Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's address at the Bharatiya Jnanpith Award Ceremony

"I am very happy to be here in this very distinguished gathering for the presentation of the 40th Jnanpith Award to Shri Rahman Rahi. I congratulate and felicitate Shri Rahi on being honoured with this very prestigious literary award. It is an acknowledgement of his immense contribution to the growth of Indian literature. This, I believe, is the first time that this recognition has come to a literary personality in the Kashmiri language, which finds its earliest expression in the mystical work of Lalleshwari or Laldyad/Lal Ded almost 700 years ago.

The activities of the Bharatiya Jnanpith Trust have come to occupy a very important part in our country's cultural, artistic and intellectual life. The Trust was established by one of India's leading philanthropists and industrialists, Shri Shanti Prasad Jain. Shri Jain was a man of many parts, who built wide-ranging industries, founded educational institutions and acquired a newspaper. He was also a visionary who felt the need to endow research into our cultural and literary heritage and encourage a creativity rooted in the Indian ethos and in Indian languages. Starting more than six decades ago, the Bharatiya Jnanpeeth Trust has done commendable pioneering work in the publication of ancient Indian texts.

The Jnanpith Award was instituted in the early 1960s by Smt. Rama Jain to recognize the work of writers and poets in various Indian languages. It has over the years established itself as one of our nation's premier literary honours. It remains a tribute to the far-sightedness of both Shri Shanti Prasad Jain and his revered wife, Smt. Rama Jain. In more than four decades since its inception, the Jnanpith Award has given recognition to leading writers in many of our numerous national languages and brought their work to the wider public record. The award fulfills a very important role in presenting to the world the rich treasure house of writings contained in various Indian languages.

Literature and poetry give freedom to our imagination, they liberate us from stereotypes and narrow-minded thinking. They tell us more about our lives, our joys and our sorrows, and about ourselves than analysis and investigation alone can. Through literature we come face to face with the human condition. The impact of literature may not be immediate or direct, but it is far more enduring: literature has long been an agent of momentous changes in human history. It has moved societies, sparked revolutions, and lit the light of knowledge. In honouring authors and poets, we recognize not just achievement and accomplishment but we also celebrate the sensitivity, the richness, the creativity and the power of the human mind and human spirit.

Our good fortune is that we have a very rich tradition in literature and poetry going back many millennia. It is a living tradition and it is incumbent upon us to protect, research and enhance it. No society can consider itself complete if it has insufficient room for creativity.

Our schools and colleges are understandably focused on providing children and young men and women with the means to go forward in life, to make the most of their abilities, to play their role in society and grow up as responsible citizens of our free country. Sometimes I believe we do not pay enough attention to the humanities that, as the word implies, will help them grow up as better human beings. We should ensure that even as our youth learn skills and equip themselves for employment, they are not deprived of access to literature and poetry, and indeed to history, the visual and performing arts and to other forms and expressions of human creativity. This would make their education more complete.

I would also hope that the works of authors recognized by the Jnanpith Award can be made available through translations in other Indian languages to larger audiences. I recognize that it is often not possible to convey nuances and subtleties in translations. In poetry, for example, words have literal and implied meanings conveying differences that often do not bridge translation. But there is a need to reach out to people who may not be able to read the original work. We need to appreciate the creativity of one another, and of our different cultural and linguistic streams.

In recognizing the work of Shri Rahman Rahi Sahib, the Bharatiya Jnanpith Trust honours a celebrated poet who has made a profound contribution to the Kashmiri language and through it to the wealth of Indian literature. I must confess that I have not had the good fortune of being familiar with his work. Now that I have received the copies of his writings, I propose to rectify this deficiency. Having heard him speak, I am looking forward to the experience of going through his works. His body of work of over half a century is a many ways unique and the Jnanpith award testifies to his place - if testimony is needed, at all, in the galaxy of India's great contemporary writers and poets. Once again, I congratulate him on this momentous occasion and I thank the trustees for giving me the honour of being present at this very auspicious function."