sheikh abdullah-a biography

SHEIKH ABDULLAH A BIOGRAPHY

The Crucial Petriod 1905-1939

(BASED ON SHEIKH ABDULLAHS MEMOIRS ATISH E CHINAR (URDU)

BY M.Y.TAING and other historical documents and reference works))

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Copyright 2009 Syed Taffazull Hussain. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by Wordclay U.S.A on 7/23/2009.

ISBN: 978-1-6048-1603-7 Cover: Artists impression of Sheikh Abdullahs Funeral Procession .Painting by Aslam. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Publishing History:

1. First published by Wordclay on 7/23/2009.

2. Updated and Revised December2013

P.D.F of this edition can be downloaded from books.google.com

SHEIKH ABDULLAH A BIOGRAPHY

The Crucial Petriod1905-1939

(BASED ON SHEIKH ABDULLAHS MEMOIRS ATISH E CHINAR (URDU)

BY M.Y.TAING and other historical documents and reference works)

By

SYED TAFFAZUL HUSSAIN

Syed Taffazul Hussain 2009

All rights reserved This book is, dedicated to the youth of Kashmir who will not rest until they realize the dream envisaged in the Naya Kashmir Manifesto to make Kashmir a Nation where individual freedom and collective responsibility conjoin to bring about a flowering of human potentiality ; A Switzerland of Asia where diverse creeds and cultures intermingle and where borders become irrelevant. A Nation worthy of respect of the comity of Nations that historians tell us it once was in the distant past.

Look...If you try to find me only in books and files of documents you

will lose your way...My life has been tempestuous like the ocean...No

one man can grasp it in its entirety...take my advice...limit the scope

of your enquiry. ] Sheikh Abdullahs advice to his biographer M.Y.Taing

who wanted to write his biography which was published after his death

under the title Atish e Chinar

Was Sheikh Abdullah a successful politician? There can be more than

one opinion about it. Was Sheikh Abdullah a good man? This is a

moot question. One thing beyond dispute is his patriotism. He loved

Kashmir to distraction. He could sacrifice the worlds kingdoms for

the sake of Kashmir. His entire life has been an expression of this

love. It is for the sake of this unfathomable love for Kashmir that

Kashmiris turn a blind eye to his faults and see only his virtues. -

Shamim Ahmed Shamim. Kashmiri Politician and Journalist

We look like a geography but

just scratch us

and we bleed history..

Are we real or

did someone invent

us -Miriam Waddington in CANADIANS

1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE ......................................................................................................... 4

PREFACE TO THE UPDATED EDITION ........................................................... 8

2THE GATHERING STORM ......................................................................... 13

3BACKGROUND : THE SILK FACTORY WORKERS AGITATION................16

4BACKGROUND: DEMANDS IN THE MEMORANDUM ............................... 25

4THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE .................................................................. 29

4PROMETHEUS UNBOUND ........................................................................ 39

5THE CONFRONTATION ............................................................................. 47

6AN HONORABLE AGREEMENT ................................................................. 56

7A MACHIAVELLIAN PLOT .......................................................................... 61

8 REVOLT AND REPRESSION .................................................................... 67

9A MEMORANDUM ...................................................................................... 72

10THE GLANCY COMMISSION.................................................................... 80

11BACK IN JAIL ........................................................................................... 87

12THE ROTI AGITATION.............................................................................. 96

13 DAWN OF A NEW AGE ......................................................................... 101

14A DIVIDED HOUSE ................................................................................. 107

CONTENTS2

15 PRAJA SABHA: KASHMIRS FIRST LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY ............................................................................ 121

16INFLUENCES ......................................................................................... 126

17 CHANGING PERSPECTIVES ................................................................ 140

18A CLASH OF IDEAS ............................................................................... 158

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................ 148

INDEX ........................................................................................................... 147

APPENDIX .................................................................................................... 163

PREFACE4

PREFACE

The story of Sheikh Abdullah's life is a love story. It is the story of a

man who loved Kashmir and "whose entire life in the words of

Shamim Ahmed Shamim , one of Kashmirs most perspicacious

journalists "was an expression of this love". It is a story of his trial

and tribulations, his successes and failures, of storms that he

weathered and halcyon days. Above all, it is a story that deserves

to be read and reread for its sheer human interest by all who have

a place in their heart for the blighted paradise that is Kashmir.

It is also a story of trust and betrayal. How his trusted companions

Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed and G.M Sadiq betrayed him at a

crucial juncture when the Constituent Assembly of the State was

about to frame a constitution for its citizens. They sold his dreams

to the controlling power for petty personal gains; the proverbial forty

pieces of silver, and crucified him at the altar of their personal

greed and ambitions for eleven long years. It was a just retribution

that the controlling power did not even give his betrayers the

chance of satisfying their vanity by using the title of Prime Minister,

for a few years after his arrest they themselves were made to

downgrade it to Chief Minister.

It is also a story of bitter rivalry. In" Atish e Chinar" Sheikh Abdullah

says, "I sometimes think that in his subconscious mind Nehru

PREFACE5

considered Kashmir as a beautiful woman and considered me his

biggest rival. Getting a rival out of his way could have been the

psychological reason for his lifelong actions against me".

Finally, it is also a story of reconciliation as according to Sheikh

Abdullah in his last years Nehru bitterly regretted his actions. After

Sheikh Abdullahs release in 1964, he expressed his sincere

sorrow and regret to the Sheikh, and very sincerely asked for his

help in solving the complex problem. "Unfortunately" observes

Sheikh Abdullah "history is merciless and death snatched from him

the chance to make amends for what he had done."

We are fortunate in that only a few years before his death Sheikh

Abdullah entrusted the noted Kashmiri writer M.Y.Taing with the job

of committing to writing his recollections, which were published

after his death under the title Atish e Chinar. It is based on

extensive interviews that Taing had with Sheikh Abdullah. It

provides valuable information on Sheikh Abdullah's family

background, early life, ringside glimpses of happenings in Kashmir

at a crucial juncture in its history, and his viewpoint about the

political events in Kashmir in which he himself played a central role.

People often refer to it as his autobiography as Taing claimed that

he only acted as an amanuensis. Sheikh Abdullah himself in his

foreword to the book refers to it as his memoirs.

Autobiography, or Biography or Memoirs, call it what you will Atish

e Chinar present's a number of difficulties for the reader. First, it is

PREFACE6

written in a flowery style, with couplets and comments interposed

every now and then, that serve no purpose other than to distract

the serious reader. Second, there are grievous errors in the

chronology of the reported events, for instance, the date of that

session of the Muslim Conference which changed its name from

Muslim Conference to National Conference is given as 10-11 June

1938 when the actual date is 10-11 June 1939. Third, the book as a

whole shows a lack of coherence, indeed M.Y.Taing himself in his

introduction writes that these memoirs are not constrained by a

methodology and show a stream of consciousness

approach.Fourth the book is written in Urdu and unfortunately

reading books written in the Urdu language is no longer fashionable

among Kashmiri youth. We must recognize this unpalatable truth.

Thus, there is a need to present the facts as portrayed in the book,

which are vital to understanding the recent history of Kashmir and

the evolution of political thought in the valley, in lucid English. This

book is an attempt to do the same and it is for the readers to judge

how successful I have been in this attempt.

My purpose in writing this biography is to develop awareness of a

chapter of our turbulent history as seen by a man who was one of

the main actors in the story. I have therefore omitted to mention

personal grouses that have no bearing on the main theme, like

Sheikh Abdullahs grouse that his friend Molvi Abdul Rahim refused

him a small loan claiming that he himself was hard up. While such

anecdotes are important in bringing out the human face of the

Kashmiri leaders, somewhat endearing when we compare them

with modern Khadi clad leaders who rake in millions with a savoir

PREFACE7

faire that leaves us gasping, they are not the proper concern of this

work.

Finally I would like to mention that I have not hesitated to consult

other sources like Tareekh e Hurriyat e Kashmir By Rasheed

Taseer(1973) ,Bonfire of Kashmiryat by Sandeep Bamzai(2006),

original articles, and material available on the web for providing

background information and correcting the chronology wherever a

need was felt to do the same.

