July 13 is Black Day for KPS

 

13h of July is a Black Day for Kashmiri Pandits. It was, on this day in 1931, when fanatics and communalists, under the garb and disguise of Afghan Muslim butler of British Army Officer, Abdul Qadir Khan, made an inflammatory speech aided and abetted by the local leadership, looted the Hindu community This day is being observed by the Kashmiri Pandit community as a Black Day in commemoration of the persecution of the Hindu community on that fateful day Observing 13th July, as the so-called Martyrs' Day by the State Govt, amounts to rubbing salt on the wounds of the minority Hindu community of Kashmir It is unfortunate that the day, when the Kashmiri Hindu Community was subjected to mass persecution and faced revolt from communal forces, has been designated as the martyrs day by the political class of the Valley On this day, under a pre-planned action programme, the people, under the supervision and leadership of communal forces looted Hindu properties and houses in different parts of the Kashmir valley.

Abdul Qadeer Khan was a fundamentalist and radical follower of Islamic ideology Maulana Jamaluddin Afghani, who delivered an inflammatory speech at Khankahi Moulla Shrine. asking people to revolt against the Dogra Maharaja. On that day, the Young Men's Muslim Association had convened a public meeting at Khankah-I-Moula Notably, Sheikh Mohd. Abdullah and Mirwaiz Moulvi Yusuf Shah were members of that association, besides other leaders. At the conclusion of the meeting, Abdul Qadeer Khan rose up and delivered an inflammatory and hatred full speech in support of Islam and against non-Muslims and the maharaja. He said that the honour, respect and reverence of the Holy Quran were dearer to the Muslims than earthly kingdoms They can never tolerate any interference in their religion or delilement of their Holy Book.

For his speech Abdul Qadeer Khan Ghazi was arrested on 25 June, 1931 Later, a large number of people were present to witness his trial Muslims of the State were sympathetic towards the Ghazi and many of them would assemble in the court to know the fate of the prisoner.

The trial of Abdul Qadeer Khan Ghazi was held in the Srinagar Jail The people attacked jail premises with the intention of freeing the culprit Abdul Qadir Ghazi The magistrate ordered policemen to fire three rounds in air People shouted Allah -ho-Akbar and Islam Zindabad Many were injured in this firing and the police arrested many protesters Twenty-two persons , died due to firing The loot, murder and arson launched against the Kashmiri Hindus reflected the perennial religious hatred the Muslims had been harboring against the Hindus of Kashmir.

It will not be out of place to mention that the first memorandum submitted to Maharaja Hari Singh by the Muslims of Kashmir sought a ban on Indian National Congress and the activities of the Kashmiri Hindus fraternising the organisation The Reading Room Party, led by Sheikh Abdullah, was an abettor of the vicious propaganda unleashed against the Hindus, who had been the main target of the Muslim politics Life-size posters, instigating Muslims to protest and revolt, proved a catalyst for the communal frenzy engulfing the Kashmiri Pandits. The goons had their heyday everywhere, especially in Srinagar indulging in loot murder and arson. The British officers, owing allegiance to the British network of intelligence in complicity and connivance with the communal forces in the Valley helped the loot murder and arson of the Kashmiri Hindus.

The communal orgy was preceded by an outrageous act of kidnapping, wrongfully confining and murdering a Kashmiri Hindu girl, Durgi by name. It sent shock waves in the miniscule minority of Hindus, reminding them of the same type of persecution and torture that they were subjected to during the earlier Muslim rule. What was the worst was that the state police lathi-charged the funeral procession of one thousand Hindus accompanying the dead body of the victim to the cremation ground for the last rites. The government never acted as all its operational capacities were paralysed by the interference of the British officers in the state affairs.

With a view to achieving their political ends British officers forced and pressurised the Maharaja to constitute a Grievances Commission for a probe into the complaints of the people of Kashmir The Commission was chaired by B.J Glancy, who was directly linked with the British society Intelligence Department. The Hindu members on the Commission from Jammu resigned when the Muslim members from J&K demanded a change in the Hindu Personal Law facilitating the fresh converts to Islam to own their hereditary properties even after conversion. It did not take up for consideration the vital issue of settling the age long dispute over Kali Temple, which was forcibly occupied and demolished for the erection of the Mir Ali Hamadani Mosque The Hindu demand for the construction of a shed at the point of worship on the river ghat, only to shelter them from inclement weather, was rejected. There were numerous Muslim agencies operating for fresh converts to Islam. They worked under a well-formulated design and were financially supported by inside and outside agencies. The demand underpinned the motives of arming the Muslims for purposes of launching an armed crusade against the fragile minority of Hindus in Kashmir. 

The one-sided and biassed recommendations of the Glancy Commission were prominently marked by an appeasement of the Muslim majority of Kashmir. The legitimate rights and interests of the Kashmiri Hindus were sacrificed and trampled upon. Instead of conceding their legitimate demands, the government let loose a reign of repression against the Hindus. They were lathi- charged, balon charged arrested and imprisoned and hurt with all sorts of repressive and coercive measures Toeing the old strategy of grabbing the Hindu places of worship the Muslims whipped up a mass frenzy and let loose their brute force to unlawfully occupy two places of Hindu worship, one at Sahara and the other at Narparistan, in Srinagar The Narparistan place of worship, known as Nanshwari Temple, was demolished and a grave installed at its sanctum sanctorum. It was done in violation of civilised canons guiding relations between various communities in a pluralistic society.

The factors motivating Muslims to loot, and plunder Hindus have been more communal than economic Almost simultaneously with the happenings in Srinagar, there was an uprising at a place named Vicharag some 5 km away Untold atrocities were committed there, men owning lakhs were reduced to destitute position and women were subjected to the worst possible cruelties and the most indecent assaults. A military force was despatched to the place, but by the time that havoc had been completed. Some lost their lives and many suffered physical injuries. Stray assaults continued till long after.

(The writer is a social activist)

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Courtesy:-   Ravinder Jalali  and Koshur Samachar 2018, August