Rajan Gandhi
Accession of Jammu and Kashmir was not an ordinary one. Successive famines along with epidemics like cholera from 1877 to 1910 AD and an outbreak of plague in 1903-1904 AD decimated quite a population, consistent harsh climate with difficulty road connectivity created further resentment among people. Britishers took advantage of this and appointed Sir Olivier St. John as the first Resident after divesting powers of Maharaja Pratap Singh on allegations of treasonable correspondence with Tsarist. Afterwards Maharaja Hari Singh got the reigns of Jammu and Kashmir with extended boundaries up to Gilgit-Baltistan, Ladakh, Trans-Karakoram and Aksai Chin. Progressive Maharaja Hari Singh made primary education compulsory in the state, introduced laws prohibiting child marriage and opened places of worship to the lower castes. Meanwhile, influenced by Khilafat Movement, a “Fateh Kadal Reading Room Party” was crafted and Sheikh emerged as leader supported by Mirwaiz Mohammad Yusuf Shah and Mirwaiz Hamdani. Trial of Abdul Qadeer resulted in 1931 communal riots after which All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference was formed in 1932. Mirwaiz Mohammad Yusuf Shah raised the banner of revolt and founded a new organization Azad Muslim Conference. Disobedience Movement in March 1933 was overshadowed by the sectarian clashes between the supporters of the two Mirwaiz’s of Kashmir. In 1934, first 75-seat assembly of state was formed and MC won majority of Muslim seats sidelining Mirwaiz Yusuf Shah’s party. On April 26, 1939 the General Council approved the resolution and recommended amendment in the name and constitution of MC which was renamed as National Conference (NC) to give it a secular outlook.
As the World War II broke, NC moved further closer to Congress by formally endorsing INC’s stand on war. On this, Ghulam Abbas and Alla Rakh Sagar resigned from NC and revived MC in 1941 with Mirwaiz Yusuf Shah as their representative in Srinagar, receiving its ideological support from the Muslim League which by then had passed The Pakistan Resolution. In 1940 Nehru visited Kashmir along with Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan declaring NC as sole national organization of the state and also nominated Sheikh Abdullah as Vice President of the All-India States People’s Conference, a Congress-allied group of movements in Princely States but this presented incontestable proof to Kashmiri Muslims that Sheikh Abdullah was a puppet of the Congress. To counter this NC organized a statewide protest day and in June 1941 NC instructed its members to resign from the Praja Sabha. With Congress leaders in jail after launching Quit India movement , Muslim League with its local ally MC had a free run as a result Sheikh Abdullah patched up with Dogra Darbar, got his members nominated back to assembly and to the boards responsible for issuing rice ration tickets and permits for fuel as well as to the Parliamentary Committee set up in 1943 to make proposals for constitutional reforms. The NC members were subsequently alleged for corruption and discrimination. Sheikh Abdullah advised Mirza Afzal Beg and G.M Sadiq, two members of the Royal Commission, appointed by the Maharaja for the evolution of an organic scheme for the administration of the state, to resign. NC submitted its own plan ‘Naya Kashmir’, drafted by communist P.B.L Bedi. Meanwhile Jinnah also visited Kashmir in 1944 and instructed NC to merge with MC. Abdullah refused and with this rift with Jinnah widened. All this propelled the Dogra regime into announcing plans for diarchy on October 2, 1945. Accordingly NC got appointed Mirza Afzal Beg as Minister of Public Works but growing scarcities in both urban and rural areas caused by the World War II, people’s discontent reached to the boiling point as Beg’s Rs 1600 per month salary and official car were so glaring. NC soon realized it and rift with Maharaja further widened as on 18th March 1946 NC representative resigned from the Kashmir ministry.
Meanwhile British Cabinet Mission pronounced the return of full powers to the rulers of the Princely States which meant Maharaja would decide which Dominion J & K would join which increased the worries of Sheikh Abdullah as this would have meant no role for him post partition. Agitated Sheikh denounced the Treaty of Amritsar and asked Maharaja Hari Singh to ‘Quit Kashmir’ and transfer sovereignty to the people. A crackdown resulted and Sheikh Abdullah was arrested along with other leaders of NC in May. His lieutenants, Bakshi and Sadiq escaped to Delhi and Nehru in June 1946 forcibly tried to enter J and K without permit, was subsequently arrested and sent back creating further rift. On 10th September 1946 after sedition trial, Sheikh Abdullah was convicted of treason, given three and a half years imprisonment despite Nehru’s best efforts to save his friend.
