July-13: Helix of Kashmiris' Jerk
By the Editor

KASHMIRIS along either side of the Line of Control [LoC] with their brethren in Pakistan and elsewhere around the Orb observe 'Kashmir Martyrs Day' — the 73rd in sequence today — with a renewed pledge to seek their birth right of self-determination ton for affixing their fate and destiny in a free, fair and judicious environ — at all costs.

This grand and striking day of Kashmiris matchless heroism resets again with a dynamic tenacity to rupture the despotic fetters of the Indian tyranny in the same style they kicked off a crusade against the wild and wicked Dogra regime. It was July the 13th in 1931, the take-off point by the chivalrous sons of the charismatic and marvelous Himalayan State to bring a malevolent regime of the ferocious Hari Singh to a lasting end.

Ever since the inking of the 10-point nasty and perfidious Amritsar Treaty on March-16 in 1846 [17 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1262] inked between the British rulers of the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent and their nasty sycophant, Gulab Singh, literally a Pandora’s Box was set off for the people explicitly the pre-dominant Muslim populous of the state — correctly phrased as Paradise on Earth, a part of which [forcibly held by India] was turned into a land of horror.

Gulab Singh, an average specie and a turncoat of his own credo, in fact fully exploited the fall of Sikhs, marked by the economic collapse at the hands of the British masters and was eventually crowned — as a top slayer ruler of the Jammu and Kashmir State with a petite total-sum of just 75 Lakh rupees [7.5 million] — known as Sikka Nanak Shahi, an icon of the then circulating currency, far slighter than the worth of an actual or if otherwise one can say — a rupee.

The hideous deal also set aside a proviso that the elfin amount the cost of a dazzling realm with its populous shall be paid by the wicked Singh in installments, in whatever fashion he [Gulab Singh] deemed apposite. He was given a receipt of the minuscule rate of ‘purchase’ by the East India Company on March 29 in 1850 despite the act, the callous punter botched even the fixed sum.

The felon toady acknowledged the ‘gift’ with the words: ‘The British Empire has literally bought me, as their permanent shoe-licking slave till time without end.’

A sharp and spontaneous reaction erupted and sparked in the state like swelling volcanic emission. Yet it was mashed with full clout but the inmost emotions of the bravura Kashmiris engorged with the advent of every dawn.

The year 1931 surfaced with a perilous course for Gulab Singh’s heirs, who had made peoples life wretched. Not only that the masses irrespective of ones’ gender were subjected to shameful atrocities [intricate to be narrated in words] they were simultaneously shackled in multiple levies like taxes on cooking stoves, windows, in-door gates, and even on wives.

The notorious schema behind this sadistic mindset was to mash the folks monetary flipside so that no one could even lift eye-brows on the magnitude of the reign of terror a typical vile emblem of the so-called civilized west, like the British and their lackeys.

Going by the index of the history, the factuality that comes in light is that July the 13th 1931 was the virtual podium of the current struggle of Kashmiris, which was set off as a decisive step to make — even the Indian invaders evaporate in a jiffy as they had stepped onto the sanctified soil of Jammu and Kashmir against the aspirations of the de facto dwellers of the State.

The take-off of the freedom movement was an upshot with frequent episodes. April 29, 1931 was Eid-ul-Azha. A hefty crowd of the faithful assembled at the Municipal Bagh of Jammu to offer prayers. The Imam, Mufti Muhammad Ishaq was delivering sermon with backdrop of the Islam history.

A Hindu Police Inspector, Khem Chand instantly interrupted with an order to stop at-once. This nefarious act of the police-man prompted a spirited retort all-over with a unanimous call that Khem Chand should be tried and taken to task. Yet the Dogra ruler, Hari Singh did not pay any heed to the demand made with one voice and instead caged a number of Muslims.

A gory incident followed in Samba, where Muslims in majority were prevented to fetch drinking water from a pool with an eventual sectarian skirmish. On June 4, Fazal Dad, an aficionado was attacked by yet another policeman, Lambu Ram, who seized the sacred Panj Sura [Verses from the Holy Quran] , which was being recited by the Faithful. It evoked a endemic anger among Muslims to the extent of a complete strike all-around.

