Gogoi condoles poet’s death

Guwahati:Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday condoled the death of Sahitya Akademi winning Assamese poet and former bureaucrat Ajit Barua who passed away last night. “Barua has left a deep imprint on Assamese society through his dedicated pursuit of knowledge and literary activities,”
Gogoi said in a release here. His contribution to Assamese literature is immense and his death is an irreparable loss to the society, he said. As a former bureaucrat he had held different posts in the state government. Barua’s body was cremated at the Nabagraha crematorium today. At the age of 89, he died last night at his residence following a brief illness and is survived by a daughter and daughter-in-law while his only son had predeceased him.
Barua had several publications of poems to his credit including ‘Kichumaan Padya Aaru Gaan’ and ‘Brahmaputra Etyaadi Padya’.
He had translated Albert Camus’ play Les Justes, and the novel ‘The Plague’ from French to Assamese.
Besides the Sahitya Akademi, Barua is also the recipient of Bhasha Sahitya Samman and Assam Valley Literary award among others.
Barua, an IAS officer, had retired as Commissioner Lower Assam Division. (PTI)