INSIDE KASHMIR

PREM NATH BAZAZ

FIRST EDITION

SRINAGAR
THE KASHMIR PUBLISHING CO.
1941
Printed by S . A . Latif, M g . Proprietor, Lion Press, Lahore and published
by Prern Nath Bazaz for the Kashmir Publishing Co., Srinagar.
 CONTENTS
Page
PREFACE .. .. .. .. .. .. i-ii
CHAPTER
I . A GLIMPSE O F PAST HISTORY .. .
I1 . EARLY DOGRA RULE .. .. .. ..
I11. BEFORE THE YHAR 1931 .. .. ..
IV . THOSE MEMORABLE WEEKS .. .. ..
V. T H E MASS MOVEMENT .. .. .. ..
VI . GRIEVANCES AND DEMANDS .. .. ..
VII . FROM COMMUNALISM TO NATIONALISM
VIII. T H E PROBLEM OF STATE SERVICES ..
I X. KASHMIR TODAY .. .. .. .. ..
X . T H B MUSLIMS .. .. .. .. ..
XI. THE MINORITIES .. .. .. .. .
( a ) Kashmiri Panditlr .. .. ..
(b) Rajputs .. .. .. ..
(c) Jammu Hindu6 .. .. ..
(d) Harijans .. .. .. ..
(e) Sikhs .. .. .. ..
( f ) The Buddhists .. .. ..
(g) Shias . .. .. ..
(h) The Domiciled Community ..
X I 1. T H E NATIONAL CONFERENCE

XI11. T H E PRESS .. .. .. .. .. ..
XIV . T H E FREEDOM WE ENJOY .. .. ..
X V . RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT FUTURE ..
 PREFACE

This book is different from so many that have

been written on Kashmir. It is not a globe-trotter's
book; it does not describe Kashmir as a sportsman's
paradise or as an ideal 'beauty spot.' It is not #a
delineation of the natural beauty of the 'Happy
Valley,' enlivened by funny character-sketches of
'Hatos,' as the Punjabi likes to call Kashmiri
coolies, or by anecdotes about an interesting trek.
Nor, in order to make i t readable and amusing
enough, have I strung half-truths in a book on
"Mother Kashmir" or " Kashmir in Sunlight and
Shade."
My aim in writing this book has been to
explain the , general economic and political
conditions of the people of Kashmir; to tell
the truth about certain recent doings ; and, in par-
tioular, t o give a succinct account of the political
incidents of 1931 with those preceding or succeed-
ing them against their historical background and
with reference to the larger context of contemporary
events in India and the world. I have tried t o
understand the problem of the masses and the
minorities of Kashmir and have described the part
played by the different communities and their
leaders in making recent history.
I have verified every statement of fact made in
the book, and tried to be fair t o everybody, while
expressing my own opinions clearly and frankly.
Where I have disagreed with the Government or
other political workers I have put their viewpoint in
their own words as far as possible. I should feel
really very unhappy if I have inadvertently caused
pain t o any person or party by an inaccurate
statement.
The publication of the book would have been
hfficult but for valuable help received from many
friends who supplied me with documents relating to
the past history of Kashmir. T o all of them I
offer my heartfelt thanks. My special thanks,
however, are due t o two of my esteemed friends
who read the manuscript before it went t o the press,
but whose modesty prevents me from mentioning
their names. I must also thank Messrs. Dutta and
Co. for permission to use one of their photographs
for the cover design.
The title of the book is frankly borrowed from
very famous books with which mine can claim no
comparison. It is suitable too in the sense that I
have not included in the book those Kashmiris who
have left the country and settled outside it.

May 2, 1941. PREM NATH BAZAZ

 CHAPTER I
A Glimpse of Past History
Foreigners have adversely criticised Indians for
neglecting to preserve a connected record of their
past history. Ancient Hindus are not considered
good historians. There is a paucity of historical
material relating t o the Hindu Period in almost all
parts of India. Happily this is not the case with the
ancient land of Kashmir. A faithful record of her
past has been preserved in a famous book entitled
t h e Raj Tarangini (River of Kings) by the reputed
historian Kalhana, who lived in the first half of the
twelfth century A.D. Kalhana is not the oldest
known historian of Kashmir. Among his predeces-
.sors to whom he is obviously indebted for much of the
material used in the Raj Tarangini are Helaraja, who
flourished in the eighth century A.D., Ratnakara who
lived in the reign of King Avanti Varman (872-900
A.D.), and Kshemendra of the time of King Kalasa
((1063-89 A.D.). There hare been others of lesser
importance whose books have little historical value.
According t o the R a j Tarangini there existed n o re-
cognised form of Government in Kashmir till 2180
B.C. There was n o king and the people enjoyed a
2 INSIDE KASHMIR

