Dogri Drama Festival: A promise unfulfilled, artists left in lurch

‘A hoax call, Academy does not intend to promote Dogri on any platform’

JAMMU: Dogri has always found itself tethered to many evolving attempts to get due recognition whenever there has been an effort to bring it on the forefront of Jammu and Kashmir’s milieu. Be it its fight for an inclusion into the eighth schedule or the subject affected to be introduced in the education system, it has been hit by impediments and received backlash.
A similar situation has occurred as for the first time as the language was being brought into limelight through the art medium, that the system struck the bottleneck again.
Couple of months ago, Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages( JKAACL ) announced its first Dogri Drama Festival on the pattern of Kashmiri festival held in Kashmir to be included into the schedule; the process has been almost shelved, reasons known to none.
Academy announced the initiation of a process of holding of Dogri Theatre Festival, and for the conduct released offer advertisement to the potential theatre groups to submit scripts and relevant documents on time.
The plays were scheduled to be held in the month of March, but the process has failed to take up till now. Sources in the Academy inform that it was just a hoax call from the academy as it does not intend to promote Dogri on any platform. “The announcement of the Dogri festival by the academy was just for public consumption only,” said the sources.
When contacted the concerned official said that the festival got delayed due to indisposition of Secretary, JKAACL and the file has not moved forward. When further asked that the does the department works come to standstill due to indisposition of any official of the department, he had no answer to forward.
Meanwhile, various groups who had started rehearsals for the fest on their own expenses rue that it is general practice of the academy to put things on hold and let the artists suffer.
“All rehearsal, makeup, costumes, hall rent, refreshment and allied expenses have to be borne by the groups till the final performance of the play. Thereafter only the academy releases the funds which do not even suffice to the expenses borne through more than one month long rehearsals,” said one of the senior theatre directors.
He also said that for its own comfort, the academy has raised an elephantine structure entitled ‘Writers’ Club’ which is wholly occupied by the Academy employees while artists are denied provision for small space for rehearsing and allied activities.

Updated On 4/30/2024 2:45:31 AM