For the last few months, Kashmir has been embroiled in a string of controversies. The prominent cartoonist Bashir Ahmad Bashir rightly portrayed the government spokesman Naeem Akhtar as the Minister for Denials, in addition to his original Education portfolio. Naeem Akhtar has called reporters a few times, only to deny one controversial plan or another – from the proposal of Sainik Colonies, to separate enclaves for Kashmiri Pandits, to a new industrial policy with a provision for non-locals to lease land and temporary shelters for local and non-local labourers. The current government has been in a firefighting mode to ward off any possibility of a 2008 or 2010 like situation emerging again.
These controversies have been useful for the separatists, who have regrouped after a long time regardless of their egos and their ideological differences on how to resolve the Kashmir issue. They made a joint call for a shutdown on May 26 to protest what they called “India’s anti-Kashmir policies”. In the past, both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference, and other separatist organizations, have followed their own separate courses of action. But in recent weeks, there have been rejuvenated efforts to get them together on a single platform on these issues, if not to unite them into a grand alliance like the one that existed until September 2003.
The separatists have made these controversies into emotional issues, striking the chord with a frustrated Kashmiri community that these “conspiracies” were aimed at. The biggest regional party, the National Conference, and the Congress have used them to criticize the government. This heat is likely to reflect in the assembly that began its budget session on May 25. For the time being, the PDP-BJP government might have succeeded in putting a lid on the boiling pot, but the fact is that political unrest is very much visible. The May 23 attack on police by militants in Srinagar in broad daylight, which broke a three-year-long lull, is seen as a grim reminder of an unfolding situation. At the same time, Kashmir is seeing a good tourist season, and these audacious attacks are likely to dampen that. The trade bodies amalgam Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) headed by Mohammad Yasin Khan had rightly warned about a law and order situation in case the government did not roll back all the “plans aimed at pushing Kashmiris to the wall”.
It is difficult to understand as to why such controversies are raising their head when the Bhartiya Janata Party that rules in Delhi has a huge stake in having a stable government in Jammu and Kashmir. After all, it is in a coalition with the PDP in the state. But the way these games are being played, it seems that the BJP is determined to implement its own agenda to keep its vote bank intact, and not respect the Agenda of Alliance that it had entered with the PDP at the time they formed a coalition government in 2015.
The latest addition to this list of controversies is the reported proposal by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to introduce Devnagri and Sharda as alternative scripts. Hindustam Times reported on May 16 that the MHRD was expected to seek an approval from the union cabinet to set up a new body – the National Council for Promotion of Kashmiri Language – with an objective to focus on promoting the language in Devnagri and Persio-Arabic script and also attempt to revive their forerunner Sharda. This development has led to a rage among Kashmir’s civil society, especially writers, poets, academicians, journalists, businessmen and lawyers who see it as a “conspiracy” to undermine the current script. The move by the MHRD is the outcome of lobbying by a section of Kashmiri Pandits who want to dislodge the current Persio-Arabic (Nastaliq) script identifying it with Muslims. These handful of voices have found an ear in the government and will make every effort to push the proposal through.
This is not for the first time that such a proposal has been mooted. In 2005, a similar proposal was made during the UPA government’s tenure. But after serious resentment in the Kashmiri civil society and the political leadership across the divide, the then HRD Minister Arjun Singh made a statement in Rajya Sabha that the government had no such intention.
The move to promote Devnagri as alternative script is fraught with serious danger. It will not only further divide the communities of Kashmir on communal lines, but will reinforce the sense of discrimination among the Kashmiri speaking people. The existing script has been in use for over 500 years. There is no denying the fact that Sharda used to be script from Kashmir to Kabul right up to the mid-14th Century. Devnagri replaced Sharda for Sanskrit, but in Kashmir, Sanskrit itself got replaced by Persian as the official language in the 15th Century. Kashmiri writers also used the same script, and when Rishi Nama by Baba Nasibuddin Gazi appeared with Sheikh Nooruddin Noorani’s and Lal Ded’s works roughly hundred years after their demise, it came in the same script. It was the first written work in Kashmiri language.
Kashmiri Pandit writers have used the same script all along, except one or two of them, such as Zinda Koul, who used the other one in his Sumran, and an edition of Parmanad’s poetry (Source: A History of Kashmiri Literature by Triloki Nath Raina). But there were several great writers, such as Prakash Ram and Krishan Joo Razdan, who used the existing script. And all the writers from the community today have been writing in the Persio-Arabic script. Nearly 99 percent of the literature in Kashmiri is written in that script. It was in 1953 when a committee was set up that suggested Nasq (Arabic) script for the language, but that was rejected for being too difficult to write. And finally, another committee was set up in 1971, and the standard script was accepted and introduced by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages. The script is also recognized in the eighth schedule of Constitution of India, and appears on the currency notes.
The new argument is that that the young generation of Kashmiri Pandits is not well versed with the script and Hindi’s Devnagri is now prevalent. But that is true with the new generation of Kashmiri Muslims as well, who find it difficult to read and write in it, despite the fact that Kashmiri is taught as a compulsory subject till the 8th standard. That does not mean that we should jeopardize the existing treasure of Kashmiri literature. Such a move will be seen as a threat to the culture and identity of Kashmir, and will become an emotional matter. In a fragile political situation, Kashmir cannot afford another battle over cultural identity. In order to preserve its proud past, it must preserve the language in its existing form, so that all that literary wealth is transferred to the new generations.
