Srinagar, Jun 22: Scores of people Friday attended the fatiha khwani observance on the fourth day of the demise of one of the tallest figures of Kashmir literature, author and columnist, Ghulam Nabi Gauhar, who had passed away Monday night at his residence in Kralpora, Srinagar.
The attendees, which included prominent civil society members, social and political activists, literary figures and his friends and admirers, prayed for the departed soul and condoled with the deceased’s family.
Gauhar, who was a regular contributor to The Kashmir Monitor, had been unwell for some time now. He was suffering from kidney failure and had been on dialysis.
An extraordinary social and literary activist, Gauhar had been almost confined to his house because of his poor health.
In Gauhar’s demise, Kashmir lost one of its tallest scholars, intellectuals and a great literary personality.
Author of scores of books on literature and politics, Gauhar was an authority on the philosophy of Hazrat Sheik-ul-Aalam Noorudin Wali (RA).
Besides his contribution to cultural literature, he served in the Judiciary as a judicial officer to the best of his ability and judgment.
Gauhar was a legendary writer who penned down very popular books on different topics, from Rishi philosophy of Kashmir founded by Sheikh Noorudin Wali (RA) to the political history of Kashmir that also discussed on detail the oppression and suppression of Kashmiris in different eras including the current one.
He had the distinction of being one of the few Kashmir writers who would express their opinion in Urdu, Kashmiri, English and Persian.
Besides writing novels in Kashmiri language, he also authored several books in English, mostly political in nature.
He was awarded with the prestigious Sahitya Akadami award for his Kashmiri novel Pap te Pun in 1989 and was the recipient of several other awards from cultural and literary organisations, both from within and outside.
Apart from penning down around 60 books in Kashmiri, Urdu, and English languages, he has also written extensively about the Sufi saint Sheikh ul Alam (RA).
Most widely held works by Gauhar sahib include: Arge-Ashud, Hazratbal: the central stage of Kashmir politics, Sheikh Noor-ud-din Wali (Nund Rishi), Military operation in Kashmir: insurgency at Charar-e-Sharief, Life and works of Abdul Ahad Azad, Kashmir mystic thought, Elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Mujrim, and a novel ‘Torch Bearer: In Dark Circles’ that was published by Raider Publishing International, New York, London and Cape Town and was acclaimed world over.
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