The Department of English, Central university of Jammu, organized a two day National Seminar on ”Value Awareness and Aesthetics in Literary Criticism” in collaboration with Daya Krishna Academic Foundation at its Temporary Academic Block, Sainik Colony, Jammu here today.

Honorable Minister for Social Welfare, ARI and Trainings, Science and Technology, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, Jenab Sajad Gani Lone was the Chief Guest for the inaugural ceremony of the seminar while Prof. Ashok Aima Vice-Chancellor, Central University of Jammu presided over the seminar.

Speaking on the occasion, Hon’ble Minister Jenab Sajad Gani Lone lauded the effort of the university in organizing a seminar on this level and talked about the importance of philosophical interaction and the great heritage of aestheticism in the state, quoting Lal Ded. He added that Kashmir is called Peerver, the land of Peers. He added that universities could find ways of having both economic and spiritual value intact to each other. Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ashok Aima praised the Department for organizing the seminar and talked about how universities are stakeholders in generating a discourse required to meet current challenges in the state and the world at large.

Earlier, Prof. Deepshika Kotwal, Head, Department of English in her welcome address, welcomed the august gathering which included eminent academicians including Prof. Makarand R. Paranjape from the Center for English Studies, JNU, Prof .R.S.Bhatnagar President of Daya Krishna Academic Foundation and Prof. Asha Mukherjee, member of Daya Krishna Academic Foundation amongst other academicians, scholars, faculty and students.

Prof. Asha Mukherjee presented the theme note for the seminar and propounded on the initiatives of Daya Krishna foundation in its fourth National Seminar. Prof. Paranjape in his Key Note address talked about the role of beauty/ saundarya in Indian Aesthetic tradition, the relevance of aesthetics in contemporary criticism and highlighted the contribution of Prof. Daya Krishna in the field of Aesthetic Philosophy.

The seminar intends to debate upon the ‘war’ in literary theory, to study the dialectics between the traditions of aesthetics and politics in literature. India has a rich history of aesthetic tradition ranging from the Natyashastras, the works of Abhinavgupt and Kashmir Shaivism.

The first technical session was chaired by Prof. R.S.Bhatnagar and co-chaired by Prof. G.M.Khwaja. The academicians who presented papers in the first session were: Prof. T.N.Dhar on ‘Literature and Aesthetic: From the Classical to Modern’, Prof.R.C.Sinha on ‘Aesthetic Dimension of Daya Krishna’s Thought’, Dr.K.L.Chowdhury on ‘Aestheticism in Enchanting World of Infants- A self analysis’, Prof. G.R.Malik on ‘’Muslim Aesthetics: The Quranic Origin’, Dr. Roshan Lal Sharma on ‘Did Whitman know Sufism prior to the First Edition of Leaves of Grass(1855)? Envisioning Walt Whitman’s Poetic Universe in the Light of Sufi Aesthetics’, and Prof.Ananta Giri on ‘Integral Aesthetics and a New Purusartha and Poetics of Development: Art, Spirituality and Social Transformations’. The Vote of Thanks was presented by Prof. Raj Thakur, Department of English, Central University of Jammu.