A new high in the Valley
SHUJAAT BUKHARI
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Art, culture and social discourse gain new life in Jammu and Kashmir
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Photo: Nissar Ahmed
A PEEK The Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages in Srinagar.
Entertainment, no matter what the source, was the biggest casualty in Kashmir's 17-year-long turmoil. The Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages (JKAACL) once played a great role in not only preserving the language, art and culture but also promoting them. Till recently, a defunct system, damaged infrastructure and lack of will had become the hallmark of the Academy, where Kashmir's rich class of litterateurs, art lovers and poets used to congregate.
But in the past few years, particularly one year, this premier institution has come back on the rails. It is now the favourite venue for grand mushairas, plays and other cultural programmes. The Kashmiri section was the most neglected one over the last 15 years. The Kashmiri Encyclopedia and Kashmiri Dictionary, two major projects every language lover would welcome, had been abandoned. "As if the language and those who speak it, all were dead," says a prominent writer. Same was the case with the literary journal Sheeraza, which is published in all the State languages — Kashmiri, Urdu, Ladakhi, Gojri, Hindi, Dogri and Pahari. During one year only, 60 issues of Sheeraza in eight languages have been brought out, and 18 are in the pipeline. Same is the case with annual anthologies in all these languages.
Work in full swing
Rafeeq Masoodi, Secretary of the Academy, says the whole process, whether of encyclopaedia or dictionary has been revived. "Work is on in full swing. In the Kashmir division the thrust is on Kashmiri, the dominant language."
Masoodi, himself a senior officer from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, was specially requisitioned by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to head the prestigious institution last year. He says that Hindi-Dogri and Dogri-English dictionary projects have also been taken up, besides the Pahari-Pahari dictionary.
The past year has also seen the revival of the Bhand theatre (a local folk performing art). As the volatile situation pushed such arts into the background, the Academy has taken up their revival, and in the previous year, 50 performing groups of the Valley were roped back and 17 performances were given in and outside the state.
"We were a dead stock and nobody was taking care of our art, which is a most powerful expression," says Abdur Rasheed, a folk performer. Likewise, four theatre festivals were organised by the Academy at various levels. This is also seen as a new development in Kashmir. A theatre workshop was another feature of the revival of theatre in the Valley.
"Though the Academy has done something in reviving the theatre, it is yet to overcome the system, which has more brakes than accelerators. Still, it is doing its bit, but on an ad-hoc basis, and they need to change that," says noted theatre director and playwright Mohammad Amin Bhat.
The challenges
According to Masoodi, the list of achievements in one year is long, but the challenges remain. "My biggest achievement was to clear the backlog of many years and change the recruitment rules, which helped to revive the defunct sections," he says.
Apart from increasing the number of programmes, the effort has been to discover new talent. Masoodi's next dream project is to give a coffee house to Srinagar. The city had a famous place for intellectual discourse known as the Coffee House. But it was closed due to the turmoil and the Academy has planned to revive it alongside its Kitab Ghar in the heart of the city.
The other main project is to renovate Tagore Hall, the main venue of cultural activities in Kashmir. The hall used to be under occupation of security forces but was restored to the Academy a few years ago. The condition, however, is bad and it is being closed for two months to give it a new look with modern gadgets and probably a heating system. The ambitious charter of work for the Academy's Secretary is long and unending, and only time will tell how far he will succeed or will be allowed to achieve the same.
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