By :: Sheikh Saleem

India may have acceded to Pakistan’s demand for Kashmir had it helped New Delhi in the Indo-Sino war, according to veteran journalist, Kuldeep Nayar as he quoted his conversation with former Indian Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri.

He added that if Pakistan would have waited in 1947, it would have got Kashmir “but sending troops to Kashmir spoiled everything”.

Speaking at a function held to commemorate the completion of first year of monthly Urdu magazine ‘Belaag Sahafat’, Nayar said: “Jawahar Lal Nehru adopted Sheikh (Abdullah) and made him Prime Minister and put a seal on accession.”

He suggested that Kashmiris should demand the pre-1953 position wherein India has jurisdiction over Defence, Communication and Foreign Affairs only.

Nayar said gun is no solution to Kashmir issue “because India has more guns than Kashmir and it would be again suppressed”.

“Instead Kashmir should demand more rights,” he added.

Nayar said accession cannot be changed. “Now let us go back to 1947 and talk about it. When Sheikh Abdullah was made Prime Minister he was given everything except Defence, Communication and Foreign Policy. Let’s demand back everything except these three things,” he said.

Nayar said before 1947, founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah came to Lahore Law College where he was studying law and told him that partition will lead to bloodshed. “But Jinnah said both countries will live like friends. I was right and Jinnah was wrong,” he added.

He said Jammu and Kashmir is the only state in sub-continent where secularism is alive. “I think from here we can send a message to whole sub-continent that even if 96 percent Muslims live here still Hindus and Muslims can live together,” the noted journalist added.

He said Kashmiri youth should not think that they will get freedom if they take up arms. “Gandhi won freedom without guns.”

Nayar said Urdu language was dying as it was no more lucrative in terms of career opportunities.

He said English has overshadowed Urdu though the former was a “natural bond of communication” between India and Pakistan.

Nayar, who had migrated to India at the time of partition, said he started his journalistic career with an Urdu daily but subsequently switched to English as there were little career opportunities in the other languages.

He, however, said given his love for Urdu he continues to write columns in the language.

In his address, Justice (Retd) Bashir Ahmed Kirmani said there was need to keep Urdu alive and that it was government’s responsibility to take measures for its promotion.

“If language wise anything binds people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, who have their own regional languages like Dogri, Kashmiri and Ladakhi respectively, its Urdu which is the medium of communication. Otherwise these three regions are Greek to each other,” Justice Bashir said.

Hurriyat (M) chief, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said it was the duty of Muslims of the sub-continent to conserve Urdu and work for its promotion.

“The ruling rightwing forces were hell bent to erode the fabric of Urdu which happens to be among sweetest in the world and has contributed a lot in the spread of Islam,” he said.

Mirwaiz hailed the ‘Belaag Sahafat’ team for producing a quality monthly magazine “which upholds the significance and sensitivity in its literary manifestation”.

He said the young team deserves accolades for their endeavour of taking up a challenging job.

In his telephonic address, Hurriyat (G) chairman, Syed Ali Geelani said journalism was a challenging job in conflict zones like Kashmir and providing readers news with insight in Urdu was equally challenging given its fading commercial markets.

Noted writer GN Khayal said there was a need for collective efforts for the promotion of Urdu language.

Noted journalist, Syed Shujaat Bukhari said Urdu journalism had become more challenging as people are switching over to English.

He said while newspapers are closing down in the West, new newspapers are coming up in valley. He also appreciated the role of ‘Belaag Sahafat’ team in the field of Urdu journalism.

Complimenting ‘Belaag Sahafat’ editors, Tariq Ali Mir and Haroon Reshi, Bukhari said the duo have taken up a challenging task and the magazine has lived upto its name which means ‘unblemished journalism’.

MLA Engineer Rashid, columnist Ajaz Ul Haque and Hurriyat (G) spokesman Ayaz Akbar also spoke on the occasion.

Noted writer and broadcaster Muhammad Amin Bhat compeered the proceedings of the event attended by academicians, businessmen and other civil society members.