Newsdesk,4April,2024 : A life-size statue of Communist veteran, thinker, educationist and social activist Awani Borthakur was unveiled by Sahitya Akademi Award-winning author Harekrishna Deka in the presence of senior journalist Haidar Hussain and other guests on the Nazira College campus on Wednesday. Incidentally, Awani Borthakur was a founder principal of Nazira College. Addressing the function held on the occasion at Nazira College auditorium, Deka praised Awani Borthakur as a thinker, historian, and a man of many talents. He said that Borthakur worked all his life for the welfare of society but never wanted anything in return.
“It is very rare that a statue of a person who is still alive is built, but it has been done in Awani Borthakur’s case. It shows the love and respect Awani Borthakur commands in the Nazira area,” he said.
Deka described Borthakur’s autobiography titled ‘Abhigyatar Alokat Ejon Communistor Sowarani’ as a valuable, data-based book on socio-political history of Assam that has ‘important facts for people’s history’. Acknowledging the historical significance of Marxism, the noted author explained the key difference between democracy and Marxism and added that it is the duty of every citizen to ensure Indian democracy doesn’t slip into post-democracy, which is what the Asom Nagarik Samaj has been trying to check.
In his speech as the special guest, Haidar Hussain said that Awani Borthakur had made notable contribution to the social, political and educational fields of Assam during the last 60 years. “Awani Borthakur was one of the prominent figures that embodied the significance and characteristics of the Communist movement in Assam in the years since 1947,” Hussain said.
He also praised Borthakur as a rare individual who made sacrifices to give shape to Nazira College and other educational institutions in the Nazira area. Former Nazira College principal Syed Mubidul Islam chaired the meeting, which was attended, among others, by Awani Borthakur’s son and Gauhati High Court advocate Santanu Borthakur, Nazira College principal Dr Raju Phukan, social activist Juga Gogoi, and professor Jiten Phukan.
