GUWAHATI: Amid the rising controversy over the Assamese-Bangla paired gamosa, Assam Cultural Affairs Minister Bimal Borah clarified that the photo that has gone viral is 18 months old.
Photo of Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu adorning the paired gamosa around his neck, and photo of Bimal Borah smiling as he was looking at the gamosa have gone viral on social media.
The viral photos triggered the gamosa controversy, and it has been making headlines. The controversy has drawn criticism from across the state.
Bimal Borah on Monday said Assamese gamosa will always retain its pride and status.
“I totally agree that pairing it with another community’s gamosa or giving it another design will definitely hurt the sentiments of the Assamese community which is natural,” he said.
The Bangla Sahitya Sabha, Axom, on its first state-level conference held in October 2021 honoured Assamese-Bangla paired gamosa to their guests, including Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu.
Even Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu had claimed on Sunday that his adorning the pairing of the paired gamosa was not with any intention of demeaning the pride of the Assamese gamosa.
Pegu had said that the Bangla Sahitya Sabha, Axom was the initiative of educated elites, and was formed for the stronger literary bond between the two communities in Assam.
“At the first conference of Bangla Sahitya Sabha, they kept the photo of Rabindranath Tagore on one side while on the other side a photo of Lakshminath Bezbaruah,” Pegu said.
The Education Minister said the members of Bangla Sahitya Sabha identify themselves as Bengali-speaking Assamese people. “And they had honoured me with the paired gamosa at the event,” he said.
“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,” Pegu added.
