AASU burns Chennai magazine for misinformation of Asom

Guwahati, Jul 15 (UNI) Activists of the All Assam Students Union (AASU) today burnt copies of a magazine, 'Wisdom', for publishing wrong information regarding Asom.

The AASU activists pointed out that the July edition of the magazine published from Chennai contained wrong information on the folk dances of the state in Pages 32 and 33.

They said the magazine mentioned Bihu, the major folk dance of the state, as that of West Bengal and another folk dance, Swagat, was stated to be of Asom, which was erroneous.

''The magazine carried a photo of dance form, which did not remotedly resemble Bihu. Moreover, Bihu was stated to be a folk dance of West Bengal,'' an AASU member said.

In another wrong entry, 'Wisdom' mentioned a dance form called 'Swagat' as that of Asom, which, the AASU claimed did not belong to any tribe of the state.

These pictures were carried in two facing pages along with several other pictures, under the heading 'Folk dances of India'.

The students' body has demanded unconditional apology from the publishers at the earliest, stating that if the magazine had an international presence, as the publishers claimed, it would generate misinformation regarding the state.

They have exhorted the local dealing agent to exert pressure on the publishers and stop distribution of the magazine until an apology was tendered.

UNI SG TJP SRC1719