Indira Goswami honored with Asom Ratna Award 2012

May 15, 2013

The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee honored legendary storyteller and prolific novelist Indira Goswami with the Asom Ratna Award for the year 2012 posthumously.
Sharmila Tagore received the Srimanta Shankardeva Award for the year 2008. It was given to her for her rich contribution to India’s cultural life as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF and Chairperson of the Indian Film Censor Board.
Indira Goswamy who was also known as ‘Mamoni’ bravely advocated social change in a very unstable period in Assam’s history. She played a significant role as a mediator in negotiations b/w armed militants in Assam and the Government of India.
Who was Srimanta Sankardeva?
Swami Srimanta Shankardeva was an Assamese saint, scholar and social reformer who lived in the 15^th and 16^thcenturies. He started Neo-Vaishnava movement which rejected caste barriers and sought to create an egalitarian civil society based on the shared values of fraternity, equity, humanism and democracy.