I was just walking through some documents I had saved over the years, when it struck me that there has been very little new research work or relook into the history of the hill states. One particular format has been the examination of oral ballads, very few of which seem to be available in popular culture today. However, that was certainly not the case in the British era, when much field work seems to have been done by scholars of Europe on the subject, as they panned across the state of the Lahore kingdom and their adjunct territories. Sirmour was a Small Princely state along the Yamuna river's course While their purpose may have been malevolent in nature, many interesting insights got captured over the course of their work, and replication or improvement on the same seems to be rather scarce, especially in the context of what the European scholars used to call the "Punjab Hill States". One such case was on Sirmour, where very little information can be found in the publi...
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| Kashmir 1931 - Finding the Truth (courtesy MediaVigil) |
Maharaja Hari Singh, as I pointed out in an earlier post, had committed to a formation of an independent India at the 1931 round table. Since then, every occasion was sought by the british to put him down. An occasion was created in 1931 which is often touted as Martyrs Day by Kashmiri Muslim separatists. However, a careful examination of the entire incident tells one that the 20 June incident was nothing but a fabrication.
To this day, the incidents of Jammu can not be linked to the reason for the protests in Srinagar. Whatever fabrications the entire cabal may try, fact of the matter remains that Jammu saw its affairs entirely separately in matters of religion and had full faith in the Maharaja's Raj. The cases of Jammu Jail and Udhampur will case are entirely fabrications, references to which can still not be found in official records. If there were such cases, one wonders why there are no such records in the archives, which to this day remain some of the best princely state archives within India. In any case, the real set of events essentially are often hidden. Especially the fact that is hidden is that the atmosphere within the Kashmir Valley had already been set up for communal violence to take place, and the overall national scenario.
Building Up to 1931
1931 followed the Round table in London, which had miffed the British, who decided to activate the incendiary elements. The Muslim League was given a free hand by the British to tour India - one must recall that the 1930 Pakistan resolution was already out and had been adopted by the Muslim League. Kashmir was envisaged as one of the crucial components of the geography of the proposed state of Pakistan. Consequently, Muslim League leaders had entered the state of Jammu and Kashmir and were giving inflammatory speeches to inflame communal tensions. While Jammu was under control, Kashmir Valley saw the flaring up of tensions, with leaders like Sheikh Abdullah and Maulvi Yusuf Shah also collaborating in the game. The Muslim League had been invited by the Muslim Conference led by Maulvi Yusuf Shah to create the backdrop. Moreover with the promotion of Muslim Reading Rooms, the British Resident was also abetting the communal tensions within the Kashmir Valley.
The Alleged Incident
On 20 June 1931 news spread like wildfire in downtown Srinagar that a desecrated copy of the Qur'an was found in a latrine. A cook, Abdul Qadir, apparently who curiously worked for the British Resident, claimed to have found the burnt pages of the Qur'an stuffed down a latrine. The man was quickly paraded across the city, whereby he made several incendiary speeches flaming passions, calling for action against the kafirs. He had openly and brazenly called for actions against Hindus, accusing them of having undertaken the Act.
Rioting followed, whereby shops and establishments of Kashmiri Hindus were particularly targeted. Houses were also burnt down amid severe stone pelting. The police eventually tried to take things under control, but maddening crowds were trying to storm the city's important places. To quote G S Raghavan,
"All efforts to pacify the unruly mob proved futile. While there was commotion outside the jail there was also disturbance inside, prisoners tried to force open the iron gates. About this time, certain prisoners were being taken from the court to the jail. The crowd stoned the policemen and the prisoners were liberated. The prospect was by no means satisfactory. The District Magistrate's order was defied, who had been summoned to the spot by the time, and had declared the crowd to be an "unlawful assembly" and ordered its dispersal. The order was defied and finding that the mob could neither be pacified nor dispersed, the District Magistrate directed fire to be opened. The crowd fell off but later it re-assembled and resumed stoning. It had to be dispersed with a Lathi charge. Part of the crowd, however moved towards the Hari Parbat Fort: the cavalry had to pursue it and disperse it again. A section of the recalcitrant's proceeded towards a place called Maharaj Ganj which is a business locality and loot over an extensive area followed. From Bhori Kadal to Alikadal a long stretch, Hindu shops were raided. Other localities such as Safakadal, Ganji, Khud and Nawakadal too formed the centers of loot. Bazar streets were littered with property, books of accounts were burnt: the Hindu shopkeepers were molested, in short, pandemonium prevailed."
Subsequently it was in police action that people died. However, these efforts to control the unruly crowds and restore law and order is today shown as an uprising against the Maharaja's Draconian rule. What is worse is that there has been severe glossing of the riots and mayhem, especially the targeting of Kashmiri Pandits and other Hindus in Srinagar. However violence also spread to other parts of the state.
The British Conspiracy (?) and its Aftermath
One question about the incident has to date never been addressed. Who was this Abdul Qadir? The cook of the British Resident had turned up only around this time, and within a matter of days of entering the Valley, was conveniently giving speeches, citing verses from the Qur'an to inflame passions. He was the sole witness to the incident. Moreover, in his speeches he asserted that the book forbade Muslims to subject themselves to an infidel Hindu ruler, and also incited the Muslim crowds to take up cow slaughter and break the law.
Interestingly, he was arrested and was was to undergo a trial when the Srinagar Central jail was stormed, and the man slunk out, never to be seen again or heard again in the Valley.
Looking back, Abdul Qadir seemed to be a British Resident's asset, who was used to create mayhem in the Valley. Upon examining in the larger picture, it was clear that the background for inciting communal violence to cause embarrassment to Mahraja Hari Singh and put pressure on him seems to have been formulated by the British government at some level. Riots citing this were also incited in Mirpur, Kotli and Muzaffarabad, where Hindus were also attacked by hordes of jihadi elements.
Subsequently, the turn of events seem to indirectly confirm the same. As part of the enhanced activities of the Great Game going on, British Indian government had been pressuring Maharaja Hari Singh to cede Gilgit-Baltistan. They finally succeeded, when in 1935, the Maharaja granted the British what they wanted - the lease of the Gilgit agency.
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