This book is an update of the book Sheikh Abdullah (A

biography) ISBN 978-1-6048-1309-8 which did not cover important

events post 1934 that were to shape Sheikh Abdullahs life and

cast a long shadow over the subsequent course of events in

Kashmirs history. In this book three additional chapters have been

added to cover events from 1934-1939.

It was in these five years that Sheikh Abdullah formally expressed

his view that politics should be based on humanistic rather than

communal considerations . In keeping with this view he

successfully convinced the members of his party to change its

name from Muslim Conference to National Conference.

The acceptance of a secular rather than communal politics gave a

unique identity to the subsequent political history of Kashmir which

was in sharp contrast to the politics of communalism that had taken

over the rest of the Indian Subcontinent. It set apart the political

struggle of the Kashmiris from that of the other people of India.

8

PREFACE TO THE UPDATED EDITION

To make this book available to a wide audience especially the

youth of the Jammu and Kashmir State I have requested Google

Books to put a freely downloadable digital edition on their website

under Creative Commons license.This license allows distribution of

this book and commercial use provided there is attribution in each

case but prohibits derivative works.Terms are available here:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/

This edition is revised and updated as of December 2013. Apart

from the correction of many typographical errors I have included

important information on the genesis of the Reading Room Party

based on the information in the State Archives and the recent

controversy about the date of birth of Sheikh Abdullah for which the

relevant sources are included in the bibliography.Background

Chapters provide more information on the Silk Factory Workers

Agitation and the memorandum submitted to Lord Reading after it.

The addition of an updated table of contents and an index will

greatly improve the usefulness of this book.Although I have

avoided references and footnotes in the text to make it more

friendly for young readers reference to every factual statement in

the text can be found in the sources given at the end. It is my hope

that this book will make an important period of the history of Jammu

and Kashmir State accessible to the interested reader.

Syed Taffazull Hussain

Monday 23rd Of December 2013

9

1THE SAPLING

Family Background

Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah was born on the fifth of December

1905 (As middle class muslim families( unlike the hindus whose life

was governed by horoscopes) did not maintain birth records and

entered the recollected date at a later period when it was needed

for admission to schools etc this date may only be taken as an

approximate date! According to Taing his actual year of birth was

1903.) in the village of Soura on the outskirts of Srinagar just

eleven days after the death of his father Sheikh Mohammed

Ibrahim, a middle class manufacturer and trader of Kashmir

Shawls. In his own words, he was born an orphan. Sheikh Ibrahim

like the poet Iqbal was the descendant of a Kashmiri Hindu (Pandit)

named Ragho Ram Koul who converted to Islam in 1722 A.D at the

hands of the saint Mir Abdul Rashid Baihiqi and after conversion

changed his name to Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah. Thus, Sheikh

Abdullah was the namesake of the progenitor of his family branch.

According to Sheikh Abdullah, his stepbrothers mistreated his

mother, and his early childhood was marked by utter poverty.

His mother was keen that her children should receive a proper

education and so as a child he was first admitted to a traditional

school or Maktab where he learnt the recitation of the Koran and

read some basic Persian texts like Gulistan, Bostan, Pandnama etc

THE SAPLING10

from his teacher Akhund Mubarik Shah. Here he also developed

the habit of saying his prayers five times a day according to Islamic

ritual and this habit according to him persisted all his life. In 1911

he was admitted to a primary school run by Anjuman e Nasratul

Islam located in the nearby locality of NowShehra. Dissatisfied

with the teaching in that school he decided to shift to another

school in the nearby locality of Vicharnag. The headmaster of his

school refused to give him a discharge certificate. Sheikh Abdullah

in the first protest of his career protested against this injustice and

even approached the Inspector of Schools for redress of the same

but without success. However, the headmaster of the Vicharnag

School Mr. Hisamuddin agreed to admit him to his school without a

discharge certificate and he studied there for two years. His elder

stepbrothers then stopped his further education and he was first set

to work in the family workshop embroidering shawls and later

asked to sit on a grocers shop as a sales boy. Fortunately, their

family barber Mohammed Ramzan prevailed upon his uncle to

send him back to school. He passed the fifth class examination

from Vicharnag School and then obtained admission in

Government High School Bagh Dilawar Khan in the locality of

Fateh Kadal. He had to walk the distance of ten miles to school and

back on foot but in his own words the joy of being allowed to

obtain a school education made it seem a light work.

Nevertheless, he did regret that the time he had to spend in going

back and forth from school robbed him of the opportunity to take

part in sports, like other students. He was a studious boy and

THE SAPLING11

passed his Matriculation examination from the Punjab University in

1922.

Higher Education

After Matriculation, he got himself enrolled in Sri Partap College

(S.P.College) the leading college of Kashmir. Because of extreme

poverty he had to walk the distance of about fifteen miles from

Soura to S.P.College and back and so developed an enlargement

of the heart, a condition that doctors call Cardiomegaly , (perhaps

an early sign of beriberi brought about by malnutrition and severe

exercise). He was admitted in the Mission Hospital in Srinagar,

where under the treatment of the famous Neve brothers he made a

complete recovery from the disease. His illness moved his elder

brother Sheikh Maqbool to agree to pay for his stay in the college

hostel from where he passed his Intermediate (F.Sc.) Examination.

He applied for nomination to the M.B.B.S course but was

unsuccessful as of the twenty-three students nominated for the said

course twenty-two were Hindus. In the S.P.College in those days,

teaching stopped at the intermediate level and so Sheikh Abdullah

had to get himself admitted to some college outside the valley for

obtaining the B.Sc Degree. He first applied for admission to the

Prince of Wales College at Jammu but the Principal of the college

behaved rudely with him and rejected his application for admission

as during his interview he spoke of the right to education of persons

belonging to the Muslim community. Finally, he managed to obtain

admission in Islamiya College Lahore from where he completed his

B.Sc. Degree.

THE SAPLING12

After completing his graduation, he again applied to the State

Government for a scholarship for pursuing higher studies but was

not successful. So marshalling his own resources he obtained

admission to the M.Sc. Chemistry course in Aligarh Muslim

University and obtained Masters Degree in Chemistry on 12 April

1930. He was the first Kashmiri Muslim to have obtained Masters

Degree in Chemistry and so full of hope he again applied to the

State Government for grant of scholarship for pursuing the Doctoral

course in Chemistry in England. The government rejected his

application on the flimsy ground that he was more than 24 years of

age in April 1930.

According to Sheikh Abdullah, these early experiences convinced

him that "Kashmiri Muslims had as little hope of obtaining justice

from the feudal Dogra ruler, as of obtaining milk by squeezing a

stone."

13

2THE GATHERING STORM

That all was not well in Kashmir was evident to Sheikh Abdullah from

some events that took place while he was still a college student. In

the spring of 1924, the laborers of the Government Silk Factory for

the first time made an organized protest against the working

conditions in that factory. They assembled in the parade ground of

Hazuribagh to launch a struggle for acceptance of their demands.

The government responded by calling troops who attacked the

unarmed laborers with spears wounding a large number of them.

The laborers took out a big procession to protest this outrage and

this was the first such procession in the State. The sight of laborers

raising slogans against the excesses of the Maharajahs government

deeply affected the young Sheikh Abdullah.

