JAMMU: Several literary organisations from Jammu Division have accused the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language and Literature (NCPUL), New Delhi, of giving step-motherly treatment to the region by excluding its writers and poets from the recently concluded 10-day Chinar Book Festival.
At a joint meeting held here today, representatives of prominent Urdu literary bodies condemned what they termed as the deliberate sidelining of Jammu’s literary community. They alleged that despite 80 percent of the Jammu Division’s population speaking and writing in Urdu — and the region having produced towering literary figures such as Aresh Sahabai, Talib-e-Aman Bedi, Rasa Javedani, Thakur Poonch, Deena Nath Rafiq and Mohan Yawar — not a single major poet or writer from the region was invited to participate in the festival.
The members claimed the event was “a failed one” as most of the invitees were Kashmiri language writers, with Urdu writers limited to individuals from “a particular area of the Director”. They alleged that no meaningful engagement on Urdu literature took place and accused the invitees of merely “enjoying the weather of Kashmir”. They also recalled that the NCPUL Director had promised last year to organise a festival in Jammu Division, but failed to deliver.
Urging immediate intervention from Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the organisations demanded strict action against the NCPUL Director and an explanation for Jammu’s exclusion. The signatories to the statement included the Jammu and Kashmir Urdu Forum, Rasa Javedani Memorial Literary Society, Anjume-e-Tareeqi-e-Hind, Adbi Kunj and others.
Among those present at the meeting were Aseer Kishtwari, General Secretary of RJMLS; Fozia Mughal, President of Anjum-e-Faroq-e-Urdu; Khursheed Kazmi; Khalid Hussain; and Ameen Banihali.
