Kashmir martyrs’ day
S M Hali
Every freedom struggle has a defining moment; a benchmark that ignites
the powder keg of history and sets into motion the inexorable march of a people
towards their destiny of freedom. For the oppressed Muslims of Jammu and
Kashmir, this occurred on July 13, 1931. The importance of this day is
underpinned by the fact that this became the first occasion when the Kashmiris
rose en masse and spontaneously against the oppression of the Dogra ruler. As
many as 21 people were shot by the Maharaja’s forces and the day came to be
known as Youm-e-Shuhada (the Martyrs’ Day). July 13, 1931, is the landmark in
the political movement of Kashmir and is manifest of the politicised Muslim
identity that drives the freedom movement in Kashmir; even to this day.
It is one of the greatest injustices of modern history that Kashmir,
along with predominantly Muslim population, was sold by the British to Maharaja
Gulab Singh for Rs 75 lakh through the provisions of the Treaty of Amritsar
(1846). The Kashmiris got a raw deal from their rulers. As observed by Walter
Lawrence: “Almost everything save air and water was taxed in Kashmir.”
Younghusband observes: “The poor coolies, who were engaged to carry load for
travellers, had to give up as tax half of their earnings.”
The Dogra rulers paid no heed to the lamentable conditions of the
masses and undertook no reforms to alleviate their sufferings or make
adjustments to the change of political winds in British India where the
Muslims, with the turn of the century, under the dynamic leadership of the
Quaid were organising to launch a struggle for their political rights as a
community. It was the gathering focus on their state of neglect as a community
that the first mass expression of discontent of Kashmiri Muslims made its
forceful emergence on July 13, 1931.
The countdown to the eventful day started on June 25, 1931, when the
Reading Room Party convened a mass meeting at Khanqah-e-Muallah. The ambience
of the meeting translated into a highly-charged and emotionally-political
atmosphere; and as the meeting began to disperse, a young man appeared before
the crowd and mesmerised it with a stirring speech. This young man who ignited
the fire and passions of freedom was Abdul Qadeer, who hailed from Amroha in
U.P. and was visiting Kashmir along with his British employer. Such an
unprecedented boldness could not be let off by the Maharaja’s administration.
His speech was recorded by the secret police and he was arrested on June 25 on
charges of treason.
When the Muslims heard about his arrest, there was a wide and intense
reaction in Srinagar. The result was that when Qadeer was produced in the court
of the session’s judge, there were throngs of people who lined the route to
kiss his hands and touch his clothes. The transformation of the populace from a
detached and passive countenance to that of a determined people bent upon
showing their resolve and respect for freedom, shook the administration’s
confidence in the efficacy of their repressive tactics. Catering to their
newly-found apprehensions, on July 5, the venue of the trial was moved to
central jail that caused a lot of resentment among the population and further
charged the already tense atmosphere. It was becoming manifest that the things
were moving on an inevitable course for a showdown.
On July 13, thousands of Muslims assembled outside the jail and
demanded permission to enter the compound and allow their representatives to
watch the proceedings. The authorities’ refusal to entertain these demands
turned the situation grave. At 1:00pm when the Muslims began to line up for
Zuhr prayers, the Governor personally issued immediate orders for the arrest of
leaders present there. The police arrested five leaders from among the crowd,
whereupon the people became restive and chanted anti-government and pro-Qadeer
slogans.
The situation became dangerously confrontational when the crowd asked
for the immediate release of the leaders and attempted to force its entry into
the compound. Instead of handling the situation with tact, the Governor lost
his nerve and ordered the police to open fire that resulted in the martyrdom of
21 people, besides injuring over 40. It goes to the valour of the shuhadas
that, according to Mr Wakefield, “the wounds of dead Kashmiris (shuhadas) were
all in front.” The violent mob then set the police quarters on fire and using
the blood soaked shirt of a martyr as flag, took the bodies to the Jamia Masjid
where they were kept under a vigil for the whole night by the
people/procession.
The Maharaja immediately imposed martial law and handed over the city
to the army that encircled the Mosque. The standoff continued until the
shuhadas were buried in the compound of Khanqah-e-Naqshbandi on the third day
of the incident amidst heartrending incidents of devotion and inspiration. The
entire population of the city had assembled to pay homage to the heroes. The
site of these graves has come to be known as Mazar-e-Shuhada where every year
on July 13, the Muslims from all over Kashmir gather to dedicate themselves to
the cause of freedom and honour.
July 13, through spilling the blood of martyrs, made a singular
contribution towards the evolution of the freedom struggle in Kashmir. The blooding
of a docile people broke the collective spell cast by the tyranny suffered in
silence through centuries and vehemently underscored the power of sacrifice and
character for securing the ideals of independence and freedom. It significantly
asserted the Muslim identity in Kashmir and established the tradition of armed
struggle for the Kashmiris to secure their rights. The 21 martyrs of July 13
blazed a trail of glory that, ever since, has inspired generations of Kashmiri
youth to follow in their footsteps. The impact of this sacrifice has become
even more relevant in the current context, when India is employing all possible
delaying tactics to avoid finding a solution to the Kashmir issue in line with
the wishes of the Kashmiri population.
One
has to recognise that the Kashmiris have staked a claim for independence from
India based on a bloody and valiant armed struggle that began in 1989 and is
sanctified by the blood of over 100,000 martyrs. In a milieu, where the Indians
are using all kind of delaying tactics to crush the indigenous freedom struggle
by unrelenting repression - combined with political skulduggery, the
significance of the Martyrs’ Day has become that much more relevant.
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