SRINAGAR: Noted Kashmiri writers and littérateurs Friday admitted that the curbs on the freedom of expression in J&K have restricted the true expression of contemporary social condition through the means of literary tools such as poetry, fiction or essay writing.
“Is the writer free in Kashmir? Can he write what he wants to write? Unfortunately the answer to this question is a big no,” said the acclaimed Urdu writer Nazir Ahmad Malik, the former Head of Urdu Department at the University of Kashmir. Ahmad, an acclaimed linguist was speaking during an interactive session, organized by the state’s Academy of Art and Culture in collaboration with the National Book Trust, as part of the ongoing Book Fair at exhibition grounds. “A litterateur is part of the society so he cannot function outside the ambit of the social mores. A true writer is the one who reflects the condition of his society,” Nazir Ahmad said in his introductory speech.
Delving deeper into the functions of the language, Ahmad asserted that the languages grow amidst civilizations hence cannot be judged without the context of the civilization. “Kashmiri is the language of a cold place so we have numerous words for ice and snow but Urdu comes from warmer plains so it has no word for snow or ice. The words in Urdu denoting snow or ice are baraf or yakh but both these are from Persian,” he said adding that the language is the highest degree of expression, though not necessarily the ultimate one. “A deaf and dumb also communicates but he or she use a different grammar. So the expression is not subject to the language.”
According to Lone, the languages not just serve the purpose of communication they also initiate the thought process of a society. “These thought processes are heavily influenced by the same civilization that breeds the language they are communicated in.”
To a question about how a language amidst growing state power can retain its age old characteristic of telling truth to power, Nazir Ahmad said Urdu had been a language of resistance during late eighteenth century. “Urdu was a language of resistance in India. Indians used this language as a tool to promote anti-imperialist resistance across the subcontinent.”
The question about how the literature that is patronized by the state power can dissent the authoritarianism triggered a brief debate among the audience.
“We remember our famous poet Ahad Zargar refused the state awards just because he was in the realm of dissent. How a literature that is produced under the watchful eyes of the state can serve the public interest. At best it can help the state calm down the artists and at worst such state-controlled literature can provide a momentary aesthetic reverie,” said participant.
Pitching in the heated discussion, the renowned playwright, Qudus Javed quoted a German philosopher having said, “Among human societies any individual or group that succeeds in capturing power imposes its own language upon the society it rules. You are wise enough to draw your answer from this.”
Historian and literary critic Muhammad Yusuf Teng was chief guest on the occasion. Salim Salik of Cultural Academy conducted the function while a number of scholars, journalists and students interacted with the literary figure Nazir Ahmad.
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