INTRODUCTION:

Following World War II, the international political landscape rapidly shifted, resulting in a significant shift in political tone in Kashmir, as in the rest of India. The primary impact of this war was that it reduced the power of the British Empire. Although the Allies vanquished the Axis forces, Britain bore the brunt of the cost. The 'first global power' was so brutally wounded that it had to strive to maintain its third-class world reputation. The British, weakened by war-mongering policies, ousted Winston Churchill and favored Clement Attlee's Labour party. The new administration had no choice but to save the Empire's ruins.

It therefore admitted that the British sovereign's hands had been paralyzed to the point that they could not hold on to a country thousands of miles distant, and which was seething with rage and unhappiness at its subject condition. It announced the decision to dispatch a Cabinet Mission to India. The Mission, comprising Lord Pethic Lawarence, Sir Stafford Cripps, and Mr. A.C. Alexander, arrived in India on March 23, 1946, and remained in Kashmir from April 19 to 26, 1946. The future of the princely states was one of the mission's most pressing concerns. It was thought that after Partition, the reigning rulers of the states would choose which federation to join. This process was rejected by Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress, whereas it was backed by M.A. Jinnah and the League. In his book, Abdullah recalls, “I presented my case before Gandhiji, saying, the right of accession should rest with the people of the States. We need to start an agitation to get this right.”¹ Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah returned to Lahore after Gandhiji was unwilling to take any action on the matter. On 22 April, Sheikh Abdullah, president of the All Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, sent a telegram to the British Cabinet Mission members in Srinagar. In this memorandum, the National Conference highlighted the Dogra dynasty's acquisition of Kashmir sovereignty through the Treaty of Amritsar, where Gulab Singh paid 75 lakh (Nanak Shahi) rupees to the British, essentially a sale deed, for his title over Kashmir. The Memorandum stated inter alia:²

“As President, All Jammu and Kashmir National Conference represent all communities and classes of people inhabiting Jammu and Kashmir State. I welcome your visit to our state and hope that it will usher in new era of freedom both political and economic for four million state people. As mission is at moment reviewing relationship of Princes with Paramount power with reference to treaty rights we wish to submit that for us in Kashmir re-examination of this relationship is vital matter because hundred years ago in 1846 land and people of Kashmir were sold away to servitude of Dogra House by British for seventy-five lacs of Sikh rupees equivalent to fifty lakhs British Indian rupees. Then Governor of Kashmir resisted transfer, but was finally reduced to subjection with aid of British. Thus sale deed of 1846 misnamed treaty of Amritsar sealed fate of Kashmiri masses. We declare to the world that this sale deed confers no privileges equivalent to those claimed by states government by treaty rights. As such case of Kashmir stands on unique footing and peoples of Kashmir press on Mission their unchallengeable claims to freedom on withdrawal of British power from India. We wish to declare that no sale deed however sacrosanct can condemn more than four million men and women to servitude of an autocrat when to live under this rule is no longer there. People of Kashmir are determined to mould their own destiny and we appeal to mission to recognize justice and strength of our cause.”

The National Conference persuasively argued that the future of states should be determined by the opinions of the people living in the states, not the rulers' opinions. However, the Cabinet Mission did not consider it due to its reliance on British government policy decisions, which transferred power to the Princes based on their treaty obligations with the respective states, which were unequal in their character and intended to consolidate their colonial rule in India. When they were quitting India, they wanted to leave it fractured and weak. Instead of transferring paramountacy to the people of the states, it was given to the Princes on the condition that they could enter "into a federal relationship with the successor government or governments in British India, or failing this, enter into the particular arrangements with it or them."³It meant that the states were left with the option of remaining even independent. Based on their assessment, the British assumed that most powerful states, including Kashmir, would choose independence, leading to their determination to Balkanize India. However, India's matured leadership foiled the British game.

Quit Kashmir:

Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah returned to the Valley on May 3, 1946, after attending the States People Conference meeting in Delhi. He found citizens in a state of dismay, strongly opposing the Maharaja and Prime Minister-Pandit Ram Chandra Kak. Before starting the movement, on May 6, 1946, Abdullah addressed a public gathering in Srinagar, condemned the state government for its hypocrisy and attempt to undermine the state's quest for self-governance, and urged citizens to prepare for a larger struggle. The speaker outlined the reasons that led Mirza Afzal Beg's resignation and Mian Ahmad Yar Khan's appointment in his place was due to a plot by the Maharaja and Kak to create dissensions in the National Conference and the people's movement in the state.”⁴ His appointment meant that they had resorted to Machiavellian methods, and as a result, his representative capacity is nonexistent. Thus “the Maharaja has not only put an axe on the elective system of appointing popular ministers, on the lines of his diarchic experimental, but has become a party to the conspiracy against the popular Movement in Kashmir,"⁵ Such an attack on people's rights and unity of their representative organization occurred during a time when the minds of the people of Kashmir are already exploring new perspectives opened up by the Cabinet Mission's constitution-making initiatives. On May 10, Abdullah publicly demanded the repudiation of the Treaty of Amritsar, asserted that Maharaja had no moral or legal claim to Kashmir, and declared that the time had come for Dogra to Quit Kashmir.⁶

