Art has always been a form of expression and we’re no stranger to the ‘tortured artist’. Now yet another tortured artist writing under the pseudonym Zikr-e-Jaana tells the tale of his suffering through his poems.
A Kashmir poet, writing under pseudonym Zikr-e-Jaana, started his lockdown series after the abrogation of Article 370 last year.
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The series ‘The Holy Sin’ narrates the suffering of the Kashmiri people since the disputed region was stripped of its autonomy last year. The Valley has been under complete lockdown, accompanied by a communications blackout ever since.
A year after not hearing a word from the Valley, we finally get a glimpse of ‘The Holy Sin‘. The Gulf News posted pictures of fractions of Zikr-e-Jaana’s work.
The series includes a few poems all reflecting a range of emotions. His poem ‘Map of Exile‘Â Zikr-e-Jaana takes about knowing his identity regardless of whether a map acknowledges it or not.
The series keep getting grimmer as we move on another poem ‘Nasheman‘. It talks about the displaced ‘refugees of war’ and abandoned homes.
‘Unsaid‘ seems to journal the account of censorship as Kashmir remains in lockdown. The poet talks about all that is left unsaid.
Some of the poems are so hard-hitting they will tear you up. Like ‘War Ask a Questions to The Unburied Fathers‘ is a heavier dose of reality than most can handle.
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‘The Holy Sin‘ progresses in a way that it documents the horrors and sentiments of as the plight of the Kashmiri people continues in Occupied Kashmir. ‘The Lunar Calender‘ talks about how Eid went by in lockdown.
In the end, the melancholy continues as Zikr-e-Jaana holds on to hope while peering at a tear-streaked future.
