Hectic lobbying underway to grab top post in Academy

Politicians pushing sycophants, nincompoops; 26 submit CVs to Taing panel

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Sep 12: With politicians of different hues pushing their favourites, including those who have ruined institutions of culture and media in the last several years, as many as 26 aspirants have submitted their biodata to a search committee that has been assigned to select a suitable incumbent to head Jammu & Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture & Languages. The top executive slot in Academy has fallen vacant with the superannuation of Zaffar Iqbal Manhas on August 31^st.

Even as his mentors in politics and bureaucracy have failed to win him an extension to service, Zaffar Iqbal has been asked by the government to continue in his chair till the appointment of new Secretary of Academy. Failure to develop the primary Kashmiri and Dogri sections, 9-year-long unjustified freeze in publishing 5^th volume of Encyclopedia Kashmiriana, besides nepotism and recruitments through dubious means, have reportedly weighed heavy and tilted balance against the incumbent Secretary.

In the last week of August, Government constituted a five-member search committee to find new Secretary for Cultural Academy. MLC Mohammad Yousuf Taing, who has served as Secretary of Academy and Director General of Culture, Archaelogy, Gazeteers, Museums and Libraries for nearly 25 years before joining active politics in 1998, was appointed as head of the panel. Commissioner-Secretary General Administration Department (GAD), Mohammad Sayeed Khan, Commissioner-Secretary incharge Culture, Atul Duloo, besides the tallest literary personalities in Kashmiri and Dogri, namely Professor Rehman Rahi and Neelambar Dev Sharma, were appointed as members of the committee.

As soon as the search committee was constituted, a number of government officials and litterateurs began furnishing their CVs to Mr Taing and other members. Well-placed sources disclosed that until recently heads of two rival factions of J&K Pradesh Congress Committee, namely Prof Saifuddin Soz and Ghulam Nabi Azad, had been supporting one aspirant each. However, both have reportedly made it clear to the political establishment in the last few weeks that they would not support this couple of officials who had “ruined the academy beyond limits” in the last six years.

Yet another official, who has also thrown his hat in the ring, has also begun to mobilize his supporters, including a PDP MLA from Bandipore. However, his proximity to the tainted incumbents in the last several years, manipulating awards and swindling funds of Sahitya Academy besides being “simply a higher secondary lecturer” have all emerged as his disqualifications. Even bureaucracy has pointed out that a junior official, not even holding the post of an Under Secretary to Government, could not be appointed for a prestigious position that has been manned either by Additional Secretaries/ Special Secretaries to Government or top litterateurs and activists like Taing and Balwant Thakur.

Literary and cultural circles in Jammu have begun to emphasise that under the pattern of a ‘rotation”, someone from Dogri Literature, Art or Theatre should be appointed as Secretary now. “After two Secretaries from Jammu (Balwant Thakur and Ramesh Mehta), two from Kashmir (Rafeeq Masoodi and Zaffar Iqbal) held the post. Now two more should be picked up, one after another, from Jammu”, said a noted playwright from Jammu. However, one of his counterparts in Valley asserted that third one should also be a Kashmiri. He counted three previous Jammunites as Prof Rita Jitendra, Balwant Thakur and Ramesh Mehta.

Some circles in bureaucracy, reportedly supported by Minister incharge Tourism and Culture, are said to be insisting that someone from Ladakh should also get a chance. They point out that nobody from Ladakh has headed the Academy in the last nearly 55 years.

If informed sources are to be believed, 26 of the aspirants, who include a number of different politicians’ sycophants and nincompoops, are building pressure on the search committee. They reportedly include a former Director of Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar who has been lately removed and shifted to Delhi on account of his unprecedented indulgence in corruption and sycophancy of politicians. He is a contender despite having served a term as Secretary of Academy in the past. The official is facing serious charges of corruption and CBI is currently investigating two FIRs against him.

Sources said that the search committee would only shortlist names and prepare a panel of four names. The incumbent would be finally picked up by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in his capacity as President of Cultural Academy.

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