Ladakh: In June this year, Kargil’s prominent Balti poet and writer Akhone Asgar Ali Basharat’s contributions to Balti language and literature were highly appreciated in Ladakh region.
Notably, the University of Ladakh in its inaugural convocation gave him honorary doctorate degree in recognition to his efforts for preserving and promoting cultural heritage of the region.
Balti is a vital part of the linguistic and cultural identity of the people of Ladakh, and his work will surely inspire future generations to explore and appreciate this rich heritage.
In 2022, the Government of India conferred Akhoon Ali with the Padma Shri, the third-highest award in the Padma series, for his distinguished service in literature and education. Basharat was surprised by the honor when he received the call about his nomination, admitting he had never expected such an award.
“Hard work and dedication is the only way one can succeed in life. I want to appeal to all the students and their parents to focus on education,” Basharat said.
The 72-year-old Basharat is an established and popular writer of Balti, a language spoken in Baltistan and Ladakh. His four-decade journey has made him a name not only in Ladakh region but also across Jammu and Kashmir.
He said he had no formal school or college education; instead, he received his early education in a madrassa, which taught Balti, Persian, and Arabic. It was established by his father in 1972 at their home in Karkitchoo village, 12 kms from Kargil town. The village is famous for apple, apricot and people here are mostly associated with agriculture.
It was with the efforts of his father Sheikh Ghulam Hussain, who was a well-known social and religious figure and an authority on religious education who guided Basharat.
“My father was an Islamic scholar who had also contributed to Balti literature. At that time people used to come to our home for education and my home was a school for me,” he said.
In 1965, a government school was set up in his village but he was not admitted there.
Basharat said his father wanted him to become an Islamic scholar but he was more interested in poetry and writing. “My father taught me Arabic and Persian,” he said.
“For nearly ten years, I read a lot of books and newspapers. I used to buy newspapers through which I learned Urdu and developed interest in writing,” he said.
Talking about the status of Urdu in Kargil, Basharat said students from Kargil are enrolled in various colleges and universities where they pursue Urdu courses.
In his more than 50 years of writing career, he authored four books and at home, he continues to write poetry. His poetry on apricot has been appreciated by people.
He published his first book in 2001 titled Bazm-e-Basharat, which includes poetry on all kinds of social issues and important national days and leaders.
In 2011, he published second book Guldasta-e-Basharat, a collection of poetry. His third book Waseel-e-Najaat, based on translations from Persian, was published in prose in 2006.
His fourth book named Aeena e Kargil (Reflections on Kargil) was published in 2022.
Born in an agriculture family, Basharat has also published a collection of poetry of old Balti poets including some works of Persian poets as well.
The Balti writer was a regular participant in the poetry recitation program of All India Radio’s Kargil station from the first day of its establishment in 1999.
He is a regular invitee to poetic symposiums in different parts of Jammu & Kashmir and to shows organised by Doordarshan Srinagar, J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, and other organizations.
At the radio station, he also worked as presenter and writer of many radio programs like Mehfil-e-Mushhira. Basharat is an expert in Balti language and renders his services to the J&K State Board of School Education (JKBOSE). This language is taught in some schools of Ladakh.
Interestingly, between 2016 and 2017, he was part of a committee that prepared the syllabus of JKBOSE for Balti language and Basharat also contributed a lot for that.
Under his supervision, the basic book on Balti language was compiled for NCERT which is used in learning the Balti language.
He is often invited to poetic symposiums in different parts of J&K and Ladakh. He attended shows on Doordarshan Srinagar and Leh, Cultural Academy J&K, Leh and Kargil.
In Balti language, he has also conducted Radio programs, dramas, features and novels on Television.
Balti language:
Balti is a Tibetic language natively spoken by the ethnic Balti people in the Baltistan region of Gilgit−Baltistan, Pakistan, Nubra Valley of Leh district and in Kargil district of Ladakh.
The language differs from Standard Tibetan. Many sounds of Old Tibetan that were lost in Standard Tibetan are retained in the Balti language.
It also has a simple pitch accent system only in multi-syllabic words while Standard Tibetan has a complex and distinct pitch system that includes tone contour.
Baltis with a total world population of 392,800 (Ethnologue 2020) are the original inhabitants of Baltistan, locally Baltyul, now partly administered by India and partly Pakistan.
In India Baltis are mainly settled in Kargil. Besides, few Balti families can be found in Pannad pargana of Tral, Madar and Papchen villages of district Bandipora and Chanderkot area of Ramban.
Baltis in India are facing a real existential threat at least in official figures. The Linguistic Census of India has put the number of Baltis in 2011 at 13,774 down from 20,053 in 2001 with a negative decadal growth of whopping 31.31%. The number of Baltis has been shown to be decreasing since 1981 when their number was 48,498.
