Rajeshwar Singh ‘Raju’
Book Name: LOK NAYAK MIAN DEEDO
Author: Prakash Premi
Pages: 81
Cost: Rs 450
Year of Publication: 2023
Publisher: Prakash Premi C/o Rachnakar, Kala Sahitya Akademi, Udhampur
MIAN DEEDO is an eminent folk hero of Duggar Pradesh. He was born in the family of Mian Hazari at Village Jagti, about 13 kms from Jammu city in 1780 and his Karambhumi was entire Duggar Pradesh. He went against all odds and fought with mighty rulers of his times. For his immense courage and nationalism he is remembered as a freedom fighter who was never prepared to make compromise with invaders and accede to their supremacy on his motherland. Although he became a victim of selfish politics and remained unsung for a long time but time has its own cycle and after the inhabitants were blessed with democracy, the freedom of speech inspired the littereatuers to pen down the sacrifices of Mian Deedo, a folk hero and a proud Dogra. If Dogras are well known as warriors across globe for their implausible audacity recorded in the pages of history then the credit goes to great personalities like Mian Deedo who have preferred to sacrifice their lives rather than succumbing to any pressure at the stake of sovereignty while protecting their land from the invaders. This book is in fact an accolade by veteran littereateur Prakash Premi in the honour of real warrior of Duggar Pradesh.
About author:
Prakash Premi is a veteran Dogri, Hindi writer and Sanskrit scholar. He was born on August 16th’ 1943 at village Kasuri, Ser Manjhla, Tehsil Ramnagar, District Jammu of erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir in the family of Pt. Beli Ram Sharma and Pessro Sharma and is M.A in Hindi, Sanskrit & Dogri and B.Ed. Prabhakar. He has 23 books to his credit prior to this one that include 13 original works and 10 translations. His major works include TRUMBA, a collection of comic and satire articles, EK KOTHA DAS DWAR, a collection of dogri short stories, BEDHAN DHARTI DI, an epic for which he was awarded prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 1987, LALKAAR and MAN GASSE SATRANGI PEENGAN, collections of poetry in dogri, GEETEN DA BANZARA, a collection of Dogri lyrics, monographs on Prof. Shiv Nirmohi and Prof. Madan Mohan Sharma, associate writer in SWAMI NITYANAND_ a biography, MERI NAZAR ICH and GULDASTA, collections of critiques, AMAR BALIDAAN, a Khand Kavya in dogri and ANTARPRAKASH, a collection of bhajans from Sanskrit. In addition to these he has also translated monographs of NIRALA and RAMDHARI SINGH DINKAR from Hindi to Dogri, APNI DAFLI APNA RAAG_ a dogri play, GAAS OPRA DHARAT BEGANI_ A dogri novel and SANCTION, a collection of Dogri short stories in Hindi, SAME DI DENG NEI SONA, a collection of Telugu poetry in dogri, ANTRAPRAKASH Volme-1, 2 & 3 and BALKATHA SHATAK 1,2,3,4 from Sanskrit to Dogri and MADHI DA DEEYA, a punjabi novel into Dogri for which he was awarded with prestigious Translation award by Sahitya Akademi New Delhi.
About Book:
LOK NAYAK MIAN DEEDO is an important addition to rich Dogri literature for many reasons. It is an Ekarth Kavya written in 6 parts and connects the supreme sacrifice made by local hero with historical references of Prithviraj Chowhan, Maharana Pratap and Shivaji thus signifying that a similar warrior hailed from this part of India also, who loved his motherland most and was never prepared to succumb to supremacy of Sikhs, the invaders. At the same time the references of the historical characters like Vibhishan, Ambi and Jai Chand is a satire on the similar characters here, who were indulged in treacheries for their selfish petty gains at the stake of nationalism.
In 1819 Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab had annexed Kashmir and made it a part of his Sikh empire. The inhabitants of Jammu region were forced to live a miserable life because of the atrocities of administration here. Mian Deedo had raised strong voice against it and sycophants were waiting for an opportunity to take revenge. Maharaj Ranjit Singh had passed a law that no one could have possession of a white hawk except Lahore Darbar. But Mian Deedo had white hawk which was also dragged in the conflict after same got reported to Maharaja. But he was a brave man and threats of establishments could not destabilize him. He was not ready to part with his hawk which irked the rulers and toadies succeeded in their evil designs.
Although Mian Deedo suffered from the conspiracies hatched by evil forces at that time but like a real hero he preferred to sacrifice himself for the sake of his motherland and thus immortalized himself. Even after years of his sacrifice, the inhabitants of this pious land still remember him as their folk hero, a symbol of self-pride and crusader of a movement to safeguard motherland.
It is pertinent to add here that writing a kavya is a tough task but Prakash Premi is known to make colossal contributions in literature. It’s a blessing that we have a littereateur, who is always thinking creatively for the promotion of mother tongue and enrich dogri literature with the result Dogri Literature stands at par with quality literature being written in other regional languages.
If we talk of this kavya, then it is a special one because it is first of its kind and highlights the contributions of a folk hero, who is also decorated as Guerrilla General for guerilla war against Sikh rule. It is not unfair to admit that he did not get recognized to that extent what he actually deserved and the conflicts with ruling class may be a reason for it. Although he derived much affection from masses and became a prominent character of folk lores , still only a couple of writers could gain courage to pen down his story and non- availability of much historical data may also be a reason for disinterest shown by writers later on as readymade material is preferred by many writers. It’s quite ironic but a harsh reality. However Prakash Premi is known to go deep into the facts and figures and make a thorough research before giving words to his thoughts. He knows that what will come out of his creative writing will become a history. We may say that this book is historical document through quality literature, a unique contribution. It is a literary tribute to historical character, the folk hero of Duggar Pradesh.
Dr. Om Goswami, an eminent Dogri and Hindi writer of the soil in his preface to the book has discussed the style of Prakash Premi’s writing in detail and defined it as colourful portrait of freedom fighter. The language used is pure and shows the command of veteran poet who has been an encyclopedia of Dogri language. This book like his early works offers an opportunity to the readers to enjoy a journey through the interiors of Duggar Pradesh holding the thread of language thus getting proud feeling of richness that the sweet language carries. The cover page designed by Pankaj Kumar is very attractive and carries portrait of Mian Deedo. This 81 pages book is strongly recommended to literature lovers who wish to go through classical literature written in Dogri language and realize that this pious land is blessed with littereateurs, we may feel proud of.
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