A PETITION FOR THE VICEROY

Another disturbing event took place only a few months later in

October when the British Viceroy Lord Reading and Lady Reading

came on a visit to Kashmir. The Kashmiri Muslims at that time were

seething with anger against the injustice done to them at the hands

of the Maharajahs government. Some leading Muslim citizens

decided to petition the Viceroy against these injustices as his

cavalcade passed in a procession of boats upon the river Jhelum

that flows through Srinagar. They very secretly drafted a seventeen

point petition in which they made a number of demands like right of

ownership of land for peasants, giving Muslims their due share in

THE GATHERING STORM14

government jobs, abolition of Begar (forced labor),provision of

educational facilities, and the return of Mosques, taken over by the

government, back to the Muslims etc. They took great care to keep

the petition a secret from the common public. As the Viceroy with

Lady Alice passed through the locality of Khanqah e Moalla a group

of Muslims started waving black flags and shouting Petition to

attract the attention of the Viceroy. The people managed to present a

copy of the petition to the Viceroy. The Viceroy following protocol

forwarded this petition to the Maharajah. To save appearances the

Maharajah forwarded it to his Council of Ministers which made a

committee of three members headed by Mr.B.J.Glancy, which

included his close relative Raja Janak Singh to enquire into the

allegations. The committee found no substance in it and filed the

petition and that was the end of the matter.(See Chapter 4,p25)

THE RULERS VENDETTA

Having dealt with the petition the government now started punishing

the signatories of the petition. It arrested and exiled Khawaja

Saiduddin Shawl, who belonged to a rich Muslim family. Khwaja

Noor Shah Naqashbandi who was a tehsildar, was forced to resign.

Agha Syed Hussain Jalali was deprived of his position as Zaildar ,

and exiled . His jagir was also confiscated. Mirwaiz Ahmadullah, was

removed from the list of courtiers and was reprimanded. The

government pardoned the other petitioners after they submitted an

apology. Sheikh Abdullah felt that their banishment did not cause a

public disturbance because of their failure to involve the common

people in this matter.

THE GATHERING STORM15

ECHOES AT LAHORE

Khawaja Saduddin Shawl and Khwaja Noor Shah Naqashbandi after

being exiled from Kashmir took up residence with Mian Nizamuddin

at Lahore. Mian Nizamuddin was the scion of a very respectable

Kashmiri family of Lahore. Sheikh Abdullah had also gained

admission in the Islamiya College located in the same city. As this

was the first time that he was away from his family, he felt homesick

and so whenever he had time he went to Mian Nizamuddins house

to spend some time with his exiled compatriots.

One day the two complained that the Kashmiris had forgotten them.

Sheikh Abdullah disagreeing with them said, While submitting the

memorandum you kept the public unaware of your project and they

could not even understand why you have been exiled. Had you

mobilized public opinion before submitting the memorandum the

government would not have dared to exile you. Mian Nizamuddin

and some others present there supported Sheikh Abdullahs view.

The Khwaja Sahibs retorted angrily Let us see how you will do it

Sheikh Abdullah replied God willing I will show what I can

accomplish at the proper time!

Sheikh Abdullah recollects that this verbal exchange ignited a spark

of determination in his heart to fight for the rights of the Kashmiris.

The daily sight of wretched Kashmiri laborers working for a pittance

and occasionally dying uncared for on the roadside, their unclaimed

bodies handed over to Medical Colleges for dissection by Medical

Students, reinforced this determination.

16

3BACKGROUND : THE SILK FACTORY

WORKERS AGITATION

The agitation of the workers of the Government Silk Factory which

so affected Sheikh Abdullah deserves a closer look. Ravinderjit

Kaur has made an indepth study of the files of that period in the

State Archives of Kashmir and National Archives of India and

material on record in the files reveals how the police and the

District Administration twisted facts to justify the massacre of

innocent boys as young as eight to ten years old employed in the

factory all of whom were Muslims(In those days young boys were

sent out to work as children in general and Muslim children in

particular had little opportunity to go to school).

Unrest In The Factory

The workers of the factory had gone on strike as far back as the

26th of March 1920 and had submitted this representation to the

Chief Minister Raja Hari Singh(who became the Maharajah on the

death of Maharaja Partap Singh in 1926).

By the direction of the late Director and by the Governor of His Highness

Maharaja Sahib Bahadur and his Minister our daily rates had been

increased upto annas four and now owing to the scarcity of all things we

were in great hope, that we shall get progress in the rate as

deceased,Incharge Director was efforting about this.Now-a-days when

BACKGROUND:THE SILK FACTORY AGITATION17

public coolies are getting high rates and all officers and common servants

of the State are granted high rates and all officers and common servants of

the State are granted allowances by the State for the famine, we are the

unlucky employees of the Silk Factory to whom instead of increasing rates

decreased by the present Incharge Director,for which we submitted him a

request,he answered that I will beat you,if you will come to my office,for

this case and I will close the factory for ever If the State will not decide

our case,we shall be obliged to leave the work of this factory praying for

your long life and prosperity(Jammu and Kashmir Archives File No.26 of

1920).

Reeling silk was the job of skilled workers and hence the reference

to increase in wages of unskilled coolies while the worker's wages

had been reduced. From the above representation it seems that

because of the efforts of a former Director the wages of the workers

had been increased to four annas per diem but after his (sudden)

death some person whom the workers detested was appointed as

an Incharge Director.The repeated use of the term Incharge

Director shows that the workers considered him unfit for the post

and it also appears that he was a bully and as per another

representation was also corrupt as the workers complained of

being forced to pay bribes to officers of the Factory out of their

meager wages. On July 19 1924 the Deputy Director Sericulture

lodged a complaint with the District Magistrate in which he alleged

that

The labourers(meaning workers) gave out open threats that they would

set fire to the houses of some officers of the Department and would not


spare their persons too if they could catch hold of them.He further alleged

that All Communications of the office with outside were cut off and it

became impossible even to send a message to the District Magistrate or

the Police.

Following the complaint and taking into view the urgency of taking

action as requested by the Deputy Director Sericulture military

troops were ordered to be moved to the Silk Factory on 20th of

July. The Colonel Commandant was requested to place the Infantry

and Cavalry in immediate charge of the factory.Twenty five of the

total of twenty seven persons who seem to have been involved in

this crisis were arrested and four of them were lodged in Police

station Shergarhi while the rest were taken to Central Jail.Next day

on the 21st of July about two thousand persons gathered outside

Shergarhi Police Station demanding release of the arrested

persons. The police on the pretext that the protestors were trying to

force their way into the police station opened fire on them killing ten

of them on the spot and injuring twenty as per the official version.

The wounded were taken to the mission hospital by the local

people while the dead bodies of those killed were taken away by

the police in a lorry.(National Archives of India,Foreign

Department,Political,1924 No19(2)) Some people even sent two

telegrams to the Viceroy clarifying that the protest was against

bribes demanded by the officials of the factory from the poor

workers (Because of the lopsided employment policy of the State

Government the workers were all Muslims and the employees

Hindus as Muslims were practically excluded from government

jobs. Thus the word Hindus in the telegrams refers to government


officials and Muslims/Mussulmans to workers). The two telegrams

stated that:

1.Kashmiri Silk Factory Mussalman coolies(meaning workers) approached

of bribery of Hindus.Instead of consideration about thirty imprisioned,rest

marshaled out.Deaths yet unknown,wounded about sixty. Maharaja tries to

hush up whole case.Kindly soon release from tyranny

2.Muslims of Srinagar respectfully invite your excellency prompt action to

ruthless and most inhuman charges of cavalry amongst the innocent,

armless(meaning unarmed) and quiet(meaning peaceful) workers of the

Silk Factory including children aged eight to ten years at the instance of

the callous hearted Governor and Revenue Member culmination of the

show of brute force has been reached,terrorism is the order of the day.Here

Mussalmans are panic stricken.They earnestly implore your excellency to

deliver the long agonizing poor but loyal Muslims of Kashmir from present

Dire Calamity. .(National Archives of India,Foreign

Department,Political,1924 No19(2))

POLICE VERSION:THE SECRET FILES

Even today police allegations unless proven in a court of law are

not given any credence but the police reports in the case of the

Silk Factory Agitation were so incredible that not only were they

never brought before a court but were hidden from public view in

secret files serving only to justify the police action and sweep the

allegations of bribery and corruption of the employees of the Silk

Factory under the carpet. Indeed as far back as 1920 an unsigned

petition posted to the Maharaja and professing support for the

Khilafat agitation was taken by the police as evidence of public


support for Khilafat Movement by Kashmiri Muslims(See page 200

of Political Awakening in Kashmir;by Ravinderjit Kaur for a facsimile

of the unsigned petition). The police reports in the Secret Abstracts

of Intelligence and Confidential weekly Diary of the Superintendent

of Police Srinagar of 1924 made the far fetched allegation that the

workers of the Silk Factory were communal supporters of the

Khilafat Movement. Allegations were made that the Muslim workers

of the Silk Factory formed a ring against Hindu employees of the

factory in general and the Hindu Filature Officers in particular. It

was also alleged that they demanded that the Hindu employees be

removed and replaced by Muslims.The police further alleged that

about one hundred Muslims started conspiring against the Hindu

employees of the factory at Rambagh Srinagar. It was also alleged

that some Ex-Inspector Atta Mohammed had gone to the Director

warning that if the Hindu employees are not removed the workers

would go on strike. Thus the police by these baseless

allegations,none of which were ever brought to a court, tried to

project the protest against corruption by the workers of the Silk

Factory as a communal incident and took no cognizance of the

serious allegations of corruption in the Silk factory that was made

by its workers. (Extracts from the confidential dairy of the

Superintendent of Police Srinagar period ending 24th May 1924,

Jammu and Kashmir Archives File No.B of 1924/ The secret

abstract of intelligence for the year 1924,Jammu and Kashmir

Archives,File No.B of 1924.)


MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

In 1924 the Dogra Sabha in Jammu and Yuyak Sabha in Kashmir

were agitating against the employment of Non Kashmiris in

government services as they felt that it was responsible for creating

unemployment among the educated youth of their communities.

Gwash Lal Koul the fire brand leader of Hindu Yuvak Sabha a few

months later threatened the government with dire consequences if

it did not agree to their demands.This was a period when

Maharajah Partap Singh had been effectively divested of his power

and power was transferred to a council headed by the Senior

Member(Chief Minister) Raja Hari Singh (who later became the

Maharaja on the death of Partap Singh) but was still unsure of his

power.In 1924 June the Resident Sir John Wood directed Maharaja

Pratap Singh to abstain from the meetings of the council and leave

Raja Hari Singh to preside over the council.Mr.B.J.Glancy(See

below) was also appointed as a member(Minister)of the

council.(Ravinderjit Kaur Political Awakening In Kashmir,p108)

These factors along with the allegations of corruption in the Silk

Factory have to be considered in assessing the reasons for the

unwarranted show of force by the administration for it would have

weakened the case of Hari Singh for appointment as the next

Maharajah.

THE RESIDENTS VIEW

Sir John Barry Wood the then British Resident in Kashmir refused

to buy the police view that the agitation was of a communal nature.


In his letter to the Political Secretary to Government of India he

wrote:

It will be desirable to remedy any real grievances and to promote some of

the educated Musalman workers to posts of responsibility(Johnwood to

J.P.Thompson 4th August 1924,National Archives of India,Home.)

Department,Political,1924,File No:25,Fortnightly Report for Second

half of August).

Thus the Resident was of the view that to prevent future unrest the

grievances regarding corruption should be addressed and the

lopsided policy of the State Ruler in appointing only Non Muslims to

responsible posts should be rectified by appointing educated

workers of the Silk Factory to responsible posts. Mr.B.J.Glancy the

president of the grievances commission established in 1931 must

have kept this in view when making his recommendations about

giving special attention to recruitment of Muslims in Government

jobs.

Indeed a Muslim Hakim Ali B.A. P.B.D.S(Milan)was appointed as

an officer in the factory in 1930 six years after the Resident's

suggestion and rose to the top post of Director of the Sericulture

Department of which the factory was a part) in July 1942( Civil

List(1945) No119 ,p 98)

IN PERSPECTIVE

The agitation in the summer of 1924 by the workers of the

Government Silk Factory is a landmark in the struggle of the people

of Jammu and Kashmir towards greater empowerment under

Maharajahs rule. It was the first time in the history of the Dogra


Rule that ordinary workers raised their voice against corruption and

denial of rights by their employers.

This was also the first time that the protest was suppressed by an

inordinate show of force and use of firearms against unarmed

workers in which many workers were shot dead and their bodies

taken away instead of being handed over to their families for

decent burial.

It was also the first time when the police tried to give a communal

color to the workers agitation by trying to show it as a Hindu Muslim

conflict but this allegation could never stand up in a court of law

and indeed was so unfounded that the police kept it out of public

view in their secret files. While the agitation was suppressed the

pent up resentment remained simmering below the surface as

there was no educated leader among the workers who could lead

the agitation to a proper conclusion.

Seven years later in 1931 a group of highly educated Muslim

leaders including Molvi Abdul Rahim M.A.(Phil)LL.B,Sheikh

Abdullah M.Sc.(Chemistry) and Chaudhary Ghulam Abbas

B.A.LL.B chanellized this discontent to lead an uprising demanding

greater empowerment for the people of the State. Again on the

13th of July 1931 many protestors were killed in police firing and

the police again tried to give it a communal color but this time the

attempt was thwarted by the above mentioned leaders who

established a political party the Muslim Conference and forced the

government to set up a grievances commission under the

presidency of J.B. Glancy which not only opened up the doors of


education and employment to Muslims but also led to the first ever

establishment of an elected legislative assembly the Praja

Sabha.(See Below)

LANDMARK STRUGGLE

The 21st of July deserves to be celebrated along with the 13th of

July as a landmark in the struggle of the people of Jammu and

Kashmir State for greater empowerment and Democracy. It is

indeed an important landmark in the struggle for their rights by

workers all over the world.

25

4BACKGROUND: DEMANDS IN THE MEMORANDUM

The Memorandum submitted to Lord Reading(See Chapter2 )

made the following demands(Jammu and Kashmir Archives,File

NoT/81 of 1924):

1.The grant of proprietary rights to the Muslim peasants to the

land which had been forcibly snatched from them.

2.The grant of Muslim representation in the State Council

according to the number of Muslims in the population of the

State.

3.The grant of adequate representation to the Muslims in the

services and employment of the State in order to give Muslims

effective representation in the services,all future vacancies be

made available to them; and in case Muslims with requisite

qualifications were not locally available,uslims from outside

Kashmir be appointed till such a time as the local talent was

available.

4. The appointment of a tribunal to enquire into the complaints and

to award punishment to weed out corruption from the services.

5.The appointment of Muslims on the important posts, of

Governor,Superintendent of Police,Assistant Superintendent of

Police,and Superintendent of Customs and in case Muslims

BACKGROUND:DEMANDS IN THE MEMORANDUM26

with requisite qualifications were not available Englishmen be

appointed to the posts.

6. The appointment of a tribunal consisting of at least two law

knowing and impartial judges, one of whom was to be an

Englishman to conduct the trial of labourers of the Silk Factory

7.The appointment of Muslims to the higher administrative posts in

the factory, as the entire labor force of the Silk Factory

consisted of Muslims.

8. The liquidation of the Department of Shali,the removal of

restrictions on the import of foodgrains from outside the State,

and restriction of food rationing to poor people in Srinagar in

order to reduce the burden on the peasants who had to pay the

revenue in the form of Shali.

9.The appointment of a Muslim or English expert in Education,

introduction of compulsory free primary education,appointment

of more Muslim teachers and inspectors and grant of

scholarships to Muslims for higher education in India and

abroad.

10. The abolition of forced labor and its replacement by

contractual labor.

11.The restoration of land to their respective owners from whom it

had been forcibly and illegally seized.


12. the appointment of an elected Legislative Assembly for the

drafting of of a Constitution for the state and the grant of

adequate representation to Muslims in it.

13.The grant of Government contracts particularly those relating

to forests, roads and construction to State nationals in general

and Muslims in particular.

14.The restoration of mosques and other religious properties

under the control of the Government and their protection from

encroachment by non-Muslims

15.The appointment of a Board consisting of Muslims to

adminster the funds spent on the repairs of Jamia-Masjid and

other historical shrines.

16.The appointment of a Commission composed of impartial

European Officers to inquire into the grievances of the Muslims

in regard to the Zuljinnah procession, the incident at Khanqah-

i-Shah--Hamadan and those relating to Islamabad and

Baramulla.

