Srinagar,July 18(Scoop News) – Maintaining that Kashmiri culture and language is a priceless heritage which has a centuries old rich past that needs a congenial atmosphere to restore its pristine glory, the Minister for Finance and Ladakh Affairs, Abdul Rahim Rather today assured that availability of financial support will be no constraint for its promotion and development.
Speaking at an impressive function held in the Auditorium of Radio Kashmir, Srinagar, after releasing "Aaka" a collection of short stories of a noted Kashmiri writer, Mushtaq Ahmed Mushtaq today, Rather said in view of its rich past, the Kashmiri language has figured prominently in the 8th schedule of the Indian constitution among other 21 languages of the country.
The function was organized by the Commercial Broadcasting Service of Radio Kashmir, Srinagar and was attended by a galaxy of prominent writers including Mohammad Yousf Taing, Prof. Rehman Rahi, Farooq Nazki, Aseer Kishtawari, Qazi Mohamamd Amin, Rukhsana Jabeen, Prof. Basher Bashir, Dr. Abdul Aziz Hajini, Prof. Mushtaq Ahmed Muntazir from Aligarh Muslim University, Shujat Bukhari and others.
Highlighting the richness of Kashmiri language and poetry, Rather said it has produced poets of great eminence like Lala Arifa and Sheikh-ul-Aalam (RA) who have preached the philosophy of Sufism and humanity through Kashmiri verses. "The poetic contribution and life of Lala Arifa has been acknowledged and published at the international level", Rather said adding that one such publication has been brought out by Time Magazine, New York. Besides, nineteen books have been written on this revered poet in Canadian language, in addition to what has been written about her in other languages, he added. He announced that a state of art Sheikh-ul-Alam Auditorium-cum-Research Centre will be established soon near the upcoming government Degree College, Charar-i-Sharief for conducting and propagating research on the life and poetry of Sheikh-ul-Alam, Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Wali (RA). The plan in this regard will be finalized in consultation with the all stake holders including Markaz-e-Noor, Sheikh-ul-Alam chair, Kashmir University, he added.
Saying that pens of writers and intellectuals are very powerful that can bring revolutions, Rather said Kashmiri language has produced revolutionary poets like Abdul Ahmad Azad and Ghulam Ahmad Mehjoor who have strongly preached values of secularism ad socialism through therin poetry. Quoting a couplet from Azad,
Qudratas Yud Assahan beun beun thawin milat te qoum,
prath akis beun beun zameena, asmanah aasehay
(If God had to keep milat and nations separately. He might have earmarked separate skies and globs for them). Rather said how actively and effectively the concept and philosophy of secularism has been projected in these verses. However, Rather said the context of fast moving world, where everybody is confronted with paucity of time, the writers should convey their message and feelings in minimum possible words.
While hailing the effort of Mushtaq Ahmad Mushtaq for publishing his second short storey collection "Aakh" after "Yath Waveh Hallay", Rather said there is a lot of talent in Kashmiri language and creative writing which needs congenial atmosphere to grow and flourish. He said contribution of Noor Mohammad, Amin Kamil, Akhtar Mohi-ud-Din, Umar Majid, Shams-ud-Din Shamas and now Mushtaq Ahmed Mushtaq in the field of Kashmiri short story is significant which can never be overlooked.
Prof. Bashir Ahmed Bashir and Prof. Rattan Lal Talashi presented exhaustive papers on the introductory and critical analysis of some of the short stories published in the collection and hoped that this collection will go a long way in promotion of Kashmiri short story writing.
Mohammad Yousuf Taing and Rehman Rahi also spoke on the occasion and presented their views on the relevance of Mushtaq’s short stories. They said the short story collection is a good effort to project feelings of the people especially during 20 years of turmoil in the State.