BOOK REVIEW
PREM NATH DAR (CREATIVITY AND RESILIENCE: THE JOURNEY)
By Jag Prakash Dar (Son of Prem Nath Dar)
Published by Notion Press Chennai
Price 480/=
Date of Publication 31st December 2024
Currently Available at
https://notionpress.com/read/prem-nath-dar-creativity-and-resilience-the-journey
(Shall be soon available on
Amazon and Flipkart)
Prem
Nath Dar(Dhar) was a journalist, writer, bureaucrat, and broadcaster who remained close to a
galaxy of politicians, writers, poets, journalists, broadcasters and stalwarts of the ‘Progressive Writers Association’
of the country. By the term’ galaxy ‘ I mean men like Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sardar Patel,
Maulana Azad, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, Krishen
Chander, Sahir Ludhianavi,
K A Abbas, Ali Sardar Jafri, Dr Mulkh Raj Anand, Josh Malihabadi, Ibadat
Barelvi, Upendranath Ashq, Sayyad Ehtisham Hussain, Makhdoom Mohiuddin, Shamim Ahmed Shamim, Devendra
Satyarthi, Arsh Malsiyani, Jagan Nath Azad, Sagar Nizami, and Rewati Sharan
Sharma, Dina Nath Nadim
and many more.
Born at Badiyarbala ( 1914) in Srinagar city, he moved to Lahore much before the partition of the country where he shifted to Delhi. He married a Kashmiri girl Lalita Devi Bhat (name
changed after marriage- Prem Pratima Dar) of Chaurasi Ghanta, Bazaar Sitaram,
Delhi. The ancestors of Lalita Ji had migrated out from Kashmir during the Afghan
rule. He made Delhi his
Karambhoomi. In 1946, he formed the Delhi chapter of Halqa-e
Arbab-e Zauq (Circle of the Men of Good Taste). Joining the Statesman
and later the Hindustan Times as a journalist, he moved to AIR and rose to
eminence in broadcasting as DDG, Akashvani where he retired in 1973.
Prem Nath Dar( Dhar ) was born in a locality distinguished by its
many stalwarts in the fields of literature, art, social service, and other
public arenas. Eminent artists such as Shiv
Nath Raina, D N Walli, Mohan Raina, Som Nath Butt, and Bhushan K Kaw hailed from this area. Noted musicians, including Omkar Raina (sitarist), Krishen
Langoo (composer), and santoor player Tej
Raina, also originated from this locality. The area was home to notable
figures such as playwright and broadcaster Bansi
Nirdosh, writer and broadcaster Chaman
Lal Hakhoo, scholar and writer Prof Ratan Lal Shant, community leader Pandit
H N Jatoo, poet and scholar Padma
Shri Moti Lal Saqi and the well-known perfume maker Govindh Joo Navdhara, among many other prominent names across
various walks of life.
Prem
Nath Dar was a prominent writer of Urdu. His Urdu short stories like; Kaghaz ka
Vasudev, Doodh, Uttarai, Aakh Thoo, Zanshirin, Gidh, Chadawa, Kofta, Neeli
Aankhen, Geet Ke Chaar Bol, Paani se Gadha Lahu, Bhoot Pret, Faayada be Faayad
Beech Andherey, Zindagi ke Ghoont, Neeli Botal, Dinon ka Pher, Tehalil Nafsee,
Ghalat Phehami etc. became quite popular. These short stories were published in
his collections titled “Kagaz Ka Vasudev”
“Neeli Aankhen”, " Betaal Lamhe " and "Chinaron ke saaye mein". He also wrote some
musical operas and plays. He was a writer who brought a wealth of different
styles and narratives to the Urdu literature of the subcontinent. I am told that his
books are included in the curriculum of post-graduation studies in many universities
of the subcontinent.
His contribution towards creating and developing the
Pamposh Colony in Delhi has been immense. The colony was meant to create
a single settlement for such Kashmiri families residing in Delhi as had moved
out of Kashmir in the early forties of the last century. The colony was given
practical shape in the 1950s.
While in Delhi, he never forgot his Kashmiri roots. Master
Zinda Kaul and Swami Nand Bub were seen at his residence during
winter. From Kashmir, he remained
an ardent admirer of poet Dina Nath Nadim who shaped the contours of
Modern Kashmiri poetry. Prem Nath Dar was a close friend of writer Prem Nath
Pardesi, poet cum broadcaster Mir Ghulam Rasool Nazki, artist Som
Nath Khosa, Shamim Ahmed Shamim, D P Dhar, Syed Mir Qasim and bureaucrat Mir
Nassarullah (IAS).
It is believed that Dar played a key role in doing the groundwork for the ‘Indira
Abdullah Accord’. As head of the high-powered committee of All India Radio,
New Delhi, he also designed the format for suitable
programs for Radio Kashmir, Srinagar to silence targeted propaganda attacks
from Radio Pakistan during and after the 1965 War with Pakistan. His last
assignment post-retirement was ‘ Press and Publicity Advisor to the Government of Jammu and Kashmir’.
He
was a confidant of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah right from day one of Sheikh’s
political activism or much before the formation of the National Conference. Later, Sheikh sent him to Lahore and Punjab to meet Congress leaders and seek
their support and help for Sheikh's movement against the rule of the Maharaja. In 1975, when Sheikh Abdullah
signed the accord with the then prime minister of India Mrs Indira Gandhi, he
remembered his old friend. Sheikh Abdullah recalled Prem Nath Dar to Srinagar to
serve him as his Press and Publicity Advisor. Unfortunately, Prem Nath Dar died
suddenly in September 1976 due to a massive heart attack. As an obituary, Shamim Ahmed Shamim, a former member of
parliament from Srinagar (writer and a
brilliant journalist) wrote a memorable write-up "Prem Nath Dar- Mera Yaar" (Prem Nath Dar- My Pal), in his
Urdu newspaper “Ainaa" published from Srinagar.
Prem
Nath Dar (Dhar) remains unknown in the Kashmir valley as well as in the rest of
the country. The book makes him known.
( Avtar Mota )
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