17.The Resident be made answerable for the plight of the

Muslims as their rights were insecure and trampled down by

the local authorities.


The signatories of the Memorandum included(See Chapter3)

1. Mirwaiz Ahmadullah.

2.Mirwaiz Hamadani

3.Mufti Sharif-ud-din

4.Saad-ud-d-n Shawl.

5 Agha.Syed Hussain Jalali Zaildar (Secretary of the group)

6.Khwaja Hassan Shah Naqshbandi Jagirdar

7.Khwaja Noor Shah Naqshbandi Tehsildar

29

4THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE

Sheikh Abdullah returned to Kashmir after obtaining the masters

degree in Chemistry on 12 April 1930. A month before, Sir

Elbion Bannerjee had been appointed as Prime Minister by the

Maharajah but he resigned only a few days later to protest

against the refusal of the Maharajah to issue orders to stop the

unjust treatment meted out to Kashmiri Muslims under his rule.

To stave off the bad publicity resulting from Sir Elbion

Bannerjees allegations the Maharajahs government invited

applications from Muslim candidates for award of scholarships.

Sheikh Abdullah being the first Muslim M.Sc. in Chemistry also

applied for a scholarship but as mentioned in an earlier chapter

was unsuccessful.

At around the same time the government formed a Civil Services

Recruitment Board for recruiting persons to government jobs.

While constituting this Board the authorities took care to put

hurdles in the way of Muslim candidates. Recruitment was by a

competitive exam but all the paper setters and examiners were

Hindus. Examinees could choose Hindi and Sanskrit as optional

subjects but not Urdu, Persian or Arabic, in which Muslims were

proficient. Further Muslim candidates had to submit proofs of

their belonging to a respectable family. Finally, the government

could refuse appointment without assigning any reason.

THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE30

The cult of Reading Rooms

As the number of educated Kashmiri youth both Hindu and

Muslim increased they started to form small associations called

Reading Rooms. In 1922 more than half a dozen Reading

Rooms were functioning in Srinagar where the educated youth

could read and discuss academic issues.Permission from the

government was needed to form these associations.The District

Magistrate was authorized to give this permission subject to an

exhaustive verification process including verification by the

police which took a long time.In 1922 three Muslim youth namely

Mohammed Sikander, Mohammad Yahya Rafiqi and Ghulam

Ahmed Zahena applied to the District Magistrate for permission

to open a Reading Room for the exclusive benefit of the

Muslims so that they could have a place for studying literature

chiefly on religious subjects(J & K Archives File Number 830 of

1922).

The permission to open a Reading Room Party in Fateh Kadal

locality was finally given in 1930.The same year G.A.Ashai

applied for permission to form an Islamia School Old Boys

Association with himself as President and forty members

including Sheikh Abdullah and Molvi Yusuf Shah who were all

products of the Islamia School.This association of Sheikh

Abdullah with G.A.Ashai was to prove very important in Sheikh

Abdullahs subsequent career(see below).


Mubarik Shah Naqshbandi was elected as the Secretary and

Peerzada Ghulam Rasool Shah Headmaster Islamiya High

School as Chairman of the Reading Room Party of fateh Kadal

referred to in the preceeding paragraphs.(J & K Archives File

Number 830 of 1922). However Mubarik Shah Naqshbandi

succeeded in getting appointed as a judge in 1930 and

Peerzada Ghulam Rasool Shah also was unable to continue as

President for some reason. This led to the appointment of new

office bearers namely Mohammed Rajab as President and

Sheikh Abdullah as Secretary of the party.

The political genius of Sheikh Abdullah lay in his ability to

convert an innocuous study group into a powerful political party

which brought about a sea change in the politics of Kashmir.

The Reading Room Party

Jobless and unemployed Sheikh Abdullah and his other

educated unemployed muslim friends became members of The

Reading Room Party as described in the previous paragraph

and established a reading room in the house of Mufti Ziauddin at

Fateh Kadal locality of Srinagar. This was a place where they

met and discussed topical issues that included matters ranging

from securing employment to the wretched conditions of the

inhabitants of Kashmir and especially the Kashmiri Muslims

under the autocratic feudal rule of the Maharajah.This party

elected Mohammed Rajab as the President in place of Peerzada

Ghulam Rasool Shah and Sheikh Abdullah as the General

Secretary in place of Mubarik Shah Naqshbandi.Hakim Ali,


Peerzada Ghulam Rasool, Peerzada Ahmad Shah Fazili, Hakim

Ghulam Murtaza and Mufti Jalaluddin were among the members

of this party.

The Reading Room Party now decided to take steps to draw

wider attention to the plight of the Kashmiris and especially

Kashmiri Muslims under the feudal Dogra rule. They started

sending dispatches to some Urdu newspapers published from

Lahore, and also developed links with Mr.Rajni Pam Dutt the

editor of the progressive journal Indian States, published from

London.

Advice from a guest

Around this time the Khateeb of Calcuttas Jamia Masjid

Maulana Azad Subhani was invited as a distinguished guest by

the party members to their reading room. Maulana Azad

Subhani was a believer in and supporter of struggle against

injustice and he while appreciating their efforts advised the youth

to start a mass movement for their rights. Somehow, the

government came to know of this and started searching for the

Maulana but by that time, he had left the State. However, this

incident moved the government to put the activities of the

Reading Room Party under strict surveillance.

Submission of a memorandum

Sometime later Sheikh Abdullah in a session of the party drew

the attention of the members to the governments new

recruitment rules, which were loaded against persons belonging


to the Muslim community and suggested the necessity of making

a representation against the unjust provisions of the new

recruitment rules. The party decided to submit a memorandum to

the Regency Council that was entrusted with the job of running

the government during the absence of the Maharajah, who was

on a visit to London.

It was decided to take the help of Mr. Ghulam Ahmed Ashai,

who was a well educated Muslim reputed to be a very intelligent

and capable person, in drafting the memorandum. He was

previously serving as Inspector of Schools in the Maharajahs

government but sometimes back had been forcibly retired on

some trumped up charges. Ashai agreed to write a draft of the

memorandum, and after its drafting the group started a signature

campaign to obtain signatures of the public on this

memorandum. The government took serious note of these

activities and appointed two inspectors of the intelligence

department Hakeem Habibullah and Abdul Kareem for keeping a

watch on these youth.

After obtaining sufficient signatures, they sent the memorandum

by post to Mr. Wakefield the Chairman of the Regency Council.

A few days later Sheikh Abdullah was pleasantly surprised to

receive a letter from the Council acknowledging the receipt of

the memorandum and asking the group to send two

representatives for appearing before the council and discussing

the memorandum. This letter created a sensation not only

among the members of the Reading Room Party but also other


educated Kashmiri Muslims. Consequently, a large gathering of

educated Muslim youth assembled at the residence of Ghulam

Ahmed Ashai and after considerable discussion decided that

Sheikh Abdullah and another young lawyer Abdul Aziz Fazili

should appear before the Council.

The submission of this memorandum also created a stir among

some Muslim beneficiaries of the Durbar and some of them like

Munshi Assadullah Vakil, Mufti Shareefuddin, Mirza Ghulam

Mustafa and Khawaja Abdul Rahim Banday pretending to be

more loyal than the King indignantly demanded that the persons

who had submitted the memorandum should be punished.

A meeting with the Council

Sheikh Abdullah and his companion went to the Government

Secretariat for this momentous meeting. They had to wait in a

waiting room while the Council deliberated in its chamber.

Sometimes later, the council called in the Education Minister

Agha Syed Hussain. When he came back, he shook hands with

the two youths and advised them to put their complaints before

the council fearlessly. He also invited the two to come to his

residence after the meeting and apprise him of the result of the

meeting. They were now called in to present themselves before

the council. After they had taken their seats, the members

submitted them to a barrage of questions, but they faced this

psychological onslaught courageously without getting

intimidated.