communal life as in the rest of the world before

civilisation made its appearance. In 2180 B.C. Raja
Daya Karan determined to establish a kingdom in
the happy valley. In this he proved successful.
Thus were laid the foundations of a monarchical
system of government.
The Hindu kings ruled over Kashmir for over four
thousand years. During this long period of history
twenty-one dynasties rose to power one after the
other. In his famous work Kalhana has briefly
narrated, in Sanskrit verse, the main episodes in the
career of hundreds of kings who ruled over Kashmir
during this long period of her history. Most of what
he has written regarding the earlier period of his-
tory appears t o be conjectural. His dates are
doubtful. The narrative is also very vague and dis-
appointingly brief. But that part of it which relates
to the centuries nearer his own times are reliable
and give us a glimpse of the political and social
conditions of those days.
After Kalhana the work of writing history was
continued. I n the time of King Zain-ul-Abidin
(1420-70 A.D.) Jona Raja and Mulla Ahmad brought
down the narrative t o their own day in Sanskrit and
Persian respectively. The task was taken up again
by Srivara in 1486 A.D. byzrajya Bhat in the time
of Akbar in 1575 A.D., by Haider Malik in 1659 A.D.,
by Narain Kaul in 1710 A.D., by Mohammad Azam
in 1747 A.D., and by Birbal Kachru in 1850 A.D.
The work was finally completed for us by
many modern writers, notably Pirzada Hasan,
Prakash Ram, Pandit Hargopal Kaul, Munshi
 A GLIMPSE OF PAST HISTORY 3
Mohammad-ud-Din Fauq and others. Among the
latter-day chronicles, that of Pirzada Hasan is the
most authentic and that of Haider Malik, a partisan
writer, the least trustworthy.
I t is not possible for us to describe precisely the
social or economic condition of the people of Kash-
mir during the earliest part of the Hindu Period
beyond the fact that the government was an
absolute patriarchy : and if the Raja was a benevolent
monarch, people enjoyed a prosperous time; but
when a tyrant happened to ascend the throne, they
suffered heavily. There has been no dearth of bad
kings in the history of Kashmir, nor of well-inten-
tioned and noble monarchs. It is not within the
scope of this volume to survey and discuss all the
historical persons who have from time to time
moulded the destinies of the people of the happy
valley, but i t will not be amiss if some of the very
prominent ones are mentioned in passing.
Among the Hindu kings of the earlier period
the notable names are those of Meghavahana
(1-35 A.D.) Jayananda (582-616 A.D.), Jayapida
(764-797 A.D.) and Avantivarman (872-900 A.D.)
who, by their brilliant achievements in maintain-
ing internal peace and continued prosperity of
their subjects and by miIitary exploits outside home,
brought great fame t o their country. During
the long reigns of these monarchs, Kashmir had
the good fortune to make all-round progress ; the
people were happy, the land and its simple arts
flourished. The name of King Vinayaditya (407-
540 A.D.) shines by itself. H e was a saintly
4 INSIDE KASHMIR

monarch and a " Philosopher-King." Before ascend-

ing the throne he had been trained in the school of
oriental simplicity under the care of a saint. W h e n
he was approached by the people t o accept the
throne which had been vacated by his father, he
accepted i t on several conditions, chief among them
being that no one should utter a lie or kill a living
being or deceive his fellow-countrymen. H e built a
smalI hut a t the foot of Shankaracharya hill which be-
came his residential quarters. Adjacent t o it he got
two godowns constructed in which landlords belong-
ing t o the Kamraj (North Kashmir) and Maraj
(South Kashmir) were asked t o store voluntarily
one-tsnth of the produce of their lands, the share
that was considered customary revenue belonging
t o the State. H e had n o use for Government
officials as he entirely depended on the good sense
and honest dealings of his subjects. He, therefore,
dispensed with the services of them all. H e had to
retain his army only for defence against foreign
aggression. H e appointed his brother t o look after
i t and handed over the key of one godown t o him.
Vinayaditya would distribute the contents of the
other godown to the needy in the morning every day.
H e led a very simple life himself and lived on his own
earnings by cultivating a piece of land which he had
reserved for the purpose a t a little distance from his
hut. H e was scrupulous enough to put his $,-.of
produce in the godown as did the other landowners
in the country.
The centuries that have elapsed have not oblite-
rated the name of Vinayaditya from the memory of
 A GLIMPSE OF PAST HISTORY 5
the people and when something unusually good
happens such as can belong 'only t o a golden age, it
is customary to say that Vinayaditya's days have re-
turned.
The most famous of the kings of Kashmir in \
those earlier days was Lalitaditya, known also as
Muktapida (715-752 A.D.). H e was an ambi-
tious monarch. When he succeeded t o the throne,
Kashmi,r was in a disorderly condition as the result
of misrule and maladministration of his brother.
After having restored peace in the country, Lalita-
ditya started on a conquest tour of the whole of
India. H e subdued all the kings he fought with and
brought almost the whole of the northern India
under his sway. Not content with this he went be-
yond the boundaries of Bharata Varsha through
Afghanistan and subdued Turkey and a part of
Central Asia and returned by way of Tibet to
his native land after 12 years' absence. Alberuni, the
famous Muslim traveller, records that the Kashmirians
of his time celebrated annually a certain day as
festival in commemoration of Lalitaditya's victories.
Lalitaditya was a great statesman, and has left
behind a sort of instrument of instruction on the
art of governance for the rulers of Kashmir. These
suggestions, not advanced when compared with
modern principles of statecraft, convey an idea of
the keen insight which that great monarch possess-
ed.
There were bad Hindu kings as well. Kalhana
mentions many instances of rulers who proved a
source of misery for the people. No crime was too
6 INSIDE KASHMIR
heinous for them t o commit. Some of them were
dethroned and punished for their misrule while
some others had to be tolerated till death took them
away.
It is n o t an easy task t o state correctly the
social and economic condition of the people of
Kashmir during those earlier days. The available
historical material on this subject is so meagre that
nothing can be stated with certainty. Yet some
facts may be gleaned and conclusions drawn with
some degree of fairness from what Kalhana and his
successors wrote in their chronicles.
It is obvious that the lives led by Hindu kings
were, generally speaking, very simple. Most of them
were unostentatious and had very few wants. Un-
like the absolute monarchs of the mediazval times,
they lived among their subjects as heads of families
and shared their weal and woe. Their economic and
social lives were not far removed from those of
ordinary men. They were accessible t o the
humblest of their subjects and hauteur of royalty
did not keep them aloof. They were in the habit of
moving frequently among their people. Hiuen
Tsiang, the Chinese traveller, who visited Kashmir
in the regin of Durlabh Vardhan (617-53 A.D.
found the people prosperous and peaceful. H e
tells us that all adjacent territories on the west and
south were subject to the sway of kings of Kashmir.
It is remarkable that in the discharge of their
public duties the queens of Kashmir took an equal
and enthusiastic part. As a matter of fact some of
them achieved great fame by their heroic deeds done
 A GLIMPSE OF PAST HISTORY 7
t o serve the cause of the people of the land. One of
them Didda Rani (998-1017 A.D.) was the undis-
puted queen of her realms when the mighty con-
queror Mahmud Ghaznavi came t o invade Kashmir
but had t o return greatly disappointed and deject-
ed.'
Although it is true that during those ancient
times when, beyond the produce of land, scarcely any
wealth existed and consequently no classes in the
modern sense had yet developed in society, yet it
cannot be denied that a class of people whose volce
influenced the kings and directed their actions had
come into being. From time to time they were
exploiting the masses to serve their ends and the
kings had to be cautious not t o incur their dis-
pleasure. Brahmins as elsewhere in India were an
important part of this class. Many undesirable kings
were removed or made t o abdicate. As soon as a
king had become unpopular in the eyes of the
people, rebellions were organised and the kings made
t o feel the force of public opinion. Many sections
of masses took prominent part in such risings.
Damars, Tantriyas and Nyayaks had made them-
selves particularly notorious for their intractability.
It is doubtful whether these rebellions were always
in the interests of the masses, and whether the aris-
tocracy sometimes did not use them for their own
good. Anyway the fear of these risings appears t o
have produced a healthy and wholesome check on
the kings.
~ -~

