Srinagar : It took 32 years for the Jammu and Kashmir government to officially recognize the literary contribution of well known Kashmiri Pandit poet Sarwanand Kaul Premi, who was killed by militants in 1990.
Late Savranand Koul Premi, a well known Kashmir Pandit writer, was among 23 people awarded on the eve of Republic Day by the J&K government. He was conferred with lifetime achievement award posthumously. Sarvanand, 65, along with 27 year-old younger son, Virender was killed by suspected militants in May 1990 at his native village in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district. Within a week after the incident, the Koul family left Kashmir.
For the family of late Sarvanand Koul Premi, though belatedly, the award is an “acknowledgment and recognition” of his services for nourishing the feeling of patriotism and nationalism. The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday evening released a list of 23 people that were selected for government awards in different categories. Besides Premi, a retired chief engineer HL Maini was awarded with the lifetime achievement award.
“It is a proud moment for people of J&K in particular and for the whole nation in general,” Koul’s son Rajinder Premi, a retired J&K government employee said. He said his father was a great litterateur, poet, author, educationist, patriot, nationalist and torch bearer of peace, brotherhood and amity.
“My late illustrious father, an inspirational idealist, laid down his life for truth, honesty, integrity and highest human values enshrined in the ethos and culture of the crown of our country. Though a very belated gesture by the government, it is still acknowledgement and recognition of his services in J&K. The stature of his services is an encouragement for every person who nourishes and nurtures feelings of patriotism and nationalism,” he said. Rajinder wished that the government in J&K and the center would continue restoring justice to his family which have been victims of terrorism.
“.. I dedicate this award to the sacred memory of my illustrious mother and martyred brother to the whole of the Kashmir community. I wish the government in J&K and central govt would continue restoring of justice to this frontline terrorist victim family,” he said. Premi authored more than three dozen books, which include translations of the ‘Bhagavad Gita’ in Urdu and ‘Ramayana’ into Kashmiri language and also translation of Rabrindranath Tagore’s ‘Geetanjali’. Many manuscripts have not been published so far and the family has been requesting the J&K cultural academy and Sahitya Academy to publish these books to make them available for common Kashmiris.