S. M. Abdullah delivered speeches full of fire and venom against the Maharaja from May 9th to 16th, 1946, declared that: “The time has come to tear up the Treaty of Amritsar . . . Kashmir has been sold by one trader to another for a paltry amount; we will collect the money through contributions and tell him to vacate this land and go to a village… it is the program of the National Conference that Dogra raj should be ended. The government of this country should be transferred to the hands of the people…Sovereignty is not the birthright of Maharaja Hari Singh. Quit Kashmir is not a question of revolt. It is a matter of right.”⁷

Sheikh Abdullah challenged the legality of Maharajas rule in Kashmir and declared in unequivocal terms that they had no right to rule the region. He outlined the objectives of the Quit Kashmir Movement, encouraged the masses to unite against autocracy and feudalism, and organized them for the final battle with the Dogras. He added, “Our war is open, and you must join it." Supporting freedom's fighting forces is your duty.⁸The Movement's central theme was "absolute freedom from Dogra autocratic House" and "restore sovereignty to its real owners – the people",⁹ with slogans demanding Dogra Maharaja to quit the Valley and allow Kashmiris to shape their own future.¹⁰

The Quit Kashmir Movement spread like a prairie fire, involved people from all parts of the state. The movement became more and more of a mass rebellion against the government and princely monarch Hari Sing, generating opposition even in neighboring states. Abdullah's autobiography asserts that "the people were galvanized, and ‘Quit Kashmir’ was on the lips of every citizen.”¹¹The entire Kashmir mountain valley was filled with slogans such as "Dogra Raj Murdabad" (Death to the Dogra Raj), "Hari Singhun boul Khudayan goul" (May God perish the progeny of Hari Singh), and "Ram Hoonun mool zin badal zoul" (Ram Chandra kak father be burned like a fuel)¹². Moreover, "Bainama Amritsar tod du-Kashmir chord du" (Tear down the sale deed of Amritsar and Quit Kashmir), was the widely used slogan, while the poet Iqbal's lament, "Qomay furoktand chi arzan furoktand" (People sold; how cheap were they sold) became the Bible that all Kashmiri tongues sang.¹³

On May 18, 1946, minor clashes occurred between Hindus and Muslims at Amira Kadal, Srinagar, due to anti-Hari Singh slogans from National Conference workers. On May 19th, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah postponed processions and meetings to avert Hindu-Muslim clashes. This step may have been taken to stop the government from purposefully encouraging factionalism and communalism in order to sabotage the movement's main objective. On May 19 and 20, 1946, Sheikh Abdullah held discussions with his lieutenants, including Ghulam Mohammad Bakshi, Khawaja Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq, Mirza Mohammad Afzal Beg, and Ghulam Mohi ud din Kara. Fearing arrest by state authorities, Bakshi and Sadiq had escaped to Lahore, from there they attempted to organize a protest and publish party literature. Afzal Beg moved towards Islamabad to forefront the Movement there.¹⁴ Kara is recognized as the movement's hero, having been in charge of the underground chapter of the Quit Kashmir movement. The government wasted a considerable sum of money and a large number of troops in an attempt to track him down and catch him, but to no avail. He did not flee to evade arrest; rather, he worked to keep the movement alive in Srinagar. The party workers frequently met with him in secrecy and discussed views with him on the organization's ways and methods of operation. They used to report to him on the general public's reaction to the movement. He was well considered as a Bulbul of Kashmir (The Nightingale of Kashmir).¹⁵S.M. Abdullah, after completing all preparations for struggle, left Srinagar for Delhi by road to meet his mentor Pandit Nehru. Before he could reach there, he was arrested on May 20 at Garhi, on the Srinagar-Rawalpindi road and was taken into custody.¹⁶

