A life size bronze statue of eminent litterateur and fomer Asom Sahitya Sabha president Dr Nagen Saikia was unveiled at the Children Park near the deputy commissioner’s office here on Wednesday. Sahitya Akademi secretary K Sreenivas Rao unveiled the statue of the eminent writer amidst a huge gathering of well wishers and admirers. The statue built at a cost of Rs 25 lakh under the auspices of Prahari NGO has been sculpted by prominent sculptor Biren Singha.
Significantly this is said to be the second life size statue of a living personality enacted in the state. Earlier, a life size statue of Dr Bhupen Hazarika was unveiled in the banks of the Dighalipukhuri lake in Guwahati in February 2009. Both the life size statues of Dr Bhupen Hazarika’s statue was also built by sculptor Biren Singha.
Unveiling the statue,
Sahitya Akademi secretary K Sreenivas Rao said, “Its a very memorable day in my life. I have never seen in my life this kind of statue erected for a living legend. This shows the love and respect of the Assamese people for their language, literature and culture. This kind of messages should go throughout the country so that writers are respected in a proper way. This is such a fine example. I thank the people of Dibrugarh and Prahari for taking this wonderful initiative.”
Born on February 11, 1939, Nagen Saikia was formerly a professor of Dibrugarh University. Saikia had also been a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1986-1992 and was the vice-chairman of the Upper House from 1990-1992. Saikia started his career as a teacher and went on to serve in different reputed institutions in various categories. He also delivered lectures on various topics about Assamese literature, including in the US and England. He has published numerous literary essays, short stories, novels, books and articles, to his credit. Saikia was conferred with the Sahitya Akademi award in 1997 for his short stories collection Andharat Nizar Mukh and was honoured by the Mohan Chandra Sahitya Sabha in 1980 for “Chinta aru Charcha”. He was conferred the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship by the Sahitya Akademi.