'In a booklet " Kashmir-ki-Raniyan " Fauq has briefly de-

scribed the achievements of 18 Hindu queens of Kashmir.
8 INSIDE KASHMIR
T h e economic life of the people must have been
very simple. As stated already, land was the sole
means of production : there were hardly aay indus-
tries. Cultivators had to pay one-tenth of the pro-
duce of their land to the Government as revenue,
N o other taxes were levied.
I n spite of the simplicity which characterised
their economic and social life, the people were
advanced culturally. There was scarcely a branch
of learning which they had not studied and, in many
cases, the results shown were marvellous. I n phil-
osopy, religion, medicine, sculpture, astronomy.
literature, engineering, and in many other walks of
life their progress was striking enough even for the
modern age. They wrote numerous books on
various branches of knowledge, but only a few are
extant. Among the few works that have been pre-
served mention may be made of some important
ones t o give the reader an idea of our cultural past.
W e of the present generation can and should
take legitimate pride in the fact that our earlier
ancestors evolved a philosophy of their own marked-
ly different from the Vedantic philosophy-pro-
found and popular. This philosophy known as
Kashmir Shaivisrn or the Trika philosophy is charac-
terised by absolute monism, depth of thought and
originality, which have been universally acknowl-
edged. It is an idealistic philosophy unrelenting in
its analysis and logic, but does not shirk the realism,
the objective reality of the world. Nor is it black
magic, sacrificial ritual, or what may be called a
bb
fleshly school " of philosophy. It was only recent-
 A GLIMPSE O F PAST HISTORY 9
ly that the philosophical literature of Shaivism has.
been brought t o . the notice of the Western World
by the efforts (not always satisfactory and enthusi-
astic) of the State Research Department. It is
now attracting the attention of many eminent
scholars and thinkers, some of whom consider it
more synthetic and profound than all other known
works on religious philosophies of the world. The
school of Shaivisrn was first founded by Vasugupta
in the eighth century A.D. who wrote Spanda Karika,
an important book on the subject. He was followed
by Kallata Bhat in the ninth century who wrote
Spanda Vritti. Soon after came Somananda, a
great genius with his profound treatise Shivadrishti.
Utpala Deva, whose boolrs Pratyabhijna and
Stotravali are given a place of authority on the sub-
ject, lived in the tenth century. The most versatile
enchanting and prolific author on Shaivism is.
Abhinava Gupta, who flourished during the reign of
the Guptas about the end of the tenth century. H e
has written many books besides the famous Tantra-
loba, a dazzling philosophical work. Other important
writers on the subject were Kshemendra, Kshema-.
raja, and Yogaraja. The last named lived about
1100 A.D. and is the author of a distinguished work,
Paramnrthasara.
Works on literature are numberless. But among
the important ones mention may be made of Bhima
Bhatta's Ravanarjuniya (700 A.D.) ; Damodara
Gupta's Kuttini Mata (760 A.D.) ; Kshirasvami's
Lexicon (800 A.D.) ; Ratnakar's Haravijaya (850
A.D.); Sri Swami's Kapphanabhyudaya (850 A.D.);.
10 INSIDE KASHMIR

