Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Oct 11: For the first time since its inception, the Jammu & Kashmir Academy of Art Culture and Languages (JKAACL) is going to have no member from Dogri language in its apex decision making high powered Central Committee, which was constituted last week for a tenure of next five years.
Even as there has been no official announcement of the members of newly formed Central Committee, sources informed the Excelsior that no representation has been given to Dogri, which is second largest speaking language of the State and mother tongue of Jammu people.
According to the sources, the five-member Central Committee has three Kashmiri writers, one Ladakhi littérateur and an artist in Applied Art from Jammu region. Names of Zafar Iqbal Manhas (former Secretary of JKAACL and a Kashmiri writer), Ayash Aarif ( Kashmiri writer), C Phunsok (Ladakhi litterateur) and S T S Batra ( former Principal of J&K Institute of Music and Fine Arts) have been recommended for nomination as members of the Central Committee and a formal notification in this regard is likely to be issued soon, sources said.
This is for the first time in history of JKAACL, which was set up in 1958 as an autonomous body for promotion of Art, Culture and Languages in Jammu and Kashmir, that no Dogri writer has been taken in its apex Central Committee, which formulates five-year plan of the Academy, inter-State cultural programmes and agenda programme.
The high powered Central Committee, along with General Council, Finance Committee and Sub-Advisory Committee of the JKAACL, was constituted for a term of five years during Central Committee meeting of JKAACL, which was held last week and presided over by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who is also President of the Academy.
Since the Secretary JKAACL, Aziz Hajini as well as Minister for Culture, Haseeb Drabu are also from Kashmir, Jammu region and its Dogri language are feared to be neglected in the future plans of the Academy for promotion of Dogra cultural heritage and Dogri language, which have already been allegedly facing step motherly treatment by the successive State Governments.
According to prominent Dogri writer Prof Lalit Magotra, who has twice remained as member of the JKAACL Central Committee, this was unfortunate and detrimental to Dogri if no representation to the language has been given in the high-powered body. “Though I am not aware of such development as no formal notification in this regard has yet been issued by the Academy, and if, it is so, Jammu intelligentsia has to raise its voice against this discriminatory approach towards languages of this region, particularly Dogri,” he said and feared that the JKAACL may not officially announce names of the members to avoid any controversy.
Similar sentiments were echoed by several other writers and intellectual of Jammu region who also alleged that recent move of JKAACL to drop all its Dogri speaking employees from Darbar move category since this year, was also a part of greater conspiracy to keep Jammu out of important decisions by the Academy.
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