Sahitya Akademi Awardees Rahi, Khalid, Aseer honoured

Jammu: Describing writers and intellectuals as conscious keepers of the society, Senior BJP leader Devender Singh Rana today hailed the literary contribution of established writers of this part of the country, saying their treasure trove will inspire the generations to carry forward the great legacy with a sense of pride and accomplishment.Congratulating Sahitya Akademi awardees at a felicitation function, organized by Anjuman Farogh –e- Urdu, J&K, Jammu at KL Seghal Hall here this afternoon, Mr Rana said they have made Jammu and Kashmir proud by their literary and intellectual pursuits.Mr Rana joined the galaxy of writers and intellectuals in felicitating Raj Rahi (Dogri), Wali Mohammed Aseer Kishtwari (Kashmiri) and Khalid Hussain (Punjabi) for being conferred with the coveted Sahitya Akademi Award 2021.The BJP leader noted with a sense of pride the literary contribution of the awardees and said that the Jammu province has a bounty of languages, which are needed to be preserved and promoted in a big way. An onus lies on the writers to bequeath to the posterity the richness of the languages flourishing in the province, which actually reflect Jammu’s cultural milieu. Languages, he said, bind the people together and reflect the richness of the civilization.

The death of language is in fact death of soul, he added. Mr Rana hailed the huge role being played by writers, intellectuals and artists in promoting various languages over the years and said it is due to their strenuous and tireless efforts that many people are getting well accustomed to the literary world.He exhorted the writers to play their useful role in bringing harmony in the society by their powerful medium of literature.The selected audience gave a big applause to the awardees and hailed their literary contribution.Raj Rahi has five collections of short-stories and a Play to his credit. His short story ‘Kala Titter’ is included in the school curriculum and two scholars have done PhD on his works and personality. A tele-film for Doordarshan was also made on his play `Faisla Apna Apna’.Khalid Hussain, a former bureaucrat, has been awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for his collection of short stories in Punjabi ` Sullan Da Salan’. He has written six short story books in Punjabi, an autobiography, one Novel, critical essays and four books in Urdu.Wali Mohd Aseer Kashtawari, also a former bureaucrat, has 47 publications to his credit.

His several works have won Best Book Awards.Nirmal Vinod introduced Raj Rahi and gave a resume of his literary works during the past two decades.B.N.Betab a writer of Urdu and Kashmiri language presented an artistically drafted and in thaith Urdu” paper on “Twazun”writren by Aseer kishtwari covering practically all Kashmiri writers which would be a reference book for the scholars who would like to work on Kashmiri writers both of Kashmir Valley and Jammu Province.Aslam Qureshi threw light on Khalid Hussain’s short stories book “Sulan da Salan”. He pointed out that the stories of Khalid are not imaginary but the real facts that had been put in words by Khalid’s own style of writing.Hassrat Gadda appreciated the works of the three writers and congratulated them for having bagged the prestigious awards.President Anjuman Farogh-e-Urdu Prof. Quddus Javed also highlighted the literary work done by these eminent writers in the fiend of literature.Prominent among others who were present included Forzia Mughal Zia, Ali Shaida, Fozia Javed Rahi and Choudhary Arshad.