The author is a veteran journalist from Srinagar and the editor-in-chief of
The Rising Kashmir
These controversies have been useful for the separatists, who have regrouped after a long time regardless of their egos and their ideological differences on how to resolve the Kashmir issue. They made a joint call for a shutdown on May 26 to protest what they called “India’s anti-Kashmir policies”. In the past, both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference, and other separatist organizations, have followed their own separate courses of action. But in recent weeks, there have been rejuvenated efforts to get them together on a single platform on these issues, if not to unite them into a grand alliance like the one that existed until September 2003.
The separatists have made these controversies into emotional issues, striking the chord with a frustrated Kashmiri community that these “conspiracies” were aimed at. The biggest regional party, the National Conference, and the Congress have used them to criticize the government. This heat is likely to reflect in the assembly that began its budget session on May 25. For the time being, the PDP-BJP government might have succeeded in putting a lid on the boiling pot, but the fact is that political unrest is very much visible. The May 23 attack on police by militants in Srinagar in broad daylight, which broke a three-year-long lull, is seen as a grim reminder of an unfolding situation. At the same time, Kashmir is seeing a good tourist season, and these audacious attacks are likely to dampen that. The trade bodies amalgam Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) headed by Mohammad Yasin Khan had rightly warned about a law and order situation in case the government did not roll back all the “plans aimed at pushing Kashmiris to the wall”.
Some Kashmiri Pandits link the Nastaliq script to Muslims
It is difficult to understand as to why such controversies are raising their head when the Bhartiya Janata Party that rules in Delhi has a huge stake in having a stable government in Jammu and Kashmir. After all, it is in a coalition with the PDP in the state. But the way these games are being played, it seems that the BJP is determined to implement its own agenda to keep its vote bank intact, and not respect the Agenda of Alliance that it had entered with the PDP at the time they formed a coalition government in 2015.
The latest addition to this list of controversies is the reported proposal by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to introduce Devnagri and Sharda as alternative scripts. Hindustam Times reported on May 16 that the MHRD was expected to seek an approval from the union cabinet to set up a new body – the National Council for Promotion of Kashmiri Language – with an objective to focus on promoting the language in Devnagri and Persio-Arabic script and also attempt to revive their forerunner Sharda. This development has led to a rage among Kashmir’s civil society, especially writers, poets, academicians, journalists, businessmen and lawyers who see it as a “conspiracy” to undermine the current script. The move by the MHRD is the outcome of lobbying by a section of Kashmiri Pandits who want to dislodge the current Persio-Arabic (Nastaliq) script identifying it with Muslims. These handful of voices have found an ear in the government and will make every effort to push the proposal through.
This is not for the first time that such a proposal has been mooted. In 2005, a similar proposal was made during the UPA government’s tenure. But after serious resentment in the Kashmiri civil society and the political leadership across the divide, the then HRD Minister Arjun Singh made a statement in Rajya Sabha that the government had no such intention.
The move to promote Devnagri as alternative script is fraught with serious danger. It will not only further divide the communities of Kashmir on communal lines, but will reinforce the sense of discrimination among the Kashmiri speaking people. The existing script has been in use for over 500 years. There is no denying the fact that Sharda used to be script from Kashmir to Kabul right up to the mid-14th Century. Devnagri replaced Sharda for Sanskrit, but in Kashmir, Sanskrit itself got replaced by Persian as the official language in the 15th Century. Kashmiri writers also used the same script, and when Rishi Nama by Baba Nasibuddin Gazi appeared with Sheikh Nooruddin Noorani’s and Lal Ded’s works roughly hundred years after their demise, it came in the same script. It was the first written work in Kashmiri language.
Kashmiri Pandit writers have used the same script all along, except one or two of them, such as Zinda Koul, who used the other one in his Sumran, and an edition of Parmanad’s poetry (Source: A History of Kashmiri Literature by Triloki Nath Raina). But there were several great writers, such as Prakash Ram and Krishan Joo Razdan, who used the existing script. And all the writers from the community today have been writing in the Persio-Arabic script. Nearly 99 percent of the literature in Kashmiri is written in that script. It was in 1953 when a committee was set up that suggested Nasq (Arabic) script for the language, but that was rejected for being too difficult to write. And finally, another committee was set up in 1971, and the standard script was accepted and introduced by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages. The script is also recognized in the eighth schedule of Constitution of India, and appears on the currency notes.
The new argument is that that the young generation of Kashmiri Pandits is not well versed with the script and Hindi’s Devnagri is now prevalent. But that is true with the new generation of Kashmiri Muslims as well, who find it difficult to read and write in it, despite the fact that Kashmiri is taught as a compulsory subject till the 8th standard. That does not mean that we should jeopardize the existing treasure of Kashmiri literature. Such a move will be seen as a threat to the culture and identity of Kashmir, and will become an emotional matter. In a fragile political situation, Kashmir cannot afford another battle over cultural identity. In order to preserve its proud past, it must preserve the language in its existing form, so that all that literary wealth is transferred to the new generations.
The author is a veteran journalist from Srinagar and the editor-in-chief of
The Rising Kashmir