Prof Rahman Rahi is the only Kashmiri writer to be awarded Jnanpith , India Kashmir and their language, but says a cruel treatment is being meted out to the Kashmiris, blaming India Pakistan China Kashmir , the 84-year-old Rahi says it is the language that should determine the course, for he believes if the language is taken away, the political independence would mean nothing. He says Kashmir wasn’t a state as one sees it today but a sovereign country which has been destroyed and enslaved since the invasion of Mughals. He spoke to M Farooq Shah at his Vichar Nag residence. Excerpts:
●You took a lofty plunge from a lowly clerical job in the Public Works Department into the field of literature and poetry. How did it come to you that you could make a mark in the field?
The plunge you’re referring to was not sudden. I had developed the passion for writing much before I took the clerical job in the PWD which I think lasted for 3 or 4 months only. However, I developed interest in the poetry during my childhood days while attending to various musical functions held at marriages and other auspicious occasions. Moreover, I used to borrow books from a bookseller in our neighborhood and gradually became a serious reader. This gave me the opportunity to lay my hands on as many books as I could and that broadened my horizon in more way than one.
●Why did you choose Kashmiri as medium of expression?
Amid the Urdu language dominating the cultural aspect of Kashmir , I initially began to write in my mother tongue only to realize that there were a few takers for it and I quickly switched over to the Urdu medium. It happened after I wrote a letter to Maulana Muhammad Syed Masaudi, patron of the Urdu newspaper, Khidmat which was the official mouthpiece of the congress party, about my interest in literature and poetry. He responded with an offer of the position of subeditor in the newspaper. I left the clerical job and grabbed his offer with both hands. Apart from the subbing job, I began to write on various issues with striking regularity. It was after the publication of the article, ‘Criticizing Marxism’, when a group of young men from the Progressive Writers Association, a party influenced by Communism, approached me. They said to me that you belonged to us and I joined the Association. However, I would find it awkward that my poetry was ignored while my colleagues like Dina Nath Nadim would get huge appreciation. This forced me to write in Kashmiri language.
●This was around the time when the political temperatures in the subcontinent were running exceedingly high. You’re a living witness to that bloodshed and massacre that followed the fall of British colonialism and India
Whatever happened after India Kashmir , is conspicuously visible in my earlier writings which appeared in the form of the booklets, San’woun Saaz, Subhuk Sou’da, Kalaame Rahi and most importantly, Nau’roze Sabah .
●In case of Kashmir, many attribute the change as ‘out of the frying pan into the fire’. In the new political order, Kashmir lost its sovereign character pushing Kashmiris into a deep blind well without a vent.
Indians were fighting against the British rule but Kashmiris were striving for freedom from the autocratic rule imposed by the maharaja. Sardar Ja’afri, Faiz Ahmad Faiz and many other poets had questioned the freedom of India saying, Yeh Dag Dag Ujala, Yeh Shab Guzeda Sehar, Jiska Intizar Tha Hamei, Yeh Woh Sehar Tau Nahin (This blemished brightness, this dawn torn apart by the night, this is not the dawn we had been waiting for). Similarly, we felt that while some form of internal autonomy was given to Kashmir after the maharaja’s departure, it was not the freedom we had been yearning for. It is abundantly visible in the Kashmiri poetry. Dina Nath Nadim, Noor Muhammad Roshan, Abdul Ahad Azad, Mirza Arif, Mehjoor and several other poets have written about the changes that occurred during the various phases of Kashmir struggle and reflected the pain and suffering of the masses.
●Why did Kashmiris take to arms in 1989 against their reputation of being docile and nonviolent?
There’re several reasons to it and I think the persons actively engaged in it on daily basis are in a much better position to answer it. But I would say, whenever anyone used to write against the autocratic rule of the Dogras, he was well informed that Kashmir had a rich history of 5000 years at its back. Mehjoor wrote: “I was not the same before-- frail and enslaved-- but I wielded authority. Din Ga’weahi Mae’ne Kaene Yem Prae’ne Kaene Dae’waar Mea’ne (The remnants of the stone walls would speak for me.)”
By 1989, a common man had come to understand that he continued to be enslaved and was denied the freedom he was looking for. It occurred to him that he should put his word across a more vociferously.
●In a meeting at the State Cultural Academy, you read a poem: Yea’m Gayyea Ahensaye Avtaar, Te’a Aes Gayye Dah’shat Gard…Nishat Mou’rukh, Shal’maer Mou’rukh…Imam Mou’rukh, Hasaam Mou’rukh, Yea’me As’weane Shahrukh Subuho Shaam Mourukh… (They call themselves as nonviolent gods and call us terrorists… They killed the Nishat and the Shalimar; the Imam, the Hasaam; the morning and the evening of this smiling city…)
[Doesn’t answer the question and requests to switch off the device.]
●Tell us something about the book, Siyah Roude Jaren Manz (Under the dark downpour).
It begins with a poem on Kashmiri language apart from several others I have written over a period of time. I should say the freedom of Kashmir we’re talking about is meaningless unless it rested on the language of the masses here. Kashmiri is a compelling language and has a great potential. Unfortunately, the power that this language wields has not been discovered. Language holds the key if Kashmiris want to regain their lost glory and ascertain their existence.
●What does Jnanpith award mean to you?
This award is given away in recognition to the contribution made to the Indian literature. I was immensely delighted to see my name chosen for the award. It is not only the recognition to me as a poet but to the Kashmiri language also which was being looked down upon.
●You’re talking about pride of Kashmiris. The great Indian author, Arundhati Roy, denied the Sahatiya Academy Kashmir .’ Did it occur to you as well?
No, it did not. On the contrary, the ward gave recognition to me and my language and to my countrymen as well who speak this language. It gave them their national pride with which they can move forward and can tell everyone that they’re no ordinary folks. It was an admission by India
●You’re known for the poem, Zinde Rouze Baapat Chhe Maraan Loukh, Tse Marakh na…Loute Paeth Cheakha Peyaale Ke’ho Uff Te Karakh Na…(People prefer to die to live …would you silently drink this potion and not say a word…)
I’m of the opinion that Kashmiris are not well acquainted with their patriotic sense and when I say that, I don’t count the days from Badshah alone. Once that sense awakens within them, their struggle would get a direction. We’re being meted out a cruel treatment and our identity is being denied. It is not only India Pakistan China
●Would you attribute the 1989 outburst to this poem?
Certainly, could very well be. Apart from many other things, people thought this poem aptly described their predicament because it carried their sentiment.
●You’re a strong advocate of the restitution of historical position to Kashmir .
●But that history is being distorted, misrepresented.
It is the duty of Kashmiris to fight against any such plot aimed at distorting his history. A common Kashmiri is continuing his fight on various levels, be it poetry, intellectual or practical. However, in his fight, he should bear in mind that his language is paramount to him. If the language is taken away from him, he will cease to exist even if he is politically independent.
●Over these years of conflict, people from outside came here and began to teach Kashmiris different versions of Kashmiriyat.
We’ve been taken for a ride while being called as people of the land of Reshis
[The interview appeared in the July issue of Conveyor, www.conveyormagazine.com]
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