Valabha Deva's commentaries on Kalidasa's works

(900 A.D.) ; Kshemendra's Desopadesa (975 A.D.) ;
.Soma Deva's Knthasaritsagara (1003 A.D.), a
monumental work on fiction which has been
translated in parts into many languages ; Bilhana's
Vikramankadeva CIzarita (1100 A.D.) ; Mankha's Sri
Kantha Charita (1160 A.D.) and Jayadratha's
Haricharita Chintamani (1200 A.D.) .
T h e great Patanjali was, according t o some
scholars, born in Kashmir before the dawn of t h e
Christian era. Besides him other grammarians have
flourished in t h e valley, notable among whom were
Chandra in the second century A.D., Kshira Swami
a n d Vamana in the reign of Jayapida (774-808 A.D.),
a n d Kayyata (950 A.D.), V J ~ Owrote the Laghuvritti.
Many books have been written by distinguished
authors on Alankara Shastra (poetics). Such, for
.instance, are Vamana Bhatta's Kavyalankara, (750
A.D.), Rudratta's Sringaratilaka (825 A.D.),
Ruyyaka's Alankarsarvasva (1125 A.D.) and
Mammata's Kavyaprakasha (1150 A.D.).
T w o famous writers on medical science who
flourished during t h e Hindu Period were Charaka
and Narhari. Charaka's book on medicine and
surgery is world-famous.
Astrology has been a special study of Kashmir
Brahmins. T h e works of Bhaskaracharya, Arya-
bhatta and Ratna-Kantha are quoted as authorities
on t h e subject among modern Indian astrologers.
T h e well-known book on sex, Koka Shastra, was t h e
result of great labours of Premier Koka Pandit, who
Jived in the reign of the Lodhis. Another book of
 A GLIMPSE OF PAST HISTORY 11
great value on the art of love, written earlier by
King Vasunand in the fourth century, is Kamashastra.
And lastly I may mention two books on politics
whose eminent authors Ram Chandra Bhatta and
Ananda flourished in the twelfth century A.D.
A n estimate of the progress achieved in sculp-
ture and engineering during the Hindu Period can
be formed by witnessing some of the ancient temples
and other monuments, ruins of which exist a t differ-
ent places all over the valley. The ruins a t Mar-
tand, Avantipura, Pattan and Wangat (Naran
Nag) have an awe-inspiring massiveness of
structure and a nobility of architectural design.
Hundreds of exquisitely carved stone images which
have been unearthed from time t o time and are now
lying in the premises of the State Museum a t
Srinagar speak highly of our ancient art of sculpture.
The same may be said about bronze work. A big
bronze plate with intricate designs and images prob-
ably cast in the eleventh century was lately found in
Devasar in the Kulgam Tehsil. Recently a large
number of tiles has been excavated near Harwan, a
place eleven miles from Srinagar. These go t o prove
that it was not a t stone carving alone that the
ancients tried their hand and achieved remarkable
success. They knew many other arts and developed
them t o a great degree. The feat of engineering
that erected the temple a t Martand with its massive
columns is marvellous. On looking at such awe-in-
spiring monuments one often wonders what the men
were like who erected these gigantic structures, what
their thoughts were and what their outlook on life.
12 INSIDE KASHMIR
In the beginning of the fourteenth century poli-
tical changes of far-reaching importance came over
Kashmir. Changes there used t o take place every
now and then which affected the lives of the people ;
but this change was of altogether a different charac-
ter. In 1324 A.D. Rentchen, a Tibetan Prince,
who had fled from his own country and had taken
shelter under the King of Kashmir for several
years, took advantage of the times which had be-
come unsettled owing t o the fierce depredations
of Tartars under Zulqader Khan and murdering
the Prime Minister Ram Chandra, took the reins of
Government into his own hands in the absence
of thi King who was in Kishtwar. Subsequently
Rentchen, who was a Buddhist by birth, embraced
Islam. His glory was short-lived but after him the
throne of Kashmir passed into the hands of the
rulers who were alien in birth and alien in culture.
The Muslim Sultans of Kashmir occupied the
throne for more than two centuries and a half.
The most remarkable, popular and famous of them
all was Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin, who ruled the country
most efficiently from 1420-70 A.D. His predecessor
Sultan Sikandar had made himself despicable by
his religious fanaticism and persecution of Hindus.
It was during this period that thousands of Pandits
left Kashmir and settled outside in the Punjab
and United Provinces t o escape the tyranny of
Sikandar and other Sultans like him. Sikandar
razed as many temples to the ground as he possibly
could and broke the images they contained. He is
therefore known t o history as Sikandar Butshikan or
 A GLIMPSE OF PAST HISTORY 13
the iconoclast. Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin was entirely
different from him. H e was brave, generous, large-
hearted, kind and just. H e was a lover of a r t and
respected men of learning. H e introduced many
industries in Kashmir, notably paper-making,
sericulture and shawl-manufacture. He became
very popular among Hindus for his unexampled
tolerance and earned the name of Badshah (the
Great Monarch).
There lived a great Pandit in the time of Zain-
ul-Abidin whose name deserves t o live for ever.
His name was Shari Bhat or Shri Bhatta. T h e
IClng was suffering from a boil which baffled all
t h e physicians but was successfu!ly treated with
t h e wonderful ointment supplied by Shri Bhatta.
This pleased the sovereign, who commanded Shri
Bhatta t o ask for any royal favour, which would
be granted then and there. But the great Pandit
would have nothing for himself and the various
boons asked for and granted were meant t o help the
persecuted community of Brahmins to live peaceful
lives.
Akbar conquered Kashmir in 1586 A.D. During
his time and the reign of other Mughal Emperors,
who succeeded him, the valley was ruled by
Governors appointed by them from time t o time.
Peace and order were restored t o a large extent
in t h e happy valley during the Mughal occupation
of the country. But as soon as the influence of the
central authority a t Delhi declined after the dcath
of Aurangzeb, times became unsettled again.
In 1750 A.D. Ahmad Shah Durrani invaded
14 INSIDE KASHMIR

Kashmir and conquered her. Thus did the country

pass into the hands of the Afghans. They did not
give a good account of themselves but proved ex-
tremely intolerant and wicked. For about three
quarters of a century while the Afghans occupied
Kashmir the people had t o suffer the harshest
government. Shocking tales of religious per-
secution, devastation and rapine during this period
are still commonly told in every household i n
Kashmir. Many Pandits who could not bear
the tyranny and persecution left Kashmir during
the Pathan Rule. Though the brunt of the brutal
treatment had obviously to be borne by the Hindus
the Kashmir Muslims too did not live a happy
life under the Afghans. W h e n the rulers of the
country are more interested in spoliation, plunder
and extortion than in the well-being of the people.
no section of the public can remain unaffected
by their misrule.
In 1819 a few of the persecuted Pandits under
the leadership of Pandit Birbal Dhar, a dignitary and
courtier, invited Maharaja Ranjit Singh to help
them out of their miserable plight. It is significant
that the Pandits who had t o run away under cover
of night and in disguise were helped by Muslim
countrymen in these designs unmindful of the conse-
quences that would ensue. The ambitious Sikh
Maharaja seized the opportunity which offered
itself and sent his troops under the command of
Raja Gulab Singh. Though they had failed in a
similar attempt on the valley in 1814 A.D., the Sikhs
succeeded in wresting i t from the Pathan Rulers
 A GLIMPSE OF PAST HISTORY 15
in 1819. The Afghan Governor was defeated and:
the Kashmiris got new masters from the Punjab.
From 1819 to 1846 Kashmir remained under the
Sikhs. But this change of hands did not improve
the lot of the people. Maharaja Ranjit Singh and
other Sikh rulers who succeeded him had neither,
time nor inclination t o look into the internal ad-
ministration of the country. They deputed
Governors t o rule in their name. The last two
Governors were Muslims (an interesting point),
Sheikh Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din and his son Sheikh
Imam-ud-Din. " The Sikhs looked upon Kashmiris
as little better than cattle," wrote William Moor-
craft, who visited Kashmir in 1824. " The murder of
a native by a Sikh was punished with a fine to the
Government of from sixteen to twenty rupees
of which four were paid t o the family of the
deceased, if a Hindu, and two, if he was a
Mohammadan." Moorcraft found that everywhere
the people were in a most abject condition, " sub-
jected to every kind of extortion and oppression.'
Reviewing the period under Muslims and Sikhs.
we find that during the larger portion of this period
unsettled times prevailed and the country could
not make the progress it was entitled to. As
already stated, some Sultans, notably the greatest
of them all, Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin, and the Mughals
brought back as much peace and prosperity t o the
country as they could. Akbar built the wall round
Hari Parbat. Jehangir and Shah Jehan were very
*Travels in the Himalayan Provinces, etc. 1819-1825 Vol. 11,
page 294.
 16 INSIDE KASHMIR
.fond of the valley and paid frequent visits to it.
T h e y built stately houses, laid out various pleasure
gardens and planted chinar trees all over the
country. Some of these gardens round Dal Lake are
a standing monument of their good work. It
cannot, however, be denied that during the
reign of many Sultans misrule and maladminis-
tration were rampant for most of the time. People
were persecuted for their religious beliefs, their lives
were in danger and their property was unsafe.
I n the Pathan and S ~ k htimes taxation was ex-
1 orbitant and corruption was universal. According

