Patnitop, October 28: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha today inaugurated the Regional Literary Festival at Patnitop as part of the ongoing Iconic Week Celebrations in Jammu Kashmir.
On the occasion, the Lt Governor remembered the great Dogri and Hindi poetess Smt. Padma Sachdev and paid tributes to her.
The Lt Governor also felicitated the Padma Shri Awardees Sh Narsingh Dev Jamwal, Dr. Jitendra Udhampuri and Prof Shiv Nirmohi for their invaluable contribution to the literary field.
Addressing the august gathering, the Lt Governor observed that the Regional Literary Festival has been organized with the aim promote the charm and love of Dogri, Pahari, Gojri and Punjabi languages, strengthening the spirit of shared rich culture and traditions.
“J&K, which has always been a prominent seat and a beacon of art and culture, is showing the way through its age-old traditions. The literary festivals will serve as a platform for the budding poets, writers, creative thinkers to carry forward the literary legacy of Jammu and Kashmir”, the Lt Governor added.
Welcoming the prominent writers, poets, and literary enthusiasts from different parts of the country in the Regional Lit-Fest, the Lt Governor remarked that that Poetry is creation, writing is creation, and everything else is construction.
The Lt Governor said UT government has taken full responsibility for the promotion of regional languages and it is our aim to bring their unique features to fore. The second objective is to provide a platform to the budding poets, writers to carry forward the great tradition of Jammu and Kashmir, he added.
Mentioning about the Lit-fest inaugurated in Gulmarg yesterday, the Lt Governor said that today a big message is reaching across the country from the beautiful valleys of Patnitop that J&K, which has always been a prominent seat and beacon of art and culture, has again started showing the way through its old traditions.
The Lt Governor said that it is our endeavor that young writers, poets of J&K, who are presently in the nascent stages, are provided the right platforms and ample opportunities to shine in this field.
Speaking on linguistic harmony, the Lt Governor said that in our country, regional languages have always been the medium of exchanging feelings of the whole nation. I firmly believe that linguistic harmony can strengthen unity, the Lt Governor added.
The Lt Governor also mentioned about the works of great Poetess Amrita Pritam, American writer Walt Whitman and Dr Sampurnanand. Literary works are best enjoyed in their original script; translation is necessary but only for understating the original text, he remarked.
The Lt Governor conveyed his best wishes to all the poets, writers and literary enthusiasts, on the occasion.
Earlier, he took a round of Book Exhibition and inspected the stalls displayed for disseminating information about various welfare schemes of the Government, besides stalls of Duggar Manch and Dogri Sanstha.
The poets and writers who participated in the Regional Literary Festival included Dr Lalit Magotra, Sh Darshan Darshi, Shri Sita Ram Sapolia, Shri Mohan Singh, Sh Inderjeet Kesar, Shri Om Prakash Vidyarthi, Dr Promila Manhas, Dr Sushma Rani, Shri Prakash Premi, Sh Shiv Dev Singh Sushil, besides prominent Urdu poets Shri Liaqat Jafri, Shri Shakeel Azmi, Shri Shakeel Jamali, Humorous poet Shri Popular Meruthi, Ms Deepti Mishra, Shri Tariq Qamar, Shri Parvez Manoos, Shri Iqbal Ashhar.
Group Editor, Hindustan, Shri Shashi Shekhar, Prof. Manoj Kumar Dhar, VC Jammu University; Prof. Ravinder Kumar Sinha VC Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, katra; Dr Raghav Langer Divisional Commissioner, Jammu; Mussarat-Ul- Islam, DC Ramban; Indu Kanwal Chib, Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur and other Divisional and District officers of UT administration were also present.
