my opinion, there is nothing controversial in this.”
The BJP leader Shiladitya Dev who was also in the news for allegedly making controversial statements while serving as an MLA from the Hojai constituency, further asserted that it is up to the Assamese people to decide whether they want both of these communities to cooperate for the benefit of society or not.
“Just like the picture of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu at one side and Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva on the other side of the podium in the conference. The Bangla Sahitya Sabha representatives had tried to keep both the ‘Assamese-Bangla Gamosas’ in combination. Now it’s up to the people of Assam to decide whether they want both these societies to cooperate jointly in the near future or not,” added Dev.
Assamese community members have been responding to the gamosa dispute that has been making headlines recently.
How did the gamosa controversy started?
On Sunday, the Bangla Sahitya Sabha honoured Assamese-Bangla partnered gamosa to their guests, including Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu, during its inaugural state-level conference.
A picture of Bimal Borah grinning as he looked at the gamosa on his hands was also going viral on social media alongside the picture of Ranoj Pegu wearing the matching gamosa around his neck.
Ranoj Pegu clarified yesterday in response to the commotion.
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, the general public did not agree with his assertion.