In Assam, eminent litterateur, novelist, Jnanpith awardee Dr. Indira Goswami passed away at Guwahati this morning. She was 70. Popularly known as ‘Mamoni Roysom Goswami’, She was battling for life since the last nine months at the intensive care unit of the Guwahati Medical College Hospital. Hospital sources, said Dr. Goswami breathed her last at 7.45 this morning. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has condoled the demise of the litterateur. She had played a major role as a mediator between the banned ultra outfit- United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the Central Government. In his message Mr. Gogoi said the death of Indira Goswami has created a vacuum in the literary field in the State. Born in 1942, Dr. Goswami, a former Delhi University Professor, has published several creative and scholarly works in Assamese and English.She received the prestigious Jnanpith Award in 2000 and Sahitya Akademy Award for her famous Assamese novel ‘Mamore Dhara Tarowal’ in 1982. She was the first Indian litterateur to receive the Principal Prince Claus international award instituted by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 2008.Dr. Goswami is noted for her novels which include ‘The Moth Eaten Howdah of a Tusker’, ‘Pages Stained with Blood’, ‘The Man from Chinnamasta’ and research on Ramayani studies-Ramayana from Ganga to Brahmaputra. Mamoni Roysom Goswami is also well known for her attempts to structure social change.The Assam Government has declared a three-day state mourning from today as a mark of respect to the deceased eminent litterateur. The last rites will be performed at Nabagraha crematorium in Guwahati tomorrow with full State Honours. State Governor J.B.Patnaik, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and different organizations of the State have condoled the death of Indira Goswami.