 “History is the vital Magistrate that passes the Judgementâ€Â
By Engineer Hilal Ahmad War
Martyrs’ Day is an annual day observed by nations to salute the sacrifices of those bravehearts who sacrificed their lives defending the sovereignty of their nations from the alien rule. Martyrs’ Day is the historic day that crowns the sacrifice of martyrs. The 1931 Martyrs’ Day is not only a seminal mark in our history but also an important event in the global history of the people’s struggle. Many historians believe Kashmir freedom struggle has its roots in the partition of British India, but they forget that our freedom struggle is eighty two years old. They have distorted history by suppressing facts and events. However, the issue of Kashmir between India and Pakistan was born with the independence of United British India on 14/15 August 1947.
The history of Dogra rule (1846-1947) in Kashmir is the history of slavery, injustice, subjugation, tyranny for the people of Kashmir. During Dogra rule, the life was made so miserable for the Muslims that it was difficult to differentiate them from beasts. Maharaja Hari Singh’s army used Kashmiri Muslims for transportation of goods across the far-flung areas instead of donkeys and horses. Sir Walter Lawrence in his renowned book, The India We Served, wrote: ‘Army was employed in forcing the villagers to plough and sow, and worse still, the soldiers came at harvest time and when the share of the state had been seized and there was very little grain to tide the unfortunate peasants over the cruel winter.’
Under the tyrannical regime, political rights had no place; even the religious rights had been denied to the Muslims of the state.
It was in 1926 when Kashmiri Pandits launched all Kashmiri Pandit Association for safeguarding their rights. Meanwhile, the Muslim community led by Molvi Mohammad Abdullah, Khawaja Ghulam Nabi Gilkar also applied for
the registration of all Kashmiri Muslim Uplift Association, which was granted by Dogra administration reluctantly. The main aim of the association was to seek education and government jobs for Muslim community. For his mission, Gilkar Sahab obtained the support of Khwaja Abdul Ghani Nengro and Khwaja Ghulam Hasan Saboon and a few other educated young men. The association obtained the patronage of Maulana Ahmad Ullah Hamadani and opened about several night schools for Muslim education. The Maharaja had to enact the State Subject Law in 1927 reserving all State Government jobs for the original residents of the State besides forbidding sale, purchase or possession of immovable property by non-state subjects.
Emergence of Reading Room Party
Maharaja Hari Singh occupied the throne of Jammu and Kashmir in the year 1925. He was an absolute autocrat and did not grant any fundamental or political rights to his subjects. It was his deliberate policy to place the Muslim community, which constituted a total 85% of Jammu and Kashmir, in a state of utter illiteracy, so that they would not become conscious of their civil, political and fundamental human rights. However, some Muslim families were fortunate enough to impart education to their sons who started to take notice of the injustice and discriminatory treatment, accorded to the majority Community. Consequently, a group of conscious persons belonging to such families made a representation to him for the grant of civil, educational and political rights to Muslim community also and liberate them from injustice and discriminatory treatment in government services and other public welfare programs. At the same time, a group of energetic and educated young men established Reading Room Club which assumed the shape of a political party and came to be known as Reading Room Party (RRP) in Feteh Kadal, Srinagar, with Sheikh Abdullah as its head to awaken the youth about their fundamental human rights. The Reading Room Movement espoused the cause of the educationally and economically backward Muslim community. The Reading Room Party served the purpose of preparing the ground for a political campaign against the injustice and suppressive policies of Maharaja Hari Singh.
The sentiments of Common people of Kashmir, against Maharaja Hari Singh, received encouragement due to the public statement made by one of his Ministers, Sir Albion Benerji (a Bengali Christian) who exposed the sectarian and despotic character of the Dogra Ruler, of that time. He stated that large Muslim populations were governed like cattle, the press was nonexistent and economic conditions were appalling. Along with this statement, he announced his resignation from the cabinet of Maharaja in pursuance of the dictates of his conscience. The Reading Room Party was joined by the Punjabi Muslim intellectuals of Jammu Region. The Reading Room Party became the foundation of the Kashmir freedom struggle.
Abdul Qadeer Khan, Hero of 1931 Mass Uprising
Consequently, a big gathering was organized by RRP on 21 June 1931, at Khanqah-e-Moula, which is a highly venerated shrine of the great Muslim saint, popularly known as Hazrat Shah-e-Hamdan. The gathering was a formal inauguration of the freedom movement in Kashmir. The main purpose of this meeting was to elect a representative body of Kashmiri Muslims in order to submit a memorandum of their grievances and demands to Maharaja Hari Singh. This was suggested by Political Minister of the Maharaja, Mr. G.C.E. Wakefield. Eleven representatives were nominated, seven from valley and four from Jammu. The prominent and influential personalities elected were, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, Khawaja Saad-ud-Din Shawl , Mirwaiz Mohammad Yousuf Shah, Chaudhary Ghulam Abbas (Jammu)), Mirwaiz Atiq-ullah Hamadani and Aga Syed Hussain Shah Jallali . In this historic gathering, a Pathan from Northeast Frontier Province of British India, Abdul Qadeer ( a cook), spoke against the Maharaja. He asked people to fight for their fundamental rights and pointing his finger to Maharaja’s palace, raised slogans “ : ‘destroy its every brick’. The result was he was arrested on June 25, 1931 and prosecuted, on the charges of sedition, in the court of Sessions Judge. With the accusation of sedition, he was arrested. Abdul Qadir was to be tried in the court but due to large public resentment, the court was shifted to Central Jail, Srinagar.
Event of July 13, 1931- Mass uprising in Kashmir
The event of July 13, 1931, was the beginning of an organized and mass uprising against the despotic and alien ruler of J & K State, Maharaja Hari Singh. This day has its own importance in the annals of Kashmir History. On this historic day, during the course of a hearing in the Sessions Court, against Abdul Qadeer Khan, a large crowd assembled outside the main gate of Srinagar Central Jail. The crowd besides demanding permission to watch the proceedings was shouting slogans to end the autocratic Dogra rule and was demanding withdrawal of the sedition case against the Abdul Qadeer Khan and other accused, and their immediate release, along with other protestors who were arrested by the Royal Dogra Soldiers. This resulted in pitched battles between people and armed Royal Dogra Soldiers. The angry and infuriated mob resorted to pelting stones on the Dogra soldiers who were cane-charging the mob. When the news of this battle reached the prisoners, they got agitated and started shouting slogans inside the jail. When the time for obligatory prayer of Zuhr (the afternoon prayers) approached, a brave young man stood for azaan ( the call for prayer). On the instructions of Maharaja, Governor Rai Zada Tartilok Chand ordered Royal Dogra Army to open fire at him. When he got martyred, another young man took his place and started the azaan. He was also shot dead. In this way, 22 Kashmiris achieved martyrdom in their efforts to complete the azaan. This cold blooded massacre gave birth to a new revolution.
The news of indiscriminate firing and brutal killing, spread in every nook and corner of the capital city of Srinagar. A flood of angry people marched on the streets, raising slogans against despotic rule of Maharaja and his suppressive policies. They carried the bodies of the martyrs in processions and ultimately in the premises of the great and revered shrine of the Muslim Saint, Khawaja Bahaw-ud-Din Naqshbandi, in Srinagar City, which got the name Mazar-e-Shuhda (the martyr’s graveyard). Since then, July 13, is being observed as the Martyrs’ Day annually by the people on both sides of the control line and other parts of world by the Kashmiri diaspora. The tragic day is a milestone in the history of Kashmiri struggle against foreign occupation which still continues under the Indian rule. The atrocities against the Kashmiri Muslims did not stop even after the partition of India. The human rights record of Indian government in the occupied Kashmir has been terrible and is characterized by arbitrary arrests, torture, rape and extrajudicial killings. The day is also a message for Indian Rulers that if the people of Kashmir did not bow down before the tyranny of Dogra rule, how they would succumb to the despotic Indian rule. July 13, 1931 is not simply a day of remembrance but a day of an idea for Kashmiri people, The idea of freedom from subjugation, freedom from occupation, freedom from enslavement and freedom from tyranny. Moreover, it gives us a universal message that the fight for human rights is just and right.
The author is Chairman People’s Political Party (PPP); he can be reached at pp.kashmir@gmail.com)Â