i -to Moorcraft, less than one-sixteenth of the cul-

tivable area was under cultivation. Villages
were deserted by impoverished cultivators owing to
t h e grinding taxes, and ruined hamlets could
everywhere be seen. There mas n o knowing what
would be in store for the people. in future. So
capricious and whimsical were the kings.
Bernier, who visited Kashmir during the reign of
Aurangzeb, was pleased with the conditions that
were prevailing then. H e pays a tribute t o the
industrious habits of the people and is impressed
with the grandeur of the Mughal gardens. Shawl
industry had already developed and become an
important industry of the country. H e mentions
the prodigious quantity of shawls that was being
manufactured in those days.
While discussing the period during which
the Hindu kings ruled over Kashmir, we said
t h a t many of them misbehaved and tyrannised
over their people. A few of them were so un-
 A GLIMPSE OF PAST HISTORY 17
scrupulous that nothing was sacred in their eyes.
They did not hesitate to lay hands upon
the property of their subjects or violate the
honour of women. The treatment of a few
of them even towards their own parents was most
disgraceful. They were corrupt and debauch
and had no regard for any moral principles.
Similar was the case with many Muslim rulers.
It is wrong to believe that the whole Muslim commu-
nity persecuted the Hindus during the Mohammadan
Period. I t is unjustifiable to say that Islam or
the Muslim community as a whole was responsible
for this persecution, tyranny and injustice. From
available historical facts it is obvious that whenever
a wicked king ascended the throne, the whole
country had t o suffer. No section of the people
could escape the effects of the misrule. While
i t is true that on various occasions the Hindus
were specially chosen for ill-treatment by certain
fanatical Sultans and Governors under Mughal
and Pathan kings, it is also undeniable that such ill-
treatment could not and was not intended to improve
the miserable condition of the Muslim masses.
T h e political and economic condition of the Hindu
and Muslim masses had if anything deteriorated by
such misrule and misgovernment of the country.
While considering the Muslim Period we must
remember that during these medizval times land
was, as before, the main source of income, but it
had not now remained in the hands of the masses.
A class enjoying political power had definitely
sprung up who had divided large portions of the
18 INSIDE KASHMIR
land among themselves. They were the feudal
lords, and the masses of landless labourers served
under them as serfs. It might be asked why
people preferred work under these lords as
serfs t o possession of the land which was allowed
t o remain uncultivated. The reason was that
freedom from extortion, undue taxes and other
difficulties, such as a poor cultivator could enjoy
under an influential lord, could not be had as
a free peasant-proprietor. The feudal lords known
as jagirdars and zemindars influenced the Govern-
ment to a considerable degree. W h e n Islam
becamz the state religion, Muslim feudal lords
wielded greater political power than the Hindu
lords. This must especially have been the case
when a king or a governor was imbued with
fanatic religious zeal. Hindu lords were maltreated.
insulted and harassed. The tussle was between
the upper classes of the Hindus and Muslims.
Naturally any of the well-to-do Hindus who
embraced Islam derived great benefit and advantage
from conversion. The history of those days is t h e
chronicle of the doings of these upper classes.
This fanaticism of the ruler or the religious warfare
of the upper classes (conducted mainly t o gain
political power and economic benefits) did
not directly affect the masses whether Hindus
or Muslims This does not mean that when
the Heads of the Administration who should have
been engaged in establishing good government
were so engrossed with each other's destruction, the
people of the country as a whole did n o t suffer.
 A GLIMPSE OF PAST HISTORY 19
Progress could only be made when there was
peace and tranquillity all over the country. And
this could be possible when the monarch was
good and held the balance of justice evenly between
the various sections of his people.
From all this it is evident that there is no
truth in the common though erroneous view that
during the Muslim rule in Kashmir the Muslims
as a community tyrannised over the Hindus. That
reading of history is essentially and fundamentally
wrong. It is a travesty of facts. The large
majority of the Muslims, i.e., the Muslim masses
had usually nothing to do with the persecution
of the Hindus. They could not be and were not
a conscious party t o it. Nor is it a fact that the
Hindu masses were tyrannised as a class. The brunt
of the persecution had t o be borne by the upper
classes of the Hindus, and that mainly for poli-
tical and economic reasons though religious
fanaticism of the Kings and other Muslim vested in-
terests like the mullahs and nobles did play a
part in prompting and justifying such persecution.
Much harm has been done by this misreading
of history. Many young men have been misled in
the past by absurd views about the political and
economic conditions during the period when
Kashmir was under Muslim kings. Unfortunately
these views continue to be held even now and,
what is still worse is that on the assumption
that Muslims maltreated Hindus in the past, i t
is believed that the two communities cannot
unite now or in the future. This has brought
20 INSIDE KASHMIR
about s reaction in the Muslim mind and so mistrust
and mutual enmity continues and even waxes
more and more. I t is in the interests of our
motherland that the past history should be analysed
correctly and read scientifically, without prejudice
o r malice, sentimental make-believe or so-
called patriotic white-washing. Most of the
histories were written by men who worked under
the influence of the upper classes. Although
their intentions were good it is difficult to believe
that they could judge the events dispassionately. We
must therefore sift the facts according t o the
principles of scientific interpretation available
t o us now. We must look a t facts from a com-
prehensive and a synthetic point of view and
try t o find how the masses and not only the classes
fared during those days.
In spite of the bad times that people had
t o face during the Muslim period not much diminu-
tion was discernible in the cultural progress of
the people. Thinkers and authors continued t o
flourish. Some valuable works in Sanskrit were
produced. As soon as Muslim rule established
itself, Persian became the court language. Not
only the Muslims but Hindus as well began to
study the language, and in course of time the
country produced many indigenous scholars of it.
Among the important Sanskrit worlcs of this
period mention may be made of Jagaddhar Bhat's
Stutikusumanjali (1350 A.D.), a book which has
been highly praised for its literary merit by compe-
tent authorities ; Sitikantha's Balbodhini (1475 A.D.)
 A GLIMPSE OF PAST HISTORY 21