S.M Abdullah delivered a speech in Srinagar before his arrest, declared:¹⁷

“The tyranny of the Dogras has lacerated our souls. The Kashmiris are the most handsome people, yet the most wretched looking. It is time for action. To end our poverty, you must fight slavery and enter the field of Jehad a soldiers.… The demand that the Princely Order should quit is a logical extension of the policy of 'Quit India'. When the Indian freedom movement demands the complete withdrawal of British power, logically enough the stooges of British Imperialism also should go and restore sovereignty to its real owner-the people. When we raise the slogan of 'Quit Kashmir', we naturally visualize that the Princes and Nawabs should quit all the States…Handcuffs jingle. They do not make us afraid. God will give us faith in victory. The voice of truth will prevail. Prophets have spoken for the truth, which has always triumphed finally. Sovereignty is not the birthright of a ruler. Every man, woman and child will shout Quit Kashmir…”

That very evening, the government's repressive machinery was fully mobilized, and the Dogra army was discreetly deployed to strategic areas in the Kashmir Valley, including Srinagar and other major cities. The army's detachments were swiftly deployed to various other locations including Mirpur, Poonch, Kotli, Bhaderwah, Rajouri, and Banihal.¹⁸ Brigadier Scott, Commander of the Kashmir State Army, led the operation, while IGP Powell, a key British officer in the state, established an operational headquarters at 'Widdows Palace’ in the same evening. This was done along with the ace British agent R.C Kaka the Prime Minister of the state.¹⁹ Sheikh Abdullah's arrest sparked widespread anguish and processions were held across the Valley to protest against his arrest, leading to widespread destruction of infrastructure and urging for the overthrow of the autocratic Dogra government. The leaders of the movement, before surrendering to the police, held public rallies at Khanqahi Maula and Hazrat Bal in Srinagar and other locations. Within twenty-four hours of his detention, printed posters and handbills appeared that announced the formation of a 'War Council' with Ghulam Mohi ud Din Kara as its general dictator. The Dogra army and demonstrators engaged in numerous clashes, particularly in Srinagar, Islamabad, and Pampur. The situation in Srinagar worsened, leading to a policy of repression, arrests, and multiple fires. Military personnel killed both men and women, women were dishonored, people were forced even to walk on their knee, places of worship were desecrated, and army attempted to terrorize the entire population through frightful methods. According to official data over twenty people were killed, with around three hundred imprisoned and hundreds injured due to military firing. Non-Muslim political leaders, including Pandit Kishap Bandhu, Pandit Sham Lal Sarf, Sardar Budh Singh, Janki Nath Zutshi, D. P. Dhar, and Comrade Sanat Singh and only Sham Lal Sarf, Sanat Singh, and D. P. Dhar actively participated in the movement, while others were apprehended as precautions.²⁰

The account given by Prem Nath Bazaz can be used to assess the army's behavior towards the people:²¹

"The Dogra Military misbehaved themselves. They perpetrated excesses on both Hindus and Muslims, on Nationalists and non-Nationalists. All people passing through any street or crossing a bridge where troops were stationed had to raise their hands high and shout the slogan “Maharaja Bahadur ki Jai" (Victory to the brave Maharaja). Several shops were looted on mere pretence that the owners did not sell goods to military men even when the soldiers offered the full prices. Many innocent persons were beaten and molested on suspicion of being agitators. When, however, these things were brought to the notice of Kak he issued instructions to the Military Command that such objectionable practices should stop at once. Thereafter matters did improve a good deal but military men here and there continued to be the source of trouble till they remained posted anywhere. The slogan Quit Kashmir was enough to ruffle the martial spirit of the Dogra soldier."

Premier Kak revealed that the government's repression was pre-planned in an interview with the Hindustan Times correspondent on May 27, 1946: “we have been preparing for it for eleven months …we are ready to meet the challenges. There will be no weak-kneed policy…we shall be ruthlessly firm and we make no apology about it…”²²

It was "total war" against Sheikh Abdullah's declaration of an "open revolt." However, the man who hoisted the rebel banner and his close associates were arrested few hours after the blitz began. It was the poor people who had been victimized to the "total war. G. M. Bakshi wrote about the scenario of the Quit Kashmir agitation, "I have sufficed by quoting only what has appeared in the press. The actual happenings are even more horrible. What is happening today is still worse, arrests, mass meetings, punitive police, lathi charges, mass searches, complete terrorization are in full swing."²³

The National Conference, a prominent national organization, advocated for political, social, and economic reforms aimed at eradicating privilege and slavery in Kashmir. The Quit Kashmir agitation had involved the masses, and as a direct result of this agitation, from the lowest to the top, its members were jailed. Sheikh Abdullah, the unquestioned leader, and three of his lieutenants were prosecuted for various reasons, with S.M. Abdullah being the main culprit.

