Raies Ahmed Mir
22 Kashmiris who were shot dead, one after the other, outside the Srinagar Central Jail by the armed forces of Dogra Maharaja’s autocratic rule. The Kashmiri victims had gathered in the jail premises to attend the court proceedings against one, Abdul Qadeer, who had asked the Kashmiri people to defy Dogra rule.
The discrimination Kashmir’s Muslim majority is still facing to this day also came to the fore for the first time during the Sikh rule. Back then, the murder of a native by a Sikh was punished with a fine of 16 to 20 Kashmiri rupees to the government, of which 4 rupees would go to the family of the deceased if the victim is a Hindu, and only 2 rupees if the deceased is a Muslim.
And in 1846, when the British East India Com-pany defeated the Sikh Empire in the first Anglo-Sikh war, Kashmir was sold to the Dogras as if it was not the home of millions of people but just a “commodity”. Gulab Singh, a Dogra, who served as the ruler of Jammu in the Sikh Empire, chose to side with the British in the Anglo-Sikh war. After the war, the East India Company “sold” Kashmir to Gulab Singh for a lump sum of 7.5 million rupees to reward his loyalty.
The Dogra rule was possibly the worst phase in terms of the economic extortion in Kashmir. Most of the peasants were landless since Kashmiris were banned from holding any land. About 50-75 percent of cultivated crops went to the Dogra rulers, leaving the working class with practically no control over the produce. The Dogra rulers also reintroduced the begar (forced labour) system under which the state could employ workers for little to no payment. Not only every imaginable profession was taxed, but Kashmiri Muslims were also forced to pay a tax if they wished to get married too. The absurdity of the exorbitant tax system reached a new high when something called “zaildari tax” was introduced to pay for the cost of taxation itself!
During the Dogra rule, Kashmiri Pandits – native Hindus of the Kashmir Valley – were slightly better off than the Kashmiri Muslims, perhaps as a result of the administration’s pro-Hindu bias. They were allowed to have more upper-class jobs and work as teachers and civil servants. This meant that amongst a predominantly Muslim population, the so-called “petite bourgeois” was dominated by the Hindus. The Dogra regime also replaced Koshur with Urdu as the official language in the region, making it even harder for the Koshur-speaking Kashmiri Muslims to break free from poverty.
Therefore, the history of Kashmir’s Muslims of-ten intersects with the history of the working class in the valley. In fact, throughout the Dogra rule in Kashmir, the resistance against the oppressive regime was shaped by class as much as religion.
The tension was brewing Jammu and Kashmir during Dogra rule since 19th April 1931 when Imam Munshi Muhammad Ishaq was stopped by Dogra police chief, Chowdry Ram Chand, from delivering Eid Khutba (sermon) in the Municipal Park of Jammu. The incident triggered massive demonstra-tions in Jammu city that continued for many days. Ban on Eid Khutba was followed by the desecration of the Holy Quran at the hands of Dogra troops in Jammu. This outrageous act led to widespread re-sentment throughout the State.
In Srinagar, people held massive gatherings at historic Jamia Masjid and other mosques, shrines and Imamabargahs to denounce this blasphemy and demanded punishment to the culprits.
A youth, Abdul Qadeer, was also part of a crowd, who was listening to the speeches delivered by prominent Kashmiri leaders at one such gathering held in Khanqah-e-Mualla, Srinagar. When the meeting concluded, Abdul Qadeer pointing his finger to the Dogra Maharaja’s palace raised full-throated slogans “destroy its every brick”. A case under sedition was filed against him and he was arrested instantly. Abdul Qadeer was to be tried in the court but due to a large public resentment the court was shifted to the Srinagar Central Jail.
On 12th July 1931, intense public demonstra-tions were held throughout the city against the shift-ing of the court to the Central Jail.
On 13th July, 1931 thousands of people thronged the Central Jail in Srinagar to witness the trial of Abdul Qadeer. As the time for obligatory Zuhar prayers approached, one of the youth stood up and started reciting “Azan”. He was shot dead by the Dogra soldiers and next youth started the ‘Azan’ where it was left by the martyred youth. He was also killed and in the process of completing the ‘Azan’ a total of 22 Kashmiris were martyred, one after the other. This massacre is the blackest chapter in the history of Dogra regime.
The number of people killed on 13 July 1931 is generally quoted as 22. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah has mentioned this number in his book (Aatash-i-Chinar, p 64) without giving names of the fallen persons. Political leader and one time Abdullah’s associate, Munshi Mohammad Ishaq (Nida-e-Haq, p 107), an eyewitness to the developments of 1931, corroborates the number but, like Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, mentions no names. Author and scholar, Molvi Mohammad Ibrahim, [Koshur Encyclopedia, Vol I, p 350-51, published by the Jammu & Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture & Languages in 1986] gives the following 22 names with residential addresses:
Amir Joo Jandgaroo (Gojwara), Akbar Dar (Osar Bhavan), Mohammad Teli (Osar Bhavan), Mohammad Subhan Rather (Osar Bhavan), Abdullah Ahangar (Narabal Nowshehra), Abdullah Lone (Mokhte Pokhar), Mohammad Shaban Misger (Mokhte Pokhar), Khaliq Shora (Anzimar), Mohammad Sultan Chola (Aram Masjid Khanyar), Ahmad Bhat (Fateh Kadal), Mohammad Sultan Khan (Basant Bagh), Nasiruddin (Chinkral Mohalla), Abdul Salam Hajam (Guzarbal), Mohammad Akbar (Zaldagar), Ghulam Nabi Kanewal (Mohalla Pandan), Abdullah Najar (Ompora), Ghulam Mohammad Sofi (Daribal), Mohammad Subhan Khan (Nawab Bazar), Abdul Gani Makai (Nawa Kadal), Ghulam Mohammad Naqash (Kadi Kadal), Ghulam Mohammad Halwai (Jama Masjid) and Ghulam Qadir Bhat (Mohalla Bahauddin Sahib).
Pir Mohammad Afzal Makhdoomi, another po-litical leader and eyewitness of the events, says that 23 persons were killed on 13 July 1931. [Kashmir ki Tehreek-e-Azadi: Khwaab, AzaabSaraab, p 73-74]. The one additional name given by him is Ghulam Rasool Dardah, a resident of Qutubuddin Pora.