On the other hand on 16th August 1946- MC celebrated ‘Azad Kashmir Day’ with a state wide hartal call which resulted in crack down on MC also and Choudhary Abbas joined his one time friend turned foe in jail. Thus, far from ending the Dogra rule in the state, both NC and MC were left leaderless and in disarray. By March 1947 communal fires set ablaze Multan, Rawalpindi, Amritsar, Lahore, Campbellpur, Murree, Taxila and Attock forcing sealing of Kashmir-Punjab border to ensure communal harmony. Maharaja had three options; accept proposal of MC to go with Pakistan but joining Pakistan would mean that the substantial number of Hindus in J&K might have to flee and despite personal assurances to Maharaja Hari Singh, a Hindu prince’s future would be uncertain in an avowedly Islamic country, an accession to India meant his own future at stake as Nehru, the Maharaja’s arch-critic, was to be Prime Minister who would have favored Sheikh over him. The third option for Maharaja was pulling off independence with the support of Abdullah, but this was not possible in view of the long-standing enmity between them and resultant mistrust. For Jinnah’s Pakistan Kashmir was also equally important as four of the five rivers in West Pakistan (Indus, Jehlem, Chenab, and Ravi) originated from J & K .
Meanwhile, the most important thing happened, the Boundary Commission appointed to draw a line on the map through Punjab divided Gurdaspur district adjoining Jammu and awarded the three eastern Tehsils to India, thus providing road access to Jammu which would not have been possible otherwise. After this, Nehru took peculiar and adamant stand that Kashmir should accede to India but only after Sheikh Abdullah was released. Mountbatten, who was still Viceroy of British Government, visited Kashmir from 18th to 23rd June, 1947 but he failed in persuading Maharaja. Maharaja still remained indecisive and finally three days before the transfer of power, he announced his intention of signing a standstill agreement with both Pakistan and India that would assure that arrangements for trade, travel, communications and other services would continue as with British, Pakistan accepted it but India rejected it.
Rest of India became independent but a major local revolt against the Maharaja’s authority developed among Muslims in the North-Western Poonch area of Jammu. Pakistan tried to put pressure on Maharaja’s administration to accede to Pakistan with supplies of commodities running short in Kashmir as Pakistan blocked Rawalpandi road against standstill agreement with Pakistan. By 11th to 13th August 1947 partition violence erupted in Sialkot driving the surviving Hindus and Sikhs to Jammu and on 18th August 1947 in one of the worst train massacres of the partition occurred with passengers of Wazirabad-Jammu train. With efforts of Sardar Patel, Sheikh Abdullah was released on September 29th after he assured Maharaja “the fullest and loyal support”. But Sheikh Abdullah lost no time in reasserting his political creed and in his first speech at Hazooribagh on 3 October 1947, he promptly began a campaign for popular government, a must before deciding which dominion to join. With Sheikh Abdullah still busy in his politics to create a space for himself, several thousand bellicose Pathan tribesmen from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), supported by the Chief Minister and Pakistan army, invaded the Kashmir valley. The lightening speed got state administration as well as NC panicked as its slogan “freedom before accession” was rendered irrelevant in view of invasion from Pakistan. Thus, Sheikh Abdullah and his party were forced to throw in their lot with India. Maharaja signed ‘The Instruments of Accession of Jammu and Kashmir’ on 26th October 1947 which was accepted by the Government of India on 27th October. Sheikh Abdullah provided “fullest support” to the accession. Despite opposition from Patel and Mehar Chand but ill advised by Mountbatten and an assurance from Sheikh Abdullah, Nehru declared his government’s pledge to hold a referendum under UN. Game was set with both Nehru and India in trap.
Both Sheikh and Nehru were opposed to Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan, but Nehru was opposed to its autonomy also. Nehru fought on both fronts but his love for Sheikh Abdullah created an ideal mess which Pakistan utilized to create a tangle. Sheikh’s initial stand of public’s popular rule turned into autonomy demand under changed circumstances of 1947 and the worst part is that nationalist voices of people of Jammu remained irrelevant in the whole process. As a result of consistent plotting Maharaja Hari Singh was exiled, boarded a train to Bombay on June 20, 1949 never to return back and breathed his last on April 26, 1961in exile with Yuvraj Karan Singh and his wife on a trip to Europe and the Maharani in Kasauli. The state government refused to share the grief of the Dogras as Radio Station played songs and state flag continued to flutter. Some youth marched to the civil secretariat and attempted to bring down the flag to half-mast but were fired upon.
Nehru could have rectified his earlier blunders by honouring Maharaja after Sheikh Abdullah was dismissed and arrested in Kashmir Conspiracy case but he chose the other way to promote subversives. Pro autonomy National Conference of Sheikh Abdullah with Congress support acquired majority in 1951, 1957 and 1962 even before polling began to elect assembly with their candidates elected unopposed as opposition candidate nomination papers were rejected. A Country within Country was created with Sheikh Abdullah as Wazir-e-Azam and subsequently Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad/ Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq with Nehru and his Congress always there, just a call away. Things have changed drastically under present regime, as Articles 370 and 35 A gone, pelting of stones checkmated, subversives behind bars. It’s the time now to turn back the clock, honour ‘the Maharaja of Masses’. Declaration of 23 September holiday will let Nation and Dogras celebrate and pay gratitude to the sacrifices of Maharaja Hari Singh, an everlasting tribute to the iconic Dogra Monarch.
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