On September 10, 1946, the court pronounced its decision, and Sheikh Abdullah was found guilty under Section 124(A) R.P.C. for using three speeches, notably May 10 and 13, as evidence against him. He was sentenced to three years of simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 500 on each score. ²⁴

Abdullah statement to the court before leaving:²⁵

“It is a small matter whether I am arrested, tried, or convicted. But the masses of the state suffer poverty, humiliation, and degradation, which is a matter of concern. It has been no small matter what they have endured during the violent repression and horror of the past two months and more, and what they are enduring now. These very events have demonstrated the justice of our demand and our cry Quit Kashmir…”

Besides, Abdullah other important leaders and workers of the National Conference were also imprisoned. During their imprisonment, significant changes occurred in India and Jammu and Kashmir.

CONCLUSION:

The Quit Kashmir Movement proved to be a significant event in Jammu and Kashmir's struggle for freedom that eventually culminated the fifteen years of long organized struggle. The Movement generated uproar against the Maharaja, which quickly spread throughout the entire state. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah's speech ignited public outrage, encouraged the masses to revolt against the oppressive government, and advocated for a democratic form of government. It was not just an incident or an outburst, but the final assault on the Maharaja, marking the end of the autocracy's existence. The movement was indeed a remarkable manifestation of their heroic efforts to end the dual oppression of feudalism and colonialism in the state. It was well-organized movement that latter led to the establishment of a popular administration in Jammu and Kashmir.

REFRENCES:

1. Abdullah, Sheikh Mohammad, (1986), Aatish-i-Chinar, (Autobiography) (Urdu), Ali Mohammad and Sons, Srinagar, p.356

2. Memorandum sent to the Cabinet Mission by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, 1942.

3. Dhar, D. N, (2001), Dynamics of Political Change in Kashmir: From Ancient to Modern Times, Kanishka Publisher Distributors, New Delhi, p.73

4. Kaul, Santosh, (1990), Freedom Struggle in Jammu and Kashmir, Anmol Publications, New Delhi, p.171

5. Mohd, Bakshi Gulam, (1946), Kashmir Today “Thru Many Eyes”, Bombay: Bombay Provincial Congress Committee, p.15

6. Kaul, Santosh, Op.cit, p.171

7. Abdullah, Sheikh Mohammad, (1947), Kashmir on Trail, The Lion Press, Lahore, pp.15-20

8. Hassnain, F. M, (1988), Freedom Struggle in Kashmir, Rima publishing House, New Delhi, pp.134-135

9. Gupta, Sisir, (1966), Kashmir: A Study in India – Pakistan Relations, Asia Publishing House, New Delhi, p.62

10. Bazaz Prem Nath, (1967), Kashmir in Crucible, Pomposh Publications, New Delhi, p.35

11. Abdullah, Sheikh Mohammad, (1993), Flames of the Chinar: An Autobiography, translated by Khushwant Singh, Viking, New Delhi, p.79

12. Hassnain, Op.cit, p.135

13. Jalali, P. N, (1980), Quit India Movement: A Frame Work, edit, Prof. Mohammad Yasin and Dr. A. Q Rafiqi, History of the Freedom Struggle in Jammu and Kashmir, Light and Life Publisher, New Delhi, p.155

14. Saraf, Muhammad Yusuf, (1977), Kashmiris fight for freedom, Vol.1 1819-1846, Ferozsons Pvt.Ltd, Lahore, p.672

15. Taseer Bilquees, (1996), The Making of Sheikh Abdullah, Ferozsons Pvt.Ltd., Lahore, p. 175

16. Abdullah, Sheikh Mohammad, (1986), Aatish-i-Chinar, pp.360-361

17. Abdullah, Sheikh Mohammad, (1947), Kashmir on Trail, pp.7-8

18. Abdullah, Sheikh Mohammad, (1986), Aatish-i-Chinar, p.361

19. Raina. N. N, (1988), Kashmir Politics and Imperialist Manoeuvres 1846-1980, Patriot Publisher, New Delhi, p.136

20. Saraf, Muhammad Yusuf, (1977), Op.cit, p.673

21. Bazaz Prem Nath, (1954), The history of struggle for freedom in Kashmir, Kashmir PublishingCompany, New Delhi, pp.255-256

22. Brecher, Michael, (1953), The Struggle for Freedom, Ryerson Press, California, p.175

23. Mohd, Bakshi Gulam, (1946), Kashmir Today “Thru Many Eyes”, Bombay: Bombay ProvincialCongress Committee, p.2

24. Abdullah, Sheikh Mohammad, (1947), Kashmir on Trail, pp.15-20

25. Ibid, pp.37-38

Received on 22.12.2023 Modified on 20.01.2024

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2024;15(2):156-160.

DOI: 10.52711/2321-5828.2024.00023