Mehbooba Mufti seeks Amit Shah’s intervention to revive J&K’s cultural sector

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has sought Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s intervention to revive and strengthen Jammu and Kashmir’s cultural sector, urging the Centre to provide dedicated funding for local programming on Doordarshan and Akashvani, particularly DD Kashir, and ensure sustained institutional support for the region’s struggling artistic community.

In a letter to Shah, Mehbooba highlighted the role of artists, musicians, writers, filmmakers and other cultural practitioners in preserving Jammu and Kashmir’s rich heritage, describing them as custodians of its diverse traditions and ambassadors of its composite cultural identity.

She called for adequate and dedicated funding to enable DD Kashir and Akashvani Kendras to regularly commission and broadcast quality programmes showcasing the region’s local languages, folk traditions, music, literature, theatre and cinema.

Emphasising the need to secure dignified and sustainable livelihoods for those working in the cultural sector, Mehbooba urged the Union Ministry of Culture and other central cultural institutions to introduce targeted programmes and financial initiatives that provide consistent opportunities for local talent.

“Supporting our artists and strengthening our cultural institutions is not merely a cultural responsibility; it is an investment in India’s cultural unity, national integration and the preservation of our rich civilisational heritage,” she wrote in the letter.

Mehbooba also forwarded copies of the letter to the Union Ministers for Information and Broadcasting and Culture, seeking coordinated intervention to strengthen cultural institutions in Jammu and Kashmir.