Bodoland International Knowledge Festival

Ranjan K Baruah

(With direct inputs from UN/WHO publication and feedback may be sent to bkranjan@gmail.com)

The region was more known as a disturbed area and many people had to think twice or thrice if they had to visit this area or region a few years back. But now things have changed and peace has prevailed and the region is marching towards development. Lots of activity and programmes have been conducted in recent years and in a bid to establish Kokrajhar globally as a destination of knowledge sharing and peace, Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) government is organizing the first Bodoland International Knowledge Festival at Bodoland University from February 27 to March 2.

The four-day event will witness the participation of Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus from Bangladesh, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Minister of State for Education & External Affairs Dr RK Ranjan Singh, Assam Legislative Assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimari and Vice Chancellors of 5 different universities of Assam, among others.

“This will be one of the biggest events being conducted in the BTR. We want to establish Kokrajhar and the BTR as destinations for education, knowledge sharing and tourism with this mega event,” BTC chief Pramod Boro said in his statement related to the festival.

“Over the years, Kokrajhar and the BTR were portrayed negatively. We were known for insurgency and backwardness. But time has changed and we have moved ahead. Now we want Kokrajhar and the BTR to be known as a destination for intelligent people, not insurgency,” he added. He also said they want to draw knowledge and expertise from experts in various fields to enhance epistemic dialogue across cultures and communities.

The festival shall document the knowledge exchange for continued learning and praxis: knowledge-action-reflection by different communities of practice in BTR. The thematic area of the Bodoland International Knowledge Festival is the achievement of social development priorities and key Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030 in contemporary BTR and the world. The BTR government has already started working towards achieving SDGs in partnership with UNDP and many other agencies for the last two years. The BTR government is committed to sustainable change and already executed programmes that shall lead towards achieving SDGs.

The thematic areas during the festival includes Science & Technology, Livelihood, Indigenous Knowledge System, Women Empowerment, Child Rights & Protection, Peace Building, Good Governance, Communication and Media, Behavioural Change & Communication, Human Rights, Sustainable Agriculture, Climate Justice and Action, Quality Education, Health and Wellbeing, Art & Culture, Youth Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property Rights, Trade, Commerce and Investment and BTR in the light of the Act East Policy.

There will be the participation of more than 300 invited delegates from across India and 35 international delegates from 14 countries. Students from all over BTR and other parts of the state are expected to participate. More than 10,000 participants will be taking part in the Knowledge Festival comprising students, academicians, researchers, development practitioners, government officials, politicians, entrepreneurs, farmers and SHG members among others.

There is no doubt that this initiative shall work as a catalyst in bringing more development in the BTR. Apart from many others, leading Bollywood actors shall also attend the programme which will add more value to the entire programme. It’s an opportunity for many people to come and visit the BTR and explore the unexplored destinations and also learn from the experts coming from different parts of the world.