Karbi youth festival begins

Our Correspondent Diphu, Feb. 16 (EMN): The 44th Karbi Youth Festival (KYF), an ethnic festival of Northeast India was inaugurated on Fri. at Taralangso in Diphu of Assam on Feb. 16. The five-day festival will host ethnic cultures from various tribes and communities from the two hill districts of Karbi Anglong and west Karbi Anglong. The festival is being organised under the aegis of the Karbi Cultural Society (KCS). Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) Tuliram Ronghang inaugurated the festival. Ronghang announced that he would provide Karbi traditional apparel to all the participating artists during the next edition of the festival. “I know the financial constraints faced by every KCS zone to get traditional dresses for artists and from my side in the next KYF will provide choi hongthor, seleng and poho for boys and pini and pekok for girls and one pair of chengpi,” CEM said. Without discrimination between the rich and the poor and with no religious differences, the KYF is being celebrated in unity, the CEM said. He said there were many more things to be done in Taralangso. During the previous year INR 50 lakh from the council was allocated for improvement of Rasingja aklam and work on it is in progress. From the UPDS MoS agreement INR 98 crore is being sanctioned by the central government for development of Taralangso. To attract visitors from outside, the Karbi youth festival has been highlighted on the KAAC’s website, Ronghang said. The president of the KCS Chandra Sing Kro also addressed the event. In his presidential speech, he spoke about how the Karbi youth festival was first organised in 1974 in Imphal and how several leaders had worked to make the festival ‘one of the biggest festivals in the Northeast.’ Thirty-two 32 zones including Dumra and Biswanath Chariali and from Diphu Govt. College and Eastern Karbi Anglong College are participating in the festival. Beating drums and dancing artists from 32 zones formed a procession and reached the venue for the inaugural programme.