Akhone Asgar Ali Basharat

Akhone Asgar Ali Basharat

Akhone Asgar Ali Basharat is a writer and poet who was born in the Kargil region of India’s Union Territory of Ladakh. The ethnic Balti people speak the Balti language, a Tibetic language, in the Baltistan region of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, the Nubra Valley in the Leh district, and the Kargil district of Ladakh, India. His father established a madrassa at his home in 1972, where he acquired his early education instead of attending a traditional school or college. The pupils in the madrassa received instruction in the Balti, Persian, and Arabic languages. His initial compositions were naat (poetry glorifying the Islamic prophet Muhammad) and maqamat, which he began writing about in 1980.

Who is Akhone Asgar Ali Basharat?

Akhone Asgar Ali Basharat has consistently taken part in the poetry recitation programme on All India Radio’s Kargil station since the station’s establishment in 1999. He routinely receives invitations to poetry readings organised by the J&K Academy of Art, Culture, and Languages, Doordarshan Srinagar, and other organisations around Jammu and Kashmir. He was selected to receive the Padma Shri award in 2022 in recognition of his work to revive and promote the Balti language.

• The novels written by Akhone Asgar Ali Basharat (all in the Balti language) include:
• A poetry anthology called Guldastae Bashara (2002) 
• Based on translations from Persian, Waseelai Najaat (2006) 
• Poetry anthology Bazme Basharat (2011) 
• Reflections on Kargil, or Arena e Kargil (to appear)