Srinagar: Noted poet and first Kashmiri Jnanpith awardee Rehman Rahi passed away at his residence in Srinagar on Monday. The nimaz-e-Jinazah of the deceased is being held at 1:45 pm after Zuhr prayers near the shrine of Khwaja Habibullah Nowshehri (RA).
His death has been widely condoled by people from different sections of society, especially the literary circles. Calling Rahi’s death a great loss to the Kashmiri language and literature, President of the Halqua e Adab Sonawari (HAS), Shakir Shafi has remembered the close association of Prof Rahi with Halqua e Adab Sonawari.
‘Prof Rahi has always been of great support to the organisation. He has rarely missed any major events of the organisation and would always ensure his presence on Prof Mohi ud Din Hajini Day. His magnificent absence in such events would be badly missed by all of us and his fans’. All the senior members and literary persons associated with the organisation have expressed their condolences with the bereaved family and prayed for the departed soul.
A celebrated Kashmiri poet, Rahi was born in Srinagar in 1925. A Master’s in Persian and English, Rahi was first appointed at the Persian department of the University of Kashmir. In 1977, he founded the university’s Kashmiri department and was associated with it till his retirement in 1983. He remained Professor Emeritus at the university. While Rahi was associated with the progressive writers movement and was the general secretary of the Progressive Writers Association, he was also influenced by the poet Allama Iqbal.
Prof Rehman Rahi was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1961 for his poetry collection Nawroz-i-Saba, the Padma Shri in 2000 and India’s highest literary award, the Jnanpith Award (for the year 2004) in 2007. He is the first Kashmiri writer to be awarded the Jnanpith, India’s highest literary award for his poetic collection Siyah Rood Jaeren Manz (In Black Drizzle). He was honored with Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 2000 by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.
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