Mr. Wakefield and the Revenue Minister Mr.Wattal then lectured

the two youths on the beneficence of the government towards

the Kashmiri Muslims, and how the Muslims by opposing it were

proving themselves as ungrateful subjects. As proof of the

governments generosity, he mentioned that recently the

government had appointed three Muslims in the Accountant

Generals office. Sheikh Abdullah gathering all his courage

replied that from available facts it was clear that the government

wanted to prevent the educated Muslim youth, who had recently

returned after obtaining their degrees, from getting government

jobs. He said Muslims did not seek undue favors but asked for

only what was justly due to them and it was in the governments

own interest to accept their just demands. He put forward data to

support his arguments, and as it could not be refuted, Mr.Watal

trying to intimidate him roared, We will teach you a lesson.

Sheikh Abdullah calmly replied that if the government

disregarded their representation and did not rectify the flawed

rules it would have to face the consequences. Enraged,

members of the council terminated the interview.

After the meeting

A few days later, the news leaked out that the Chairman of the

council Mr. Wakefield had been favorably impressed by the

manner in which they had presented their case and had

expressed this to his personal assistant Khalifa Abdul Hakim

who was a resident of Jammu. Jammuites had somewhat

greater freedom than Kashmiris and some young Muslims of


Jammu had even formed an association called Young Mens

Muslim Association. Chaudhary Ghulam Abbas, Mistri Yaqoob

Ali and Sardar Gauhar Rahman, were among the prominent

members of this party. When these young men heard about the

favorable impression that the two youth had made on Mr.

Wakefield they sent their representative Mr. Abdul Majeed for

developing contacts with them. Sheikh Abdullah and his friends

now felt that there was a need to intensify their struggle and

decided to start a newspaper campaign to create public

awareness about the plight of the Kashmiri Muslims. However, at

that time Kashmir did not have a proper newspaper. From

Jammu a Hindu paper Ranbeer founded by Mr. Mulk Raj Saraf

was published and its main aim was to justify and support the

policies, whether right or wrong of the Hindu Maharajah.

A few newspapers were published from Lahore in the nearby

State of Punjab that had Muslim editors, but if they ever chanced

to publish any article against the Maharajahs government their

entry into Kashmir was promptly stopped. The Kashmiri

Diaspora in Punjab had founded an organization called The

Kashmir Conference for projecting the problems of Kashmiri

expatriates of Punjab. The famous poet Sir Mohammed Iqbal

was among its founder members and he highlighted the plight of

the Kashmiri people in his poems.

Sheikh Abdullah now started collecting statistics about the

proportion of Muslims employed in various government offices

and then made use of these statistics to write articles projecting


the discrimination of Muslims in matters of government

employment, which in a State having no industry was the main

source of decent livelihood for the educated city dwellers.

Perhaps even more important, government employment was an

index of the empowerment of a community, as all power vested

with the Maharajah and the officials of his government. He wrote

these articles with the help of Ghulam Ahmed Ashai and then

sent them to Mr Abdul Majeed Qureishi (a representative of the

aforementioned Jammu Young Mens Association). Mr. Abdul

Majeed Qureishi translated these articles from English into Urdu

and then sent them to the prominent paper Inqlab published

from Lahore. Mr.Ghulam Rasool Meher and Mr.Abdul Majeed

Salik were the fearless editors of this paper .As soon as the

Maharajahs government banned the entry of this paper its

editors would change its name so that it reached Kashmir under

another name. Sheikh Abdullah and one of his friends

Mohammed Rajab who was also unemployed would take the

bundle of papers to a local school (Islamiya School) and

distribute the papers free of cost among the teachers and

students of the school. The paper became immensely popular

and although its nominal price was only one paisa it would sell

for as much as two rupees.

This newspaper campaign though short lived played a key role

in raising public awareness about the problems facing the

Kashmiri people.


A harsh routine now governed Sheikh Abdullahs life. Early in the

morning, he would leave his room and visit different offices on

his bicycle, collecting figures about employment of Kashmiri

Muslims in different government offices. Most of the time he had

to satisfy his hunger with a little bread purchased from some

roadside baker but sometimes he would be invited to Ghulam

Ahmed Ashais house for lunch. He would return tired to his

room at dusk after finishing his days chores and then cobble

articles for publishing in sympathetic newspapers. Meanwhile his

family too had pinned their hopes on his getting a good

government job after getting his University Degree and so help

in improving their financial condition. Succumbing to the force of

circumstances he finally decided to obtain government

employment His application for a job in the education

department was fruitful and in the early spring of the year 1931

he got employment as a science teacher in Government High

School Bagh Dilawar Khan at the then comfortable salary of

Rupees eighty per month

39

4PROMETHEUS UNBOUND

Sheikh Abdullahs home in Soura was six miles away from his

place of employment. In those days when public transport was

not, so easily available this was a considerable distance and so

he obtained lodgings in the locality of Fateh Kadal, which was

adjacent to his place of employment. A rich person of the locality

considering his status as a schoolmaster, allowed him to occupy

a room above his garage without rent.

Nearby in the same locality an eminent Kashmiri polymath and

lawyer Molvi Abdullah was giving daily public lectures at his

house that were very popular among the educated youth. Sheikh

Abdullah too started attending these lectures. In Atish e Chinar

Sheikh Abdullah writes that his lectures touched topical national

issues and his sincere words filled the hearts of his listeners with

concern. His lectures would strike a spark of consciousness

regarding public issues in the heart of his listeners and then he

would nurture the spark until it became a raging fire. He was

deeply concerned about the miserable state of his compatriots

and his sincerity struck a sympathetic chord in the hearts of his

audience. It was at these lectures that Sheikh Abdullah met and

became friends with his son Molvi Abdul Rahim who was

studying law at Lucknow University. Later the two were to

become close political collaborators.

PROMETHEUS UNBOUND40

Condemnable Incidents

Jammu around this period witnessed a series of incidents that

greatly hurt the sentiments of the Muslims of the State. The Muslim festival of Bakar Eid fell on Wednesday 29 April 1931.

When the Imam Munshi Mohammed Ishaq started reading the

prayer sermon or Khutba after the Idd prayers in the Municipal

Ground Jammu a Dogra sub inspector Babu Khem Chand

moved forward on the orders of the DIG Chaudhary Ram Chand

and haughtily asked the Imam to stop reading the sermon. The

police officer accused him of making remarks against the

government. This incident caused widespread resentment

among the Muslims of Jammu who took this as interference in

their religious affairs. The incident was strongly condemned in

protest meetings of the Jammu Muslims.

This incident was still fresh in the minds of the Jammu Muslims

when a constable Labhu Ram desecrated a copy of the Koran at

the police lines Jammu after removing it from a box belonging to

a Muslim constable who was busy performing his P.T. in the

ground outside. As the news of the desecration spread among

the Muslims of Jammu, it rubbed salt into their already wounded

feelings. To add insult to injury the administration prevented

Muslims at Daghore, a locality fifteen miles distant from Jammu,

from saying their Friday prayers.


The backlash

These repeated insults provoked the Jammu Young Mens

Muslim Association to publish a poster detailing these insults

and asking the Muslims throughout the State to hold strikes and

demonstrations to protest these incidents. This party had already

established contacts with Sheikh Abdullahs Reading Room

Party and so sent a big bundle of these posters to him.

Sheikh Abdullah decided to send two men to every locality of the

city for pasting the posters throughout the city. One of the men

would paste the posters and the other would keep a watch with

instructions to inform him, if, the man pasting the bills was

arrested.

