Writers declare it historic literary festival
SRINAGAR: The three-day literary festival “Saman Bal”, organized by the revolutionary literary and cultural organisation Gulshan Cultural Forum Kashmir with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, concluded on Monday.
Sangeet Natak Academy award-winning renowned singer Gulzar Ganai was present as the chief guest at the closing ceremony. Leading writer, poet and forum’s president Syed Bashir Kousar presided over the function. Latif Niazi and Khurshid Khamosh were also present in the presidium.
At the closing ceremony, Festival Coordinator Gulshan Badrani reviewed all the sessions and thanked the participants in the sessions held. While reviewing the sessions held, the participants declared this festival a historic literary festival. During the closing ceremony, the steps taken by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, which are continuing to define art, culture and literature, were appreciated.
This three-day festival was inaugurated on May 9, 2026 by the Minister of State, Chairperson Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board and award-winning writer Dr. Syed Darakhsha Andrabi as the chief guest. The occasion was presided over by renowned writer, poet and fiction writer Professor Gulshan Majeed. Former Additional Director General Doordarshan, writer and poet Dr. Rafiq Masoodi was present as the guest of honor. Renowned broadcaster, writer and poet Dr. Satish Vimal delivered a keynote address and highlighted the salient aspects of this three-day festival. While the General Secretary of the Forum Gulshan Badrani raised questions on several important points of the literary situation during the welcome address. The President of the Forum, Syed Bashir Kausar, tried to show the aims and objectives of the festival and its impact on the contemporary literary landscape. The duties of the Anchor were performed by the Secretary of the Forum Khurshid Khamosh.
The festival began with traditional folk music performed by artists associated with the forum to welcome the guests, along with the forum anthem written by Shahnaz Rasheed. There was a lot of discussion on the address of Dr. Satish Vimal and various questions were raised during the discussion. During the same session, the annual awards of the Gulshan Cultural Forum were also presented to the awardees, which had already been announced. It is worth noting that the award for the year 2023 was given to the leading writer and researcher Hasrat Gadha and the award for the year 2024 was given to the renowned teacher and writer and former head of the Haqqani Memorial Trust, Master Ghulam Mohammad Dar. These awards were highly appreciated in literary circles. After this, the literary journal of the forum, Faryaad, and several other books of the forum were also launched.
After the inaugural session of the festival, a short story gathering and a writing gathering were held respectively. Renowned fiction writer Shakeel-ur-Rehman presented a short story, which was discussed in detail. The session was chaired by Nisar Naseem. The last session of the first day of the festival consisted of poetry creations. In which fresh and noteworthy poets of Urdu and Kashmiri languages presented their poetic creations. Renowned poet and writer Shahnaz Rashid presided over this poetry session. Along with him, Hilal Kashmiri, Dilbar Pushkri and Sheikh Ghulam Rasool, known as Lasa Bab, were also present in the presidential house. The poets participating in this poetry session received a lot of appreciation from the audience. Among them were Mahfuza Nabi, Maqbool Shaida, Nisar Azam, Dr. Idrees Badrani, Haq Nawaz, Zamroda Anjuman, Shahzad Manzoor. Dr. Syed Iftikhar, associated with the Cultural Academy, expressed his impressions and called this poetry session a moving action. There was a lot of excitement on the first day of the three-day festival and several literary and linguistic issues were highlighted during discussions in separate sessions.
On the second day also, leading writers, poets and writers from all over the valley participated in this festival. Several literary sessions were held during the festival. The first session was chaired by Professor Farooq Fayaz, Dr. Nazir Azad was present in the presidium as the special guest. In this session, Mr. Shamshad Karalawari and Dr. Ghulam Nabi Haleem presented interesting papers. On which there was a lively discussion. Inayat Gul, Rashid Siddiqui Syed Bashir Kausar, Ali Shaida, Professor Mushtaq Muntaz and Khurshid Khamosh raised important questions in this regard. Gulshan Badrani delivered the welcome speech and Forum’s President Syed Bashir Kousar presented the vote of thanks. Khurshid Khamosh performed the duties of Anchor in his own unique way. After this, a wonderful poetry session was held in which leading poets as well as novice poets also participated. This poetry competition was chaired by the well-known poet of the valley and Sahitya Akademi award-winning writer Ali Shaida. Professor Mushtaq Mintazir, Dr. Ghulam Nabi Haleem and Inayat Gul were present in the presidium along with him. The duties of Anchor were performed by Maqbool Shaida.
The poets who participated in the second day’s poetry festival included Dr. Idrees Badrani, Ashiq M, Abdul Ahad Dilbar, Mumtaz Gophbali, Amin Ashraf, Latif Niazi, Ghulam Nabi Rishi, Shafiq Karhami, Abdul Salam Hamraz, Ali Muhammad Chopan, Ghulam Muhammad Benwa, Dr. Roohi Jan, Ghulam Rasool Chopan, Ghulam Ahmed Rishi, Akbar Kalan, Ahmed Wajudi, Rahat Rafiq, Pir Atiqullah, Syed Bashir Kausar, Abdul Salam Ganai and Zamroda Anjuman.
There was a lot of excitement during this literary festival and during discussions in separate sessions, many literary issues were discussed and the works of many creators were appreciated.