Vallabhadev's Padyavali (1550 A.D.); and Sivo-
padhyaya's Vijnana Bhairava (1775 A.D.), a brilliant
book on Shaivism.
Books written in Persian as a t present known
t o us are about 350 in number. They are on
philosophy, religion, history, geography, medicine and,
of course, literature. I have already mentioned
the important names in the domain of historical
works. Some biographies of the period are
Tazkara-2-Mrrshadin by Khwa ja Miram Bazaz (1575
A.D.), Asrar-ul-Abrar by Baba Daud Mushakani
(1653 A.D.) and Tazkara-i-Shuara-i-Kashrnir by
Mulla Zihni (1655 A.D.). In the reign of Zain-ul-
Abidin, Mulla Ahmad Allama translated the R a j
Tarangini and the Mahabharat into Persian. A
little later Dara Shikoh translated some of the
Upnishads into this language.
I n philosophy the names of Baba Daud Khaki.
Khwaja Habib Ullah Navshahri and Mirza Akmal-
ud-Din Kamil lead the others. The prodigious work
of the last named Bahar-ul-Urfan, which was written
in reply t o that of Maulana Jalal-ud-Din Rumi.
is in four volumes and comprises 80,000 verses.
Persian poetry flourished in Kashmir in the
Mughal times. Numerous poets have left their
works. Sarfi, Mulla Ashraf, Baha-ud-Din Mattu,
Maulana Mazhari, Mulla Tayib and Mulla Faroghi
deserve mention in a history of Kashmir.
The greatest poet of the Muslim Period,
Mohammad Tahir Gani, who wrote exquisite
Persian poetry which elicited the praise of the
poets of Iran, flourished in the reign of Aurangzeb.
22 INSIDE KASHMIR
Munshi Bhavani Dass Kachru, whose new style
of the Bahar-i-Tavil in persian poetry is held in
high esteem, lived in the reign of Pathans near
about 1800 A.D.
Many Pandits also wrote poetry in Persian
when that language became the language of the
rulers of the country. O u t of these three require
special mention. Pandit Taba Ram Turki " Betab "
(1840 A.D.) whose J a n g X a m a stands on par
with Shah Nama of Firdausi lived during the time
of the Sikhs ; Pandit Raj Kaul Arzbegi " Dairi "
(1887 A.D.) whose poetry is second only to that of
Ghani from a literary point of view; Pandit R a j Kak
Dhar " Farrukh " who died early in Maharaja Gulab
Singh's reign.
A book on medicine was written by Hakim
Mansur and another on the diseases of horses by
Mohammad Murad. Mulla Muhsin Fani wrote an
important book Dabistan-i-Mazahib on the religions
of the world in the reign of Shah Jehan. This
book has been translated into French and English.
Those of the Kashmiris who had embraced Islam
became interested in Arabic in which about 25 books
mostly dealing with religious customs and practices
among Muslims were also written. Notable among
Arabic writers is Mulla Muhsan Khushu, who lived
in the reign of Aurangzeb.
In the Hindu Period, Sanskrit was the court
language. But the common people did not speak
it. The language they spoke was Prakrit, a corrupt
form of Sanskrit which in course of time took
the shape of Kashmiri, which is the language of
 A GLIMPSE OF PAST HISTORY 23
the people now. Books have been written in this
language also from very early times. In the 13th
century Rajanaka Shiti Kantha wrote his Maha-
naya Prakash in Kashmiri. Sheikh Nur-ud-Din, a
saint, who lived in the reign of Zain-ul-Abidin, has
left us a big volume of his sayings. Soma Bhat
wrote Zaina Charita, a biography of the King-Bad-
shah in prose, Udh Bhat brought out Zaina Vilas,
a dramatic work, dealing with an episode in the
King's life. Other remarkable books in Kashmiri
poetry are Sahib Kaul's Krishna Avatar and
Prakash Bhat's Ram Avatar.
I t is interesting t o note that women took
part in these intellectual pursuits and produced
works of no mean order. Mention may be made
of four such eminent ladies. La1 Ded who lived
in the reign of Sultan Shahab-ud-Din about 1350
A.D. and Rupa Bhavani who flourished about the
end of the sixteenth century are very famous. Their
mystical sayings are profound, particularly those of
La1 Ded, who is certainly one of the most remark-
able wgmen that India has produced. Both of them
were religious-minded and saintly in character. T o
a different type belong Habba Khatun, a peasant
girl who lived t o be the queen of King Yusuf Shah
Chak (1579-85), and Mrs. Bhavani Dass Kachru.
Both of them were deeply interested in and devoted
to music besides poetry.
I have mentioned the introduction of certain
industries such as paper-making, shawl manufactur-
ing and silk-cacoon-rearing in the days of King
Zain-ul-Abidin. These and some other cottage
24 INSIDE KASHMIR
industries, notably papier-machie, manufacture of
pattu and woodwork. flourished during the Muslim
Period and supplemented the income of the masses.
Hundreds of thousands of people made their living
by working in these industries so that in the
beginning of the last century the supervision of
these industries and the protection of the rights
of the men working in them had become a political
problem, and a Government Department was estab-
lished for the purpose. It is, however, very sad
that the various Governors under Pathans and Sikhs
did riot take much interest in them and instead
of helping the industries levied exorbitant taxes
on them. The shawl industry which was by far the
most important of all the industries and provided
means of livelihood for lakhs of poor workers was in
a sad plight. I shall have to say more about
this industry in the next chapter. For the present
suffice it to say that these workers were treated
as no better than serfs and had to work on a
miserable pittance. The only interest of the autho-
rities was to extort their baj (tax) which was levied
in the Sikh period on the shops and was raised
to Rs. 1201- yearly, and not on the finished product
a t 3 annas per rupee of value as was fixed before.
Moorcraft has stated that more than one lakh and
twenty-five thousand people were employed in shawl
industry in Srinagar alone.
From all impartial accounts that have been
left to us the Pathan and the Silth rules were
horrible. Not only did oppression prevail in
their time but people were heavily taxed and
 A GL'lblPSE OF PAST HISTORY 25,
money was extorted from them in every possible
manner. The officials were extremely corrupt and
life and property of the citizens were always in.
danger. The Government appropriated a large
portion of the produce of the soil and almost the
whole of the remaining was taken away by corrupt
officials. People were reduced t o abject poverty
and the cultivators ~ o u l dnot voluntarily till the
land. Forced labour was revived with renewed
vigour, if not introduced for the first time, and
people were made t o work against their will. The
country was seething with discontent and t o keep
the people under control a new class of landlords
was created and jngirs were granted t o them. At
the advent of the present Dogra Rule it was
found that no less than 3115 jagirs had thus been
granted.
Under these political and economic circum-
stances of the post-Mughal Kashmir, the creative a r t s
deteriorated; and we hear of no remarkable produc-
tions of painting and sculpture, nor of any noble
monuments of architecture.
 CHAPTER I1