As luck would have it, police arrested Mohammed Ismail, the

man pasting posters in the very locality where Sheikh Abdullah

lived. He, was being taken handcuffed to the Police Station

Zaina Kadal, when Sheikh Abdullah hearing the sound of

commotion looked out of the window and saw him with a large

crowd following him. When people saw Sheikh Abdullah they

insisted, that he too should accompany them. Sheikh Abdullah

had only recently been appointed to a government job, and so

hesitated briefly before deciding to accompany the crowd. As

they reached the Police Station, the officers there got frightened

on seeing the sizable and angry crowd and set Mohammed

Ismail free. This encouraged the demonstrators, who now

started taking him in a procession to the Jamia Masjid. More and


more people joined the demonstrators and by the time they

reached the mosque, about fifteen thousand people had

assembled there. Two more companions of Sheikh Abdullah

namely Molvi Abdul Rahim and Ghulam Nabi Gilkar had joined

him by that time. The three started addressing the gathering

when two CID inspectors in uniform entered the mosque. Such

was the fear of the police among the Kashmiri people that on

seeing them the people ran away helter-skelter and of the mob,

only three hundred remained even as Sheikh Abdullah and his

three companions exhorted them not to flee from the police. The

police officers then declared that they had come only to make a

report of the proceedings. Sheikh Abdullah now started his

speech and after reciting the Koran said We will not sit

peacefully till those guilty of the sacrilege are punished and as

long as Muslims are denied their rights the educated Muslims

will not stop their agitation. This bold announcement electrified

the listeners. By the time he had finished speaking about fifteen

thousand persons had reassembled at the mosque. They took

him back to his lodgings in a procession and insisted on his

making another speech before they dispersed. The people

started whispering that Master Abdullah was not a human being

but an angel who had descended in human form to help the

Kashmiris. Some others said that he was Rustam who had been

reborn in Kashmir. Sheikh Abdullah himself felt that a great and

irresistible power was controlling him and he himself was an

insignificant agent of this power.


High praise from a Mirwaiz

The next day he attended his duties as usual. A few days later,

the Mirwaiz of Kashmir Mohammed Yusuf Shah invited him to

speak at the Jamia Masjid and introduced him to the assembled

people as My leader. The institution of the Mirwaiz was a

much-respected institution in those days and this introduction

helped develop a bond of affection between him and the public.

He now started addressing the people every Friday at the Jamia

Masjid, the citys largest mosque, after the Mirwaiz had delivered

his sermon. His two companions Molvi Abdul Rahim and Ghulam

Nabi Gilkar would also accompany him and the trio would draw

the attention of the people to their abject condition and exhort

them to struggle for their rights. Finally, the people would take

Sheikh Abdullah to his lodgings in a procession raising slogans.

The government reacts

It was not possible for the government to remain a silent

spectator to this show of spine by a downtrodden people. The

District Magistrate pasted a notice on the gates of the Jamia

Masjid that forbade the making of speeches inside the mosque

without prior permission from the District Magistrate. A four-

member committee headed by the Governor managed the Jamia

Masjid. The government asked the committee to address the

people assembled for Friday prayers in Hazratbal and support

the government to counter the speeches of Sheikh Abdullah and

his companions. On Friday, Sheikh Abdullah and his


companions too came to Hazratbal and as the Governor started

speaking, he and his companions deluged him with a barrage of

questions. The Governor was unable to give satisfactory replies

to the questions and instead threatened to arrest the youths.

This angered the congregation and they started pelting stones at

him. Frightened, he, and his four, committee members ran away

and took refuge in a nearby house.

A big crowd now started following Sheikh Abdullah who led them

in a procession to the Jamia Masjid where in defiance of the

District Magistrates orders he and his companions made

speeches condemning the government and the committee

members sent by the government to Hazratbal.

Meanwhile Master Abdullah as he came to be known became

a popular figure. Crowds started to assemble near his lodgings

just to look at him. Some even plucked his hair to keep as a

memento. The government getting wind of this came up with a

plan to deal with the situation. It decided to transfer Master

Abdullah to some school in a far of town hoping that without his

leadership the unrest would subside of its own. With this in view

it issued orders transferring Master Abdullah to the remote

town of Muzaffarabad.

Resignation and after

Sheikh Abdullah refused to obey the transfer orders. He was

asked by the Director of Education Mr.McDermit to come to his

office to explain the reason for his refusal. Mr.McDermit was an


Irishman who knew Sheikh Abdullah as previously he was the

Principal of S.P.College where Sheikh Abdullah had studied for

his F.Sc. degree.

With tearful eyes, Sheikh Abdullah told Mr.Mcdermit that during

duty hours from ten A.M. to four P.M. he always attended

conscientiously to his duties. However earning money was for

him only a way to keep alive and was not the purpose of his life.

The purpose of his life was to struggle to obtain justice for his

oppressed people, and he had made a solemn vow that he

would either succeed in restoring their dignity and human rights

or else sacrifice his life in the struggle.

Leaving government service was no small matter for Sheikh

Abdullah who was very poor and had made a great effort to

obtain his Masters degree without any aid or scholarship. It was

a supreme sacrifice but with a heavy heart, he handed over his

resignation to Mr.McDermit. Mr.Mcdermit, was moved to tears,

by this sacrifice of a sensitive young man for his ideals, and

requested him to reconsider his decision. A few days later, the

Education Minister Nawab Khusro Jung called him to his office.

He affectionately asked him to reconsider his decision but

Sheikh Abdullah replied that no inducements would tempt him to

leave his cause. In a few days, the government issued orders of

his dismissal. Instead of accepting his resignation, the

government dismissed him and thus gave vent to its resentment.


Sher e Kashmir

To celebrate his release from bondage his companions called a

public meeting at Khanqah e Moalla. When he arrived, he found

a huge crowd had assembled to hear him. Addressing them, he

apprised them of the reasons for his resignation and then

spontaneously burst into tears as he announced of his

resignation from government service. He emotionally declared

that the sacrifice of the government job was not a big thing as he

was ready even to sacrifice his life for the cause that he

espoused. His speech filled the hearts of the people with fervor

and renewed determination. Filled with affection for him they

literally carried him on their shoulders. Probably it was while

reporting this that the Lahore paper Inqilab used the moniker

Sher e Kashmir (Lion of Kashmir) for him and this title remained

with him for the rest of his life.

47

5THE CONFRONTATION

Sheikh Abdullah and his companions now started holding

regular public meetings all over the city. Huge crowds would

assemble to listen to their speeches and the number of

assembled listeners would occasionally exceed fifty thousand.

Meanwhile Maharajah Hari Singh returned from his tour of

Europe and on July 9 1931 issued a statement declaring that his

religion was justice. The statement also had this barely veiled

threat for the protestors

Whenever I have found that any of you have been led into

wrong action, I have always tried to make you see the error of

your ways and to win you over to the right path by reasoning and

conciliation.

I am not a believer in false ideas of prestige, for I hold that just

action is a sign of strength and not of weakness. But should,

God forbid, all appeal to reason fail, I must discharge in effective

manner the supreme responsibility which rests on me for the

maintenance of law and order.

I cannot allow my Government to be coerced by threat into

unjust action and it is my duty to protect the law-abiding sections

of my people from encroachments on their lawful rights.

The immediate burden of maintaining law and order necessarily

falls on the Magistracy and the Police whose duty it will be to

THE CONFRONTATION48

see that the law is upheld at all costs, and where the law is

defied, its authority will be restored.

It is the duty of the Police to act impartially and with calm

judgement in such emergencies and I wish to assure them that

they will be supported by myself and my Government in the due

discharge of their duty and will not be sacrificed to unjust

clamour or intrigue.

The Maharajah on the advice of his Political Affairs Minister

G.E.C. Wakefield also expressed his desire to hold talks with a

representative delegation of the Muslim residents of the State.

The Young Mens Muslim Association of Jammu nominated the

following four members for the talks 1) Mistri Yaqoob Ali. 2)

Sardar Gohar Rahman 3)Chaudhary Ghulam Abbas Khan and

4) Sheikh Abdul Hamid Advocate. A small committee of their

party had chosen these members. Sheikh Abdullah and his

companions decided to adopt a different procedure. They

decided to choose their members at a public meeting and obtain

public approval for the chosen delegates. Sheikh Abdullah, was

influenced while taking this decision by remembering how the

people quickly forgot Khawaja Saiduddin Shawl and his

companions after their exile from the State, because they had

failed to obtain public support for their protest. Another reason

was the desire to get leaders of different factions of the Kashmiri

Muslims to endorse the chosen delegates to prevent any future

controversy. Khwaja Ghulam Ahmed Ashai and Khwaja

Saiduddin Shawl (who had returned from exile) played a key role

THE CONFRONTATION49

in making the leaders of the different factions who were bitter

rivals to agree to sit on a common stage.

