North East India’s First Knowledge Festival
KOKRAJHAR, INDIA, February 19, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ — The 1st Bodoland International Knowledge Festival 2023 (https://bodolandknowledgefest.com) will be held from 27th February to 2nd March 2023 at Bodoland University, Kokrajhar under the aegis of the Government of Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) – (https://bodoland.gov.in). The festival will be inaugurated on 27th March by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus in the presence of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who is also the Chief Patron of the event. The prominent academic institutions of the NE Region including Central University-Tezpur, Assam Agricultural University, and IIT Guwahati are the Knowledge Partners of the festival. The valedictory function will be attended by a host of dignitaries including Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Education Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh. Nineteen thematic working groups encompassing several areas of human endeavour have been formed to coordinate the overall preparations for the event.
Bodoland, officially the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), is an autonomous region in Assam, Northeast India. It is made up of five districts, namely, Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Tamulpur, and Udalguri, on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River, below the foothills of Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh. As the Bodoland Territorial Region borders the state of West Bengal, it is also the gateway to North Eastern India. It is administered by an elected body known as the Bodoland Territorial Council. The region covers an area of over nine thousand square kilometers and is predominantly inhabited by the Bodo people and other indigenous communities of Assam. As per the 2011 Census, its population is a little over 3 million.
Pramod Boro, Chief of BTR while mentioning the objective of the festival highlighted the fact that the BTR Peace Accord 2020 has paved the transition of the Region from guns to a culture of knowledge.
Boro mentioned that the goal of the festival is to create, foster and promote knowledge exchange, solution sharing, and partnership building for the achievement of social development priorities and key Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030 in contemporary BTR and the world.
Many experts, academicians, representatives from industries, and media personalities from the national as well as international levels will participate in the event to deliberate on several thematic areas festival including Science & Technology, Livelihood, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Gender Empowerment, Child Rights & Protection, Peace Building, Good Governance, Human Rights, Sustainable Agriculture, Youth Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property Rights, Quality Education, Climate Justice & Action, Health & Wellbeing, Art & Culture, Communication & Media among others. Special sessions on the Act East Policy, International Relations, and the Global World Order will take place with participants from various countries. The Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India has notified the missions of India to facilitate the ease of conference visas for international participants.
The protracted Bodoland Movement that lasted for several decades (the 1960s to 2020) left an indelible mark on the physical, psychological, social, cultural, emotional, relational, and spiritual aspects of individuals, groups and communities of the region. The negative experiences of the people continue to affect institutions and delivery of services. The Third Bodo Peace Accord inked on the 27th of January 2020 ushered in a new era of peace with possibilities for fostering all-round development and progress in North East India and Assam in general, and the BTR in particular.
By means of this accord, the socio-cultural, economic and development aspirations of all the communities in BTR were sought to be addressed while also settling the political demands of the Bodos, and carrying forward the agenda for establishing peace and stability in North East India. It seeks to address disparities in the region through good governance and expedited establishment of institutions, infrastructural development and financial investments.
Issued by : Office of Hon’ble Chief, BTR
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