The Fifth Bhupen Hazarika National Award, 2017 has been conferred on eminent writer from Arunachal Pradesh Yeshe Dorjee Thongshi. The prestigious Award, instituted by Sarhad,a Maharashtra-based organization, is honouring a person every year since 2012, who has rendered an outstanding literary work at national and international level. The award consists of 51,000 rupees, a memento and a certificate. Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi who belongs to West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, was graduated from prestigious Cotton College, Guwahati and did his MA from Guwahati University. He started his literary pursuit from his childhood days. Although his mother tongue is Sherdukpen, he started writing in Assamese because it was then the medium of instruction in schools in North-East Frontier Agency or NEFA. He has so far written about a dozen novels, and numerous short stories and plays, all in Assamese, a language over which he has a wonderful command. His most important novel is Mauna Onth Mukhar Hriday (Silent lips, murmuring hearts) which won the Sahitya Akademi award in 2005.