Lauding Kashmiri poet Ghulam Ahmad Mahjoor, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday said the revolutionary poet should have been honoured many years ago while Congress chief Sonia Gandhi stressed how he had delivered his message of brotherhood in the common's man language.
Releasing a commemorative postage stamp in the poet's honour, the prime minister said Kashmir was known as the heaven on Earth not just because of its geographical beauty, but by "great spiritual personalities" who furthered "universal values those glorify human virtues".
"I will briefly mention just two great personalities of Kashmir - Lalla Arifa or Lallashwari and Sheikh Nuruddin Wali, who are the champions of the soul of Kashmir and Kashmiriyat.
"If I say the heart of Kashmir beats with these two great personalities, I would not be wrong. It is because of the spiritual and moral education of such great personalities that during most difficult times in history, Kashmiris have created examples of communal harmony," Manmohan Singh said in his speech delivered in chaste Urdu.
"In 1947 also, Kashmiris did not lose their balance and did not allow the candle of their brotherhood to be extinguished. This was the reason that despite the all pervasive darkness, the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi saw a ray of hope in Kashmir.
"In such difficult times, poets, men of letters and intellectuals have also discharged their role very well. In this respect, poet Ghulam Ahmad Mahjoor was in the forefront. It is because of his great services that Mahjoor was known as the national poet of Kashmir," he said, calling it a "moment of pride" for him and his government by honouring him with a special postage stamp.
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In her address, Gandhi said Mahjoor was a great example of the country's great tradition and a social reformer of his times.
"Mahjoor's contribution has been significant and it is because of his great contribution that he is known as the poet of Kashmir. He had progressive ideas and through his verses he delivered a message of universal brotherhood.
"He had the capacity to deliver his message in a language the common man understood well and for this reason, Rabindra Nath Tagore had called him the 'Wordsworth of Kashmir'," she said in her speech delivered in Hindi.