Another assemblage took place at Khanqa-e-Mu’Aallah in Srinagar on June 25 to express indignation over frequent ugly acts of the vindictive Dogra regime. Over sixty thousand of the then wee population with Muslims in majority to the size of almost 85 percent of the total attended the moot, which was presided over by the religious scholar, Mir Waiz Maulana Yousaf Shah with speakers who included the founder of Muslim Conference, Choudhury Ghulam Abbas, Sardar Gohar Rehman, Sheikh Abdul Hamid, Khawaja Ghulam Nabi Gilkar, Khawaja Ghulam Nabi Eshai, Agha Hussain Shah Jalali, Maulvi Abdur Rahim and Mufti Jalluddin with many other stalwarts.

In a spur of moment, a young man to whom some historian call as an alien [some say a Pathan] named as Mujahid Abdul Qadeer come into view with an zealous call to the addressees. ‘Its time to act, We can in no way accept the monstrous acts of the Dogra Regime specifically towards our sacrosanct religion and the Holy Quran.

Step up and put such horrendous acts of the cold-blooded foe to a lasting end.’ The feisty and candid speech of the young man [who so ever he was] received an awe-inspiring response from every-one, setting in motion the an insightful rivulet to scrap a brutal rule. Mujahid Qadeer was put into cage after his capture from a house-boat, the same evening.

Since it was the first political case in the history of the state, people from all segments of society made sure their presence on the day hearing against Qadeer took place in the court of the district judge, Krishan Lal Kichlu. Each one of them have had unparallel adore for the young man who had echoed the sentiments of the people in a crystal clear way.

This scenario jolted the Dogra regime, which shifted the hearing of the case from the court to the Central Jail in Srinagar perceptibly to avert the people’s presence. It proved as a last nail in coffin of the Dogras, as the anti-government demonstrations swelled at a swift pace. An imposing public meeting at Gao Kadal on July 12, 1931 censured the decision of Qadeer’s trial in Jail with a call for open hearing.

Then came the key day July 13th when an outsized crowd amassed outside the Jail the pedestal of trial against Qadeer — in solitary confinement. The gorgeous and elegant landscape of Srinagar, surrounded by miraculous peaks echoed with slogans of Allah-o-Akbar, Islam Zindabad, Abdul Qadeer Zindabad. When persuaded by the authorities to leave the site, the demonstrators calling for an open trial vowed with a gracious tone that they would do so after offering prayers.

The callous armed men, led by Hindu governor, paid no heed to this vindicated vow and instead opened ruthless fire on the defenseless souls taking instantaneously 22 valued and loved lives — including a lady. Their sprits, trekked to Heavens, inking the preamble of the history of struggle for freedom and paving vistas for unbolting the epoch of alarm and revulsion initiated by the notorious Amritsar Treaty.

The top Kashmiri leader, Choudhury Ghulam Abbas who is in fact the harbinger of the present crusade by Kashmiris against India’s illegal, illegitimate, illicit, unlawful, immoral, inexcusable, reckless and criminal foray on the fragrant soil of the fascinating and charismatic State, writes in his memoirs: ‘If this day [July 13] would not have been a limb of the Calendar, the heroic history of the state being written since 1931 and would persist [till the liberation of the domain, now from the Indian yoke] would have been entirely different.’

Meaning thereby that July the 13th is not only a unique milestone, manifesting the rock-hard fortitude of Kashmiris to seek their right of self-determination at all costs but also a cursor for India to quit the grabbed part of Jammu and Kashmir at-once, else its’ malevolent conquest would be made fade away with still more optimal might, may it be a supreme sacrifice of any scale, size or enormity.

With this realism, catalogued in history, New Delhi must try to admit and identify the pragmatic significance of the then [1931] British Prime Minister of the State, Weckfield who after having a look on the valiant and charming faces of the martyrs was induced to remark: ‘I feel stunned over the audacity and gallantry of even the juvenile and adolescents [who embraced Martyrdom] — as each one of them has received bullets on their chest and none on the back. I am obliged to salute these unique souls for their courage and boldness.'

Isn’t it an ample evidence of Kashmiris fabulous resolve to smash your manacles, Sonia Gandhi-led Congress government in India? So why not to bow before the bona fide will of the people of Jammu and Kashmir? Its’ the solitary way to solve this issue in an amiable style.

Since Vajpayee-cum-Advani led set-up, now filed in the folio did try to grip and seize IHK and failed dejectedly in its ploys and gambits — even by applying a military might of almost a million — one feels optimistic the new regime in India [which has ruled a number of times even before] — would eschew all types of hideous paths and would, instead accept the ground realities, which overtly ray — that not only India but in fact the entire South Asia — with the world atop — would continue to face risks and perils — if Kashmir issue is not resolved strictly in line with the aspires of the people of the Himalayan State.

Isn’t fact Ms Sonia and Manmohan Jee?●