27. kashmir's freedom movement, a history

8/14/2019 27. Kashmir's Freedom Movement, A History

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Afghanistan >vho were ousted from Kashmir by the Sikhs of the Punjab in 1819. Sikhsruled Kashmir for 27 years until 1846 when they were defeated by the British with thesecret help of Raja Gulab Singh, an influential, powerful and shrewd member of Sikhcabinet. Gulab Singh, not a Sikh as his surname suggests but a Dogra Hindu, was also theRaja of Jammu. This position had also been given to him earlier by the Sikhs. Seven days

after the defeat of the Sikhs, which brought Kashmir under British control, the Britishsold Kashmir along with its inhabitants to Gulab Singh, like a commercial commodityfor a sum of Rs. 7.5 million to be paid in instalments. This sale of land with human

beings and with a right given to the purchaser to treat the residents of the land as cattle,was brought about under the ignominious Treaty of Amritsar of March 16, 1846. Themain purpose of the sale was to reward Gulab Singh for his treacherous help to theBritish against his own masters.

Gulab Sindh and his successors ruled Kashmir with an iron hand. The ruler was a Hinduwhereas about 80 per cent of the population was Muslim who bore the main brunt of thedespotic rule. They did raise voices against the tyranny but they proved cries in the

wilderness until 1924 when they did cross the state boundaries. By 1931, Muslimeducated youth, planned to start a movement for their rights. For that purpose a few youthfrom Jammu had come to Srinagar.

One day in the last week of June 1931 the youth leaders from Jammu and Srinagar had a big public meeting in Srinagar in which it was decided to send a delegation to the ruler toconvey the gric\ anccs of the people to him. Towards the end of the meeting, one AbdulQadcer, and Indian Muslim who happened to be watching the proceedings of themeetings, rose up and delivered a fiery speech saying that h was no use begging for rights. He called upon Kashmiris to rise in open revolt against the despotic ruler. Hereceived loud applause from the audience. The Stale authorities arrested him the samenight. His arrest charged the atmosphere and people became restive. The programme of sending the delegation to the ruler was.ajso cancelled.

On July 13, 1931, Abdul Qadeer was to be produced in the court. Apprehending troublefrom the people, it was decided at the eleventh hour that court proceedings be held withinthe prison premises, thousands of people rushed towards Central Jail.. Some

tried to push their way into the prison premises. Feeling under pressure due to presence of thousands of slogan-chanting people, the authorities called in the army which startedfiring indiscriminately immediately after reaching there. Twenty-two persons were killedon the spot and scores more injured. All the dead had received bullets in their chests or faces which spoke a lot about the popular sentiments at the time. Thinking that thingsmight get out of control, the government imposed Martial Law. The dead were buried in aground in the centre of the city the next day and the graveyard named as Mazar-e-Shohada (martyrs graveyard) which has since been inspiring Kashmiris and strengtheningthe popular aspirations for freedom. The incident of July 13, 1931 proved a turning pointin the political history of Kashmir. Within a short time the first political party of Kashmiris Muslims came into being. A commission was appointed to report about thegenuine grievances of the people. A Legislative Assembly was established within three


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years of the incident and the freedom movement continued getting stronger and stronger.But in 1947, when Kashmiris were knocking 3.* the very doors of freedom from despoticDogra rule after the British had quit the Sub-Continent, they, like the proverbial fish thathad struggled its way out of the frying pan but had fallen into the fire, were pounced upon

by a bigger monster in the shape of free India. Nevertheless, Kashmiris freed about one-

third of their homeland from Indian yoke but the rest still remains under forcedoccupation of India. Unfortunately, the leaders of the freed areas, bulk of which, Gilgit-Baltistan, are under direct control of Pakistan and the rest as a semi-independent territory,also failed to perform their duties towards their national emancipation.

History of Kashmir and of Kashmir issue since 1947 is too well known to be narratedhere in detail. In short, it is a sad and shameful story of broken promises, dishonoured

pledges, baseless and misdirected steps on the part of Pakistan; of extreme selfishnessand short-sightedness on the part of most Kashmiri leaders and of double standards andapathy towards its duties concerning human rights, on the part of internationalcommunity in general and the United Nations in particular. For 40 long years after 1947,

Kashmiris tried peacefully to persuade India to honour her pledges of conceding to themtheir right of self-determination but failed. As such they decided to resort to the onlyalternative available to them, i.e., armed freedom struggle and started it in 1988 under the

banner of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). 114 Emporium Current Essays

November 6: Jammu Martyrs Day

November 6, the blackest day in the history of Kashmir liberation movement, is beingobserved this year amidst India's inhuman record of repression in the Held Kashmir andits hectic attempts to get permanent membership of the Security Council.

The history of Jmnmu Martyrs Day (November 6) goes back to 1947 when the BritishGovernor-General, Lord Mounlbatten, approved the document on Jammu and Kashmir state's accession to India and landing of Indian forces at the Srinagar air base on October 27,1947 that provoked the Muslims of Jammu who revolted against the decision. TheDogra army launched an anti-Muslim operation attacking the surrounding villages of Jammu. Fifteen thousand Mujahideen laid down their Jives in Akhnore is a single day. Another 25,000 Muslims embraced martyrdom in Mirau Saheb. The same exercise wasrepeated in. Kathua and other places.

Thousands of Muslim women and girSs were abducted and molested. On the other side,the Muslim of Poonch also rose up. Maharaja Tara Devi ordered the Hindus and the Sikhto stop water and power supplies to the Muslims of Jammu city who were checking theDogra army with batons, lathis, swords and homemade bombs. The situation persisted inthe city until it was announced on November 5 that the Muslims should lay down their arms and assemble at the Platoon Ground for transportation to Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims left their homes and hearths and assembled at the parade ground.They were loaded on


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70 trucks and taken to Kathua Road to be slaughtered. They included prominentintellectuals, professors, doctors, engineers and politicians as well as the family of Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas.

Another caravan, which left on Thursday, the 6th of November, just avoided being

massacred. More than a hundred girls were abducted and raped. The report of the avertedmassacre was concealed from the people of the state until Shaikh Mahmood Abdullah,who had been installed as the head of the puppet administration, reached Jammu and theinjured Muslims were taken to the Dagiana Camp.

The fact remains that it was the most tragic incident of the1947 violence and Pundit Jawahar Lai Nehru himself said, "I am

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socked over the incidents that occurred in early November. A

caravan on the Muslims, on fts way from Jammu, was attacked by

I non-Muslims. The security forces did not discharge their duty

(honestly. But I want to make it clear that none of our units was

^present and we have no connection with the incident." In spite of the

I admission, Nehru distorted facts at the behest of the Indian

| government and the army and the state Muslims were wiped out

under a pre-planned conspiracy. The Sanghis and Sikhs, who took

part in the operation, were Awarded cash prizes and medals.

Earlier, during the siege of the city, the Indian forces shot at the

Muslims and the Indian Air Force dropped bombs on the Muslim

village. The Editor of Calcutta-based English daily The Statesman,

writes in his book, Honed Moon, that by the autumn of 1947, the

I populace of 500,000 Muslims had been completely eliminated. Of

I them, over 300,000 were wiped out while the rest took refuge in the


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I Pakistani Punjab.

27. kashmir's freedom movement, a history

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