Opinion | Review of Women’s Contribution in Gojri Literature (PART-4)

n 1979, a half an hour Gojri program from DoorDarshan Srinagar was started at 5:00 pm in the name of “Karvaan”. Initially, this program was fortnightly, then after a year it became a weekly program and it continues till today. In the beginning, Begum Jan, a well-known Gojri singer of Kashmir organized this program for about ten months, but she also could not last for long. Apart from her, Shazia Kasana also organized some special programs.

Nowadays, Shazia Kouser manages the program and sometimes some women are invited as guests in a program and there are programs with them on some or the other topic, but they are also very rare, the main reason is that women shy away from appearing on TV and the social and domestic issues are shackles and women of Gujjar society are mostly illiterate.

In this program too, no special work was done for women or to improve their literature and taste. If this program was daily instead of weekly and one program was reserved for women in a week, Gojri language and literature among women too would have been developed and they would not be afraid to wake up with the movement and enter the field for the competition.

Similarly, Doordarshan’s Kashar channel also launched Gojri program “Qaflo” in which Shazia Kasana, Nusrat Choudhary etc also took part . Choudhary Gulab Din Tahir has been involved in bringing them to Door Darshan channel, now he has retired from the position of Assistant Station Director, but there is no more involvement of women in this program and also the time of this program was reduced، this program also could not run regularly due to various reasons.

Gojri language and literature could not get some special representation even on the national channels of India, so what can be expected for women.

At the non-governmental level, those who have struggled to telecast Gojri programs on private channels, the only name under the banner of the Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation is that of Dr. Javed Rahi, who in March 2006 on “take one ” the state channel “started a Gojri program called “Gujjar Goonj”, in which there were 150 episodes, but there was no place for women in this program.

Apart from this, a Gojri news series was also started on Take One channel, which continues even today.

On January 26, 2017, a half-hour Gojri program “Mahari awaaz” was started on another channel Golistan News. Dr. Rahi also had a hand in starting this program and he also manages it himself till today . None of the episodes have been hosted by a woman, but many women who are active in the field of Gojri language and literature have been invited to the program as guests.

As many women who are active in the field of Gujri language and literature have been given the opportunity to talk and debate in the program. Apart from this, a 20-minute news bulletin is also telecast on Gulistan News Channel every day. Nusrat Choudhary, Wajda Choudhary and Khaleda Jabeen Goursi sometimes present news.

On the other side of the border, two programs have been started a few years ago. About these Gojri programs, as far as I know, a channel called k2TV started a program of only five minutes called “Mahari Gojri”. Gaya Hai Sur is also a program on another channel, KTV, in which comments and interviews are presented for unlimited time.There is no place for women in these two programs either.

Recently, Amir Mehboob, who belongs to the family of late Maulana Ismail Zabih Rajourvi, a respected personality of Gojri language and literature, has started a Gojri program on his channel “Jammu Kashmir Digital”, which is managed by Safoora Zahid and her husband Munir Ahmad Zahid.

From the above discussion it is clear that even the electronic media has not done anything special for women’s Gojri literature.

Print Media and Women’s Gojri Literature

The traces of Gojri journalism are not found at all from the early period because after the war of 1857, Gujjars were suffering losses from all sides in terms of civility, civilization, social and economy, however, where speech, leadership, bravery and monarchy have been the heritage of this nation, there is literature، Generosity and journalism are also the crown jewels of this nation. In the field of journalism, this nation has boldly and audaciously portrayed the ignorance, backwardness, misguidance and stories of the past in the nation with its pen. Breathe a new spirit.

The monthly “Veer Gujjar” magazine is considered to be the first part of Gojri journalism. According to some historians, Barkat Ali Shamim’s “Muslim Gujjar” was the first magazine that described the conditions of Gujjars at a time when there was no concept of print media or printing in these magazines. The economic, cultural and social life of Gujjars, which apart from describing them, also appears in literary contests, but there is no evidence in these magazines of women’s literature either.

After them, in 1933 Chaudhry Rehmat Ali’s monthly magazine “Ab Ya Kabhi Nahi”, in 1934 Khuda Bakhsh Kataria’s magazine “Mashir Gujran”, the magazine of educated Gujrans of Allahabad “Nida e Owadh” and “Islah e Gujran” in 1935 the weekly “Gujar”. Kesari”, in 1939 Chaudhry Ghulam Hussain Lasanawi’s “Akhbar Alinsan” in 1939 under the patronage of Khan Bahadur Maulana Fatehuddin and under the editorship of Maulana Abdul Ghafoor “Gujjar Gazette”, in 1954 late Sarwari Kisana’s fortnightly “Nawai Qoom” which became weekly after some time, in 1962 “Gajjar Desh” magazine headed by late Sarwari Kisana in 1967 edited by Chaudhry Maqbool Ahmed and Choudhary Ghulam Rasool Asghar’s weekly “Hamayat” in 1970 Choudhary Talib Hussain’s weekly “Dehqan” in 1975 Sarwar Chauhan’s “Wadi e Gulnar” which was also written in Gojri language. (To be continued)

– The writer is Editor Gojri Magazine Rudaati Qoom, Educationist and columnist from Rajouri Jammu and Kashmir. She can be reached at shaziachoudhary799@gmail.com