SRINAGAR: Today, a three day literary festival organised by Gulshan Cultural Forum Kashmir begins here in.central Kashmir’s Badran Magam.
The festival was organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
Leading literary historian, writer, poet and former head of the Kashmiri department of Kashmir University Professor Shafi Shauq was present as the chief guest at the inauguration ceremony of this three-day festival, who inaugurated the festival. The initial session was presided over by the well-known writer, poet and researcher Prof. Farooq Fayaz. Professor Shad Ramzan, a well-known writer, poet and former head of the Kashmiri department of Kashmir University, was present as the guest of honour. Noted researcher and poet Ranjoor Tilgami gave the keynote address on the occasion while President of the Forum Syed Bashir Kausar delivered the welcome address. General Secretary of Forum and Festival Co-ordinator Gulshan Badrani explained the aims and objectives of the festival.
The festival started with traditional folk music performed by artists associated with the forum to welcome the guests. After that, the invited guests on the stage started the festival by burning isband. There was a lot of discussion on Ranjoor Tilgami’s keynote address and various questions were raised during the discussion.
The annual awards of Gulshan Cultural Forum were presented to the awardees which have been already announced. Notably, the award for the year 2021 was given to the leading writer and fiction writer Professor Gulshan Majeed and the award for the year 2020 was given to the renowned poet and writer Shahnaz Rashid. These honors were highly appreciated in literary circles.
The famous poet Fayaz Tilgami’s Poetry Collection “Harf Harf Chh Naat Khawan” was released.
After the opening session of the festival, Mahfil Afsana and Mahfil Makala were held respectively. Tahir Bhagat presented Afsana while Shamshad KaralaWari and Shahbaz Haqbari presented essays. The sessions were presided over by Professor Gulshan Majeed and Shakeelur Rehman respectively while Rahim Rahbar was also present in the Presidium.
The last session of the first day of the festival consisted of a poetry session, in which fresh and noteworthy poets of Urdu and Kashmiri language presented their poetry creations. Which got a lot of appreciation from the audience. These poets included Dr. Shabnam Ashaye,Maqbool Shaida, Asif Safal, Hassan Darwish, Irshad Magami, , Masroor Muzaffar and Taseef Raza.
On the first day of the festival Ghulam Hassan Baba, Abdul khaliq shamas, Rashid kanispori, Abdul Rashid Shahbaz, Advocate Sajjad Ahmed. Khande, Abdul Aziz Dar. Ghulam Ahmad Butt was present.
At the end of the ceremony, General Secretary of the Forum Gulshan Badrani thanked the guests.
The audience and attendees appreciated this effort of Gulshan Cultural Forum Kashmir.

KR Desk