KL Report
SRINAGAR
On the concluding day of the 2-day Kargil Cultural Festival organized by J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages, a day-long seminar was held on local languages of Kargil including Purgi, Shina and Balti. The session also saw the first Shina language publication of the Academy being released on the occasion. In the evening, an Urdu mushaira was held as the closing event.
As per a statement the function, presided over by Secretary Academy, Khalid Bashir Ahmad, was held Saturday at the seminar hall of the Academy Kargil in presence of a large number of writers, poets and students.
Writers Muhammad Jawad Jalib, Muhammad Sadiq Rustam Hardassi and Mukhtar Zahid Badgami presented papers on topics ‘The dialects of Tibetan and Dardi languages’, The origin, history and present status of Balti language and Shina language- A historical perspective, respectively.
Speaking on the occasion, Secretary Academy, Khalid spoke about the rich cultural and linguistic diversity of Kargil and said the Academy was committed to promote these. He said, “Seminars and conferences were crucial for the promotion and development of languages and it was important to discuss language issues and find solutions through regular academic and literary interactions.”
Khalid also said that steps were being taken to start regular publications in Balti and Shina languages for which creation of editorial staff is in the offing. He said the Finance Committee of the Academy has cleared one post each of Assistant Editor and Research Assistant both for Shina and Balti and the concurrence of the Central Committee, the highest decision making body of the Academy, would be sought in its next meeting scheduled in October. He said following the approval of the Central Committee language section would be added to Kargil sub-office for taking up the publication programme. He asked the writers of Balti, Shina and Purgi languages to write about rich culture, literature and history of Kargil for the Academy publications.
On this occasion, the first Academy publication in Shina titled ‘Shina Zaban: Sauti Nizam Aur Rasm ul Khat’ (Shina Language: Phonetics & Script) was released. The research based publication is written by Masood Samoon.
In the afternoon, an All State Urdu Mushaira was held in which prominent poets form Jammu and Kashmir recited their verses and received applause from the audience. The session was jointly presided over by Khalid Bashir Ahmad, Rukhsana Jabeen and Muhammad Baqir Baqir and the proceedings were conducted by noted poet Syed Raza.
With the conclusion of the mushaira, the 2-day Kargil Cultural Festival came to a close. The festival featured cultural evening, seminar, mushaira and 7-day All India Painting Camp which will culminate on September 18.