Early Dogra Rule

Maharaja Ranjit Sing11 died in 1839 A.D. His
successors to the throne of the Punjab were imbecile
and inefficient. They could not hold the Sikh
Empire intact. Faction soon set in a t the court
at Lahore, and it became evident that the Sikh
rule was on its last legs.
By the end of the eighteenth century, soon after
t h e death of Raja Ranjit Dev in 1781 A.D., Jammu
and other principalities round about it had become a
part of the Sikh Empire. Gulab Singh, who was a
descendant of Dhruva Dev, father of Ranjit Dev,
notable Dogra Rajput chieftain of the hills, entered
the service of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1812 A.D.
As a reward for his loyal services he was awarded
the title of Raja and granted the principality of
Jammu by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1819. H e rose
to great eminence a t the court of the Maharaja and,
after his death, was easily the most influential man
in the Sikh Empire. But knowing, as he did,
that it was dangerous t o meddle in the Sikh politics
 EARLY DOGRA RULE 27
in the chaotic conditions which followed the deatb
of Ranjit Singh, he had retired to his own native
place. His brothers, Dhyan Singh and Suchet Singh,
had, one after the other, paid with their lives for
having taken part in the political intrigues a t
Lahore. Therefore, though he was persuaded t o
guide the destinies of the Sikhs, he refused t o
do any such thing for several years. Instead he
applied himself t o the task of consolidating his own
kingdom in the hills. H e annexed one after
another all other petty principalities that were
lying in the neighbourhood and between the
Kashmir valley and Jammu. H e conquered Baltistan
and Western Tibet from 1835 to 1842 A.D. His
famous general, Wazir Zorawar Singh, had even
conceived the idea of conquering the central Tibetan
Province for his master in 1841, but the rigours
of the cold climate stood against him and he was
killed in a battle and his army put to the sword
by the Tibetans.
While the forces of Gulab Singh were busy
in conquering Ladakh, as Western Tibet is common-
ly known, he himself was helping the British on
another Indian frontier. In 1841 the British had
suffered heavy reverses in the North Western
Frontier and, knowing that they were destined to be
the future power in India, Gulab Singh went t o
their succour when asked t o do so. It was during
these days that his alliance with the British was
formed.
In November 1845 the Anglo-Sikh war broke
out. Soon it became obvious that the campaign
28 INSIDE KASHMIK
was going against the Sikhs. The Durbar at Lahore
demanded the return of Gulab Singh to take over
charge of the Empire and he was installed as
the Prime Minister in 1846. He reproached the
Sikh leaders for entering on so serious a campaign
and tried to make a compromise with the British.
Gulab Singh has been charged by Cunnigham and
other contemporary writers with having intrigued
with the British to bring about the downfall of the
Sikhs.
That Gulab Singh was in correspondence with
the British authorities long before he was called
upon t o discharge the onerous duties of the Prime
Minister of the Sikh Empire, there can be no manner
of doubt. On 20th February, 1845, Hardinge writing
to Ellenborough said :
" Gulab Singh has again written t o us, delighted t o enter
into terms with us ............The Raja has now sent us a letter
entreating us to lose no time."
As a matter of fact, soon after the death of
Ranjit Singh, the Raja began t o think of his future
and was busy in carving a kingdom for himself.
Even before open hostilities were declared
between the Sikhs and the British, Ellenborough
wrote in the course of a communication to the
Queen on 14th February. 1844 :
"In the hills Raja Gulab Singh is extending his power
with his usual unscrupulous disregard of the rights of others
and of the supremacy of the State he pretends to serve. This
conduct however makes him very odious t o the Sikhs a t
Lahore."
With such designs in his mind i t was natural
that Gulab Singh would not like t o present a bold
 EARLY DOGR-4 RULE 29
and decisive front to the British. H e wanted to
curry favour with the rising power in India. So
he left n o stone unturned t o bring about a compro-
mise. But his endeavours proved unsuccessful, the
battle of Subraon was fouglit, and the Sikhs were
defeated. Writing about this war, which sealed the
fate of the Khalsa, Cunningham, the impartial
historian of the Sikhs writes :
" The English intimated t o Gulab Sing11 their readiness to
acknowledge a Sikh sovereignty in Lahore after the army
should have been disbanded, but the Raja declared his inability
to deal with t h e troops .........the vicws of either party were in
some sort met by an understanding t h a t the Sikh army should
be attacked by the English, and that when beaten it should be
openly abandoned by its own Government and, further, that
t h e passage of Sutluj should be unopposed and the road to the
Capital laid open t o the victors. Under such circumstances of
discreet policy and shameless treason was the battle of Subroan
fought.*
According to Major B. P. Basu, the celebrated
author of the Rise of Christian Power in India, " the
battle of Subraon was altogether a shameful affair,
for the English won the victory by the sacrifice
of all sense of honour, honesty, conscience and
humanity " (page 879).
William Edwards has also described the part
which Gulab Singh played a t this crisis of the Sikh
Empire. H e says :
When t h e Sikhs were defeated a t Moodkee, Feroze
Shuhur and Allewal, the army lost all confidence in Rajas Lal,
Tej Singh and their other leaders, whom they accused of con-
spiring with the British Government for their destruction, and
invited Gulab Singh t o place himself at their head. The Raja
- - .-

*History of the Sikhs, page 324.

