The History and the Conflict of Kashmir

In a congregation dated June 25, 1931, in Srinagar a non-Kashmiri Muslim delivered a malicious speech and called for fight against Dogra Maharaja and continue to fight till the palace of the Maharaja was razed to the ground. He was arrested for the charge of sedition and trial was fixed in the premises of Central Jail, Srinagar dated July 13, 1931. A massive Muslim mob assembled outside the Central Jail rending the air with slogans against Dogras, Kafirs and Hindus. At one stage seeing the violent mob forwarded to crash the gate, the security had compelled to fire upon the berserk mob when twenty people died. The mob directed their anger towards Kashmiri Pandits and killed many Kashmiri Pandits in Chadoora Tehsil.  Chowdhury Ghulam Abba and Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, Secretary of Muslim Young men’s Association were arrested but released later after tendering apology with oath of loyalty to the Maharaja. Sheik Abdullah’s oath of loyalty to the throne was resented to by the masses. Mirwaize Moulvi Yousuf Shah tried to seize the opportunity for taking leadership and raised the cry for Jehad. Muslim leaders outside J & K State constituted a Kashmir Committee at Shimla electing Sir Mohammad Iqbal as its President at last. Volunteers were sent in Kashmir for fomenting trouble. But any kind of movement could not be fully effective because of the tussle for leadership between Shaikh Moh’d Abdullah and Mirwaiz Moulvi Yussuf which had taken a serious turn diverting the attention of the masses.

Kashmir during the British period

In 1933 Viceroy of India was on a state visit to Kashmir when Muslim leaders submitted a memorandum alleging atrocities subjected to rioting perpetrated by Dogra Rulers on Kashmiri Muslims. Maharaja appointed a Commission of Enquiry presided over by Justice Dalal, the Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. Sheikh Abdullah and his followers refused to cooperate with the commission as they doubted their impartiality. Seeing the politics of hatred among people, Sheikh Abdullah gave up the communal politics and changed the nomenclature of his party from Muslim Conference to National Conference. But Sheikh Abdullah never reconciled to the fact that Maharaja possessed Kashmir by virtue of the Treaty of Amritsar under which Maharaja Gulab Singh took possession of Kashmir by paying 15 lakhs of Rupees and saved the Sikh from humiliation by the British. Seeing the uprising of communism in the international scenario, he accepted the Communist doctrine of transferring proprietorship of land to the tiller to nullify the Treaty of Amritsar (1946). New Kashmir document was framed under the Communist Manifesto. In 1946 Cabinet Mission had been sent to India by the British Government. National Conference differed in principle from Muslim league.

Mr. Moh’d Ali Jinah paid a visit to the Valley in 1945 to woo Kashmiri Muslims but failed to convenience the mass in general to bring Kashmir under the desired home land, a home land for the Muslims of India. World scenario was changing rapidly at that time. Labour Party in England had wined the election and affirmed to grant independence to India. Sheikh Moh’d Abdulla launched Quit Kashmir movement telling Dogras not to abdicate Kashmir any more. The mass cry was “abrogate Treaty of Amritsar and vacate Kashmir”. Mr. Nehru supported Sheikh Abdulla in Quit Kashmir movement. Maharaja Hari Singh was shocked and annoyed with Nehru, who was a Kashmiri Brahmin supported Abdulla, while his ancestors sacrificed their life for the safety and protection of Kashmiri Pandits and Brahmins. He was surprised with the betrayal of Nehru. Sheik Abdulla and other leaders of National Conference were arrested and few others G.M.Bakhshi and G.M. Sadiq fled to Lahore. Mr. J.L. Nehru went to Srinagar for pleading the case of Sheikh Abdulla. Maharaja Hari Singh, Moharaja of J & K State stoutly stood against the breaking of Jammu and Kashmir State when India was moving towards a communal holocaust.