Assamese Intellectuals Angry Over "Injustice" to Gohain

Guwahati, Feb 23 : Eminent intellectuals of Assam have urged the Sahitya Akademi to take action against its regional office in Kolkata for allegedly downgrading Dr Hiren Gohain, one of the four editors of a collection of Assamese short stories, Splendour in the Grass.

In a letter sent to the Akademy yesterday, seven intellectuals alleged that names of three other editors appeared ahead of Gohain when the book, an English version of the Assamese short stories, was published in January this year. Moreover, Gohain was mentioned as Translation Editor.

The letter, made available to the media here, said Gohain, a Sahitya Akademi award winning scholar and critic, besides editing had fine tuned the translations in a workshop at Guwahati. He also wrote the preface to the book.

"We condemn this irrational and unethical behaviour by Sahitya Akademi's Regional office, Kolkata and demand prompt and appropriate action," the signatories said.

The signatories include Jnanpith award winner Indira (Mamoni) Raisom Goswami and literatteurs Amalendu Guha, Nalinidhar Bhattacharjee and Harekrishna Deka.