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33rd Assam Convention of North America

Somewhere, a wall of mountains, frames the western horizon, where mighty waters follow their inevitable course, where crisp clean air rolls in from thick alpine forests, where tall prairie grasses bend gently in the breeze, there is a spirit, there is a welcome, there is a place called "Calgary" . It is the heart of the new west in North America. A fast growing city in the province of Alberta, Canada. On July 30th & July 1st 2012 more than 200 people came from different parts of the world including all over Canada, US¸ New Zealand and India. This convention at hotel Sheraton Cavalier was an International affair, the 33rd major social event of the Assamese community living in North America.


During the convention, ladies flaunted their gorgeous mekhela-sadors, gents with kurta- pajamas, even some small children with muga dresses. The tea-breaks became the meeting and greeting grounds for all. Everyone relished the pitha, narikolor-laru, sira-badam bhoja, cake and many other things prepared by the Calgarians served with other Indian snacks.



Some of the highlights from our agenda were the "Assam Forum" which consisted presentations on developing issues related to Assam and its people. It was a platform of open discussions that led to generation of very fruitful ideas and options. There was exchange of information on projects and initiatives on various aspects like social, health and wellness, tourism, communication, and community projects.


There was then the inauguration of the convention by retd IAS officer from Shillong, Mr Pritish Chakravarty who declared the convention open. The lighting of the lamp was done by Honorable Minister of Services Alberta Mr. M. Bhullar and the gathering was addressed by ANNA and host committee presidents. A borgeet presented by our guest artist from India Bornali Kalita.


A tribute to the legend Dr. Bhupen Hazarika and his life achievements by his son Tez Hazarika, his sister from Edmonton Stuti Patel and other friends and family members namely Mr Proskow, Enajori, Arati Baruah, Ruma Barua, Arpita Gogoi . Then there was the release of Souvenir Magazine "Pragya" by the host committee and "Luitor pora missisippi loi" by Assam Association of North America ( ANNA ).


After the inauguration, the cultural show started with Chorus Competition dedicated to Canada's beloved Assamese singer "Late Anima Chakraborty". The evening shows items like assamese and indian songs, bihu, modern, western, bollywood, satriya dances, recitations. Calgarian children delivered an outstanding performance through a assamese skit "Bilati Pitha", later the popular item "Fashion Show" provided lot of entertainment and fun. There was also the screening of the Kamal Rajat winning assamese film by Manju Bora "Akashi Torar Kotha". Students and teachers of Assamese School of Language and Performing Arts, Calgary thrilled the audience with a comedy drama "Calgarir Kolaguri".



Visiting guest singers and artists from Assam stole the hearts of all the people with their brilliant and remarkable performance. Bornali Kalita with her captivating, fresh voice brought the crowd to feet with her assamese, hindi and english songs. Another loved, promising singer from Assam, Dikshu proved his talent with his popular numbers. The crowd applauded the energy and confidence of both these young artist and thanked them for the memorable moments.



Every aspect of the Convention was splendid the food, the decor, the attitude the event needs special mention and the involvement and participation of the local youth was just amiable.
This Assam Convention 2012, in Calgary made every Assamese proud and proved that our rich culture, tradition is here to stay and its spirit is sure to spread all over the world.

Abhishruti Dutta Boruah
Convenor, Publicity and Welfare
Assam Convention 2012

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asif's picture

Program was very delightfull-sorry i missed that moment.

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Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday urged the Centre to explore the US community college model and set up similar colleges in Assam. He requested it to Union Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal whom he met on Friday in Delhi. Gogoi pointed out that during his visit to community colleges in US in June this year he gained insight into this model and what makes it successful. Gogoi observed that such colleges must be set up in the country, including Assam.
A hardcore ULFA militant was killed at an encounter with security forces at Namsai along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border on Saturday. According to police, the encounter took place in the afternoon with 12th Assam Rifles jawans where the militant died on the spot. The identity of the militant was not yet known.
All of a sudden security has been beefed up across the state. Security forces have concentrated on Guwahati on Friday following a threat by ULFA’s anti-talk faction. According to information, police has specific inputs of ULFA’s plan to strike in Guwahati likely on Saturday. That’s why, security alert has been sounded. Security forces have been put on maximum alert following fresh threat of attack in Sibsagar, Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia towns.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday sought more tribunals to detect and deport the Bangladeshi immigrants from the state. During his meeting with Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Friday in New Delhi, Gogoi told Shinde that the state lacks adequate tribunals to detect Bangladeshi immigrants. According to him, the cases pending before the tribunals are huge in number and that more judges are required to expedite the process. Before that Chief Minister Gogoi submitted a set of guidelines for updating the national registrar of citizens before Shinde.
Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Friday said that the overall situation in the violence-hit BTAD areas and Dhubri was normal. Talking to reporters after getting update on BTAD situation from Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in Delhi, Shinde said that refugees in large number have left the camps. He said that those still remaining would also be rehabilitated.
An uneasy situation prevails in Nalbari town on Friday after unidentified miscreants shot dead at a local businessman in broad day light. Identified as Ashis Maskara, the victim was on his way to a bank when miscreants sprayed several rounds of bullets before looting Rs 30 lakh from his bag. Maskara was rushed to the civil hospital. But he was declared brought dead. Local people in large number came out alleging it law lawlessness and insecurity. Boxed by circumstances, police arrested two persons in this connection. Identified as Chandan Kalita and Kunaldeep Sindhu, they confessed that they attacked the businessman. Police further recovered 5 lakh rupees from their possession.
The Centre is likely to reject the Assam government’s request to set up more tribunals to clear the immigrants cases. According to sources, the Centre is likely to ask the Assam government to put the existing tribunals to better use by setting out modalities to fast track the pending cases. Thirty six tribunals, the Centre believes, are enough to decide cases in quick time and it can be done by fast tracking 200 cases on a daily basis.
The Assam government writes to the Centre seeking 64 additional tribunals to fast track the deportation of the Bangladeshi immigrants. In a letter to home ministry, Dispur has asked for more than five extra tribunals in Dhubri, Goalpara, Nagaon, Barpeta, Cachar and Sonitpur and one each in Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri districts. The has 36 foreigner tribunals that are yet to dispose of about 3.13 lakh cases. Notably, the state has been witnessing decadal growth of a particular community in 11 out of 27 districts.
Thousands of tea garden workers are all set to go for a day long strike on September 19 demanding puja bonus on the price of ration items, tea workers of the state. The workers would sit in strike under the aegis of Akhil Bharatiya Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ABCMS) to demand a 20 per cent annual puja bonus before Durga Puja in October. ABCMS officials said that the demand is that the price of the ration items should be incorporated while calculating the annual bonus of tea workers.
Assam home department maintains strict vigil following the reports of mysterious disappearance of a section of refugees from the camps set up at the height of the BTAD violence. According to reports, some inmates of relief camps in the violence-hit Dhubri district have gone missing. These are suspected to have crossed over to Bangladesh. Dispur has intelligence inputs suggesting that some inmates had crossed over to West Bengal but there is no specific inputs of the exact number of missing inmates. Altogether 213 camps have 1.92 lakh inmates in Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Chirang, Bongaingaon and Barptea districts.