Saturday May 30, 2026 –
The two-day Kashmir Literature Festival-2026 got underway on Saturday at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre in Srinagar, with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha delivering a pointed inaugural address that called on writers, scholars and poets to serve as custodians of India’s authentic historical identity. Inaugurating the festival before a gathering of literary figures and cultural voices, the LG argued that creative work carries a civilisational weight that institutions with their bureaucratic apparatus frequently fail to match — a single well-crafted novel, he suggested, can move hearts and reshape consciousness in ways that crores of rupees spent by formal bodies cannot.
Sinha’s address took a decidedly ideological tone, urging the intellectual community to consciously break free from what he characterised as a “colonial mindset” and work toward reclaiming what he described as India’s real history. The remarks come at a moment when such themes resonate strongly in official discourse, and their articulation at a literary forum in Kashmir — a region with its own deeply contested historical narrative — is bound to generate discussion among writers and scholars in attendance.
The festival, which runs across two days, brings together authors, poets, journalists and thinkers for panels and conversations spanning culture, history and identity. Its setting at the SKICC on the banks of Dal Lake positions it as much a cultural statement about normalcy in the Valley as it is a literary event.