 INSIDE KASHMIR
promised compliance and arrived in due time a t Lahore with a
large body of his own hill troops in whom he could place
implicit reliance. H e persuaded the Durbar to allow himself
t o garrison the fortress a t Lahore with these men while t h e
Sikhs then occupying i t were ordered t o proceed t o join their
brethren on the Sutluj ...... ...Gulab Singh urged the army not
t o attempt attacking t h e British until he joined them and this
he evaded doing on one pretest or another knowing full well
that in due time the British would rattack and capture t h e
position a t Subraon."*
It is clear, then, that Gulab Singh and other
Sikh leaders did not faithfully lead the armies. W h a t
would have been the fate of the war but for this bad
leadership has been stated by William Edwards
thus :
" H a d they advanced during the night, the result must
have been very disastrous for us, as our European regiments
were much reduced in number, and ou; ammunition, both for
artillery and small arms, almost expended. It was inexplicable
a t the time t o us why this fresh army had failed to advance
and reinforce their comrades. Subsequently a t Lahore, how-
ever, I was informed t h a t their leaders had restrained the men
on the pretext that the day was inauspicious for a battle, i t *by
no means being the intention of the regency that their troops
should be successful, but, on the contrary, be destroyed by the
British, so as t o get rid of them for ever."**
It was by means such as these that Raja Gulab
Singh earned the gratitude of the British diplomats
and paved the way for the establishment of the
Dogra State in the North of India.
After the battle of Subraon the Sikhs lost their
independence and the British marched on Lahore
and captured it.
*Reminiscences o f a Bengnl Civilian, page 104.
**Page 97.
 EARLY DOGRA RULE 31
On the 9th of March, 1846, the Treaty of Lahore
was signed. Among other things provided for i n
this treaty it was stipulated that Raja Gulab Singh
would be recognised as an independent sovereign
in such territories and districts in the hills as
may be made over to the said Raja by separate
agreement between him and the British Government.
This separate agreement, known t o history by the
name of the Treaty of Amritsar, was signed on the
15th of March, 1846. According to this treaty, Gulab.
Singh was recognised as the Maharaja of Jammu and
Kashmir both by the powerless Sikh Durbar and
the British Government. H e had t o pay an amount
of £1,500,000 t o the British for the transfer to
him of the Kashmir Province including Gilgit, which
had been conquered by the Sikhs in 1842. The
valley of Kashmir, sacred in Hindu mythology and
famous all over the world, became once again
subject to Hindu Rulers who, however, were non-
Kashmiris.
While making this transfer the British authori-,
ties in India did not so much as ascertain the
views of the people of Kashmir on the subject. The
whole transaction was made behind their back.
Subsequently the undemocratic and highly arbitrary
action of the Governor-General was severely criti-
cised. For reasons of their own, as we shall
presently see, the British imperialists and expan-,
sionists did not like that such an ideal place for
colonisation should go out of the hands of the
British. But those who loved freedom and did not
like that lacs of people should be handed over to t h e
.32 INSIDE KASHMIR

tender mercies of absolutism disapproved of the

manner in which the valley was transferred t o the
Dogra Chief.
The handing over of Kashmir could not be
.effected without trouble. Gulab Sing11 sent some
troops under Wazir Lakhpat t o take over the
charge, b u t ' the Governor, Sheikh Imam-ud-Din,
under incitement of La1 Singh, an enemy of
Gulab Singh at the Lahore court, refused to sur-
render the valley. A fight ensued and Gulab Singh's
troops were defeated and Wazir Lakhpat was slain.
Gulab Singh appealed to the British t o carry out
t h e provisions of the treaty. A mired force of the
British and Sikhs was promptly despatched, but
before it reached Srinagar matters took a different
turn. Sheikh Imam-ud-Din, realising the situation,
gave up the game. The transfer of the country was
thus effected without any further disturbance. Thus,
by the middle of the nineteenth century, was
formed the present State of Jammu and Kashmir,
including Ladakh, Baltistan and Gilgit, under the
first ruler of the Dogra dynasty.
Situated on the northern extremity of India,
the State of Jammu and Kashmir occupies a very
important and strategical position in the political
map of the British Indian Empire. Its boundaries
extend from h e northern outskirts of the vast
plains of the Punjab to the point where the borders
of independent powers of Russia and China almost
touch British India. The independent kingdom
of Afghanistan meets it on the North West.
Jammu and Kashmir covers an area of 84,471 square
 EARLY DOGRA RULE 33
miles against 82698 square miles of Hyderabad. 20469
square miles of Mysore and 8164 square miles of
Baroda. It is equal t o two-thirds of the size of the
whole of Bombay Presidency.
Geographically the State is divided into three
provinces of ( a ) Jammu, ( b ) Kashmir and (c) the
Frontier Illaqa. The Jammu Province consists of
the sub-montane and semi-mountainous tract con-
tiguous to the Punjab and broken K a d i country
skirting the Himalayan ranges, as also the outer
hills south of the mountain ranges. The Kashmir
Province consists of the Jhelum valley and the
valleys that drain into the Kishen Ganga and the
Liddar. The Frontier Province comprises the
district of Gilgit and the Illaqas of Ladakh, Skardu,
Kargil and Zanskar,
Articles 1, 3, 9 and 10 of the Treaty of
Amritsar will be read with interest :-
Article 1
The British Government TRANSFERS and makes over
for ever in independent possession t o Maharaja Gulab Singh
a n d the heirs male of his body all the hilly or mountainous
country with its dependencies situated t o t h e eastward of the
River Indus and the westward of the River Ravi including
Chamba and excluding Lahul, being part of the territories
ceded t o the British Government by the Lahore State according
to the provisions of the Article IV of the Treaty of Lahore,
dated 9th March, 1846.
Article 3
I n