A public meeting

They held the public meeting on 21 June. A mammoth crowd

assembled at the venue of the meeting. The people were

delighted when Mirwaiz Molvi Yusuf Shah embraced his bitter

rival Mirwaiz Ahmadullah Hamadani and shook hands with Molvi

Abdullah who at that time was a prominent member of the

Ahmadi sect (From which he later parted ways). This in spite of

the two being poles apart in their religious beliefs. This show of

unity filled the crowds with a new fervor. Sheikh Abdullah now

made his speech. He said that now the time had come to launch

a do or die struggle for their rights. Then all the assembled

leaders took an oath on the Koran that they would not betray the

national cause .Finally the name of seven delegates were

announced and the public approved them by raising loud

slogans. The seven delegates were 1).MirWaiz Molvi Yusuf

Shah.2) MirWaiz Molvi Ahmadullah Hamadani 3) Agha Syed

Hussain Jalali 4)Khawaja Ghulam Ahmed Ashai 5) Munshi

Sahabuddin 6) Khawaja Saiduddin Shawl and 7) Sheikh

Mohammed Abdullah. The organizers now retired to a room in

nearby Hamadania Middle School to have tea and for mutual

discussions. It was now that destiny intervened in a most

unpredictable manner that upset all the plans and calculations of

the organizers.

THE CONFRONTATION50

Abdul Qadeers indiscretion

Unknown to the organizers a native of Panjab Abdul Qadeer was

present among the audience. He was a cook in the employ of

one Major Butt of the Yorkshire regiment who had come to

Kashmir to spend his summer vacations and was staying in a

houseboat near Naseem Bagh. Abdul Qadeer used to come for

Friday prayers to Hazratbal where he was fond of making

speeches to the assembled worshippers. A few weeks back he

had met Sheikh Abdullah at Jamia Masjid and expressed his

support for his struggle. Sheikh Abdullah had appreciated his

support as the spontaneous feeling of a person in spite of his

being illiterate and a foreigner. As the organizers left the stage

Abdul Qadeer found the temptation to address the mass

gathering too great to resist. Addressing the huge gathering, he

said, O Muslims time has come for you to respond to a slap with

a blow. Memorandums and representations are useless. They

will not help to procure justice for you or solve the matter of the

sacrilege of the Koran. Then pointing towards the Maharajahs

palace, he said, Raze this palace to the ground.

Abdul Qadeers arrest

The organizers were unaware of Abdul Qadeers speech and

after the crowd had dispersed, went back to their homes. Those

days the popularity of Sheikh Abdullah had reached its acme

and he had difficulty moving about as everywhere people used

to assemble around him raising Slogans of Sher e Kashmir

THE CONFRONTATION51

Zindabad. He and his companions were busy addressing daily

meetings when a rumor circulated that the government was

about to make arrests. Sheikh Abdullah, Molvi Abdul Rahim and

Ghulam Nabi Gilkar fearing arrest went to a neighbors house to

spend the night but learnt next day that one Abdul Qadeer, had

been arrested from Nasim Bagh locality.

A few days later, charges were framed against him for

instigating Mutiny against the State. Now that the government

charged him with supporting the peoples struggle Sheikh

Abdullah and his companions, felt obliged to defend him. The

government fearing public unrest decided to hold his trial in the

Central Jail instead of a public court. On 12 July Sheikh

Abdullah, Molvi Abdul Rahim and Ghulam Nabi Gilkar

addressing a big public meeting in the Gawkadal locality of

Srinagar condemned the government for not trying Abdul

Qadeer in open court. They asked the people to be ready for any

sacrifice.

As the trial of Abdul Qadeer was fixed to start the next day i.e.

the 13th of July they requested the people to not to come that

day to the venue of the trial so as to avoid any untoward incident

. At that time, they little realized that destiny would realize the

sacrifice for which they had asked the people on that very day

just a day before the much better known Bastille Day of France

or that like the Bastille Day in France it would one day be

celeberated as a public holiday in Kashmir.

THE CONFRONTATION52

.The massacre

Sheikh Abdullah and his companions had requested the crowd

to stay away from the venue of the trial at Central Jail Srinagar.

Unfortunately, three self-styled leaders Syed Maqbool Baihaqi,

Syed Mohiuddin Andrabi and Mohammed Yahya Rafiqi

reportedly instigated the mob to go the venue. The result was

that on the day of the trial a big crowd assembled outside the

Central Jail. Molvi Abdullah was entrusted with the job of

defending Abdul Qadeer before the trial court. As Molvi Abdullah

entered the Jail, a big crowd forced their way inside but later left

at Molvi Abdullahs request.

In the afternoon when it was time for afternoon prayers a large

crowd entered the Jail premises for saying prayers. As the

people started arranging themselves, someone informed the

Governor, Raizada Trilok Chand who arrived with a posse of

armed police. He started arresting the people who were

peacefully standing outside the gates. This irritated them and

they started pelting stones. The Governor ordered the police to

open fire and they started firing at the persons praying inside the

compound of the jail. The police shot dead a person who was

saying the Azan on the wall of the jails compound. Another

person jumped up and resumed the Azan. He too was shot and

killed, but was immediately replaced by another man. This, gory

drama went on until twenty-two of the worshippers were killed,

and scores injured

THE CONFRONTATION53

The enraged people ransacked and set on fire the police

barracks inside the Jail premises. The people then made a flag

from the shirt of a martyred person and started removing the

injured and dead on Charpoys to the city.

Unaware of what was taking place Sheikh Abdullah was sitting in

his lodgings at Nawab Bazar with Molvi Abdul Rahim when a

distraught person jumped into the room and informed them of

the massacre. He also told them that a big crowd was coming

towards the city with the dead and the wounded. Sheikh

Abdullah asked Molvi Abdul Rahim to go and stop the crowd

from proceeding beyond Jamia Masjid as there was danger of

communal violence if they entered the Hindu areas of the city.

Sometimes later Molvi Abdul Rahim returned and said that the

mob refused to heed his requests and was taking the injured to

the hospital at Maharajgunj. They had also started looting shops

in Zaina Kadal and Bohri Kadal. Sheikh Abdullah now himself

rushed to take stock of the situation.

From enquiries, it transpired that some Punjabi Hindu

shopkeepers of Maharajganj had refused to shut their shops

when asked to do so by people carrying a dead body and some

wounded persons. They jeered at the Muslim mourners, which

enraged them and they attacked their shops. Some antisocial

persons getting an opportunity started looting them. Armed

cavalry soon reached the place and started indiscriminately

arresting and beating the Muslims. On reaching the Jamia

Masjid, Sheikh Abdullah first directed the people to arrange the

THE CONFRONTATION54

dead bodies properly, and then attempted to console the

bereaved. They had no medicine or bandages for dressing the

wounds of the wounded. Outside the armed police was busy

arresting and beating people in the Maharajganj locality and

there was no possibility of taking the injured to the hospital.

The dying mans bequest

It was then that a dying man beckoned Sheikh Abdullah to come

near him. When he came near him, he said Sheikh Sahib we

have done our duty. Now it is your responsibility. Tell the people

not to forget their commitment to the cause After saying this, he

breathed his last.

Sometime later Nawab Khusro Jung entered the Mosque in

army uniform. As he started to speak, Sheikh Abdullah rebuked

him, saying, After this massacre we will not be satisfied with

mere words. We will avenge their blood and not rest until we

have succeeded in restoring their rights to the people. The

martyrs have entrusted this job to us

Arrest of Sheikh Abdullah

Early in the morning, the Maharajahs army surrounded the

mosque with machine guns. Brigadier Sutherland came to the

mosque with the Superintendent of police Mr.Thapa and directed

Sheikh Abdullah to come out. As he came out he was arrested

and taken to Badami Bagh Cantone

sheikh abdullah-a biography

Documents

sheikh abdullahs advice

sake of kashmir

youth of kashmir

naya kashmir manifesto

title atish e chinar

historical documents

syed taffazull hussain

reference works