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Nuclear tests cast a sombre shadow over Ali Sardar Jafri's finest moment

Presenting the 33rd Jnanpith award to noted Urdu writer Sardar Ali Jafri in New Delhi on Friday evening, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said India was a land of peace and would never wage war against anyone.

Responding directly to Sardar Jafri's expressed misgivings on a nuclear arms race in the subcontinent, Vajpayee said India had decided on the nuclear option only for self-defence and not for aggression.

''I hope leading intellectuals, sensitive writers and thinking people of this country will appreciate the reasons for this decision and give their support,'' he added.

Earlier, Sardar Jafri, in his thanksgiving speech said he was horrified at the idea of what would happen in case of a nuclear war. ''Humanity wants peace. Nuclear weaponry is the messenger of death. Mera nara roti aur kitab hai (my slogan is food and education),'' Sardar Jafri, a leading light of the progressive writers movement of the 1960s, declared to a cheering audience.

Sardar Jafri said he was particularly gratified to be receiving the Jnanpith award for 1997, as the year marked the 50th anniversary of Indian Independence and the 200th birth anniversary of Mirza Ghalib.

Appealing for official status to Urdu alongside Hindi, Sardar Jafri said the once-popular language had been the worst victim of the subcontinent's partition.

Besides presenting Sardar Jafri the Jnanpith award, which consists of a cash component, a citation, a shawl and a bronze replica of 'Vagdevi', Vajpayee also released a compilation of his writings entitled Mera Safar.

The prime minister was also presented a stamp commemorating three noted Bengali writers and former Jnanpith award winners by Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Swaraj said the ministry had decided to associate itself with the Jnanpith award by launching a philatelic series on these awardees since last year.

This year's stamp of Rs 2 commemorates Vishnu Dey, Tarashankar Bandopadhyay and Ashapurna Devi.

Sardar Jafri is the 35th Indian language writer, and the third writing in Urdu, to receive the Jnanpith award. The earlier Urdu winners were Firaq Gorakhpuri (1969) and Quarratulain Hyder (1989). On two occasions, the award was shared by two authors, taking the total number to 35 since the awards were instituted in 1965.

Sardar Jafri, born in 1913, was in the forefront of the freedom movement and his writings reflected the hope and aspirations of the young nation.

The Jnanpith citation said, ''The main theme of Ali Sardar Jafri's poetry is compassion, love and sensitivity, surviving among the callous inhumanity prevailing in our times. Avoiding the sophisticated aloofness and middle class inertia, his poems are a living and provocative document, steeped in relationships and alienations, as well as the joy and the sadness of life. With his marvellous artistry, he has depicted poetically the survival of the human spirit in the face of sorrow and oppression''.

Among the noted works of Sardar Jafri are Manzil, Nai Duniya ko Salaam , Patthar ki Deewar, Khoon ki Lakeer and his latest, November Mera Gahwara. He has nine books of verse, two plays, one collection of stories, one memoir-reportage and three collections of critical essays to his credit.

Besides Vajpayee, others present on the occasion were chairman of the selection board Karan Singh, members of the Ashok Jain family who have instituted the award, Sardar Jafri's wife Sultana Jafri, Union Human Resource Development Minister M M Joshi, Solicitor General Soli Sorabjee, Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh, Rajya Sabha member Shabana Azmi and noted writer Kaifi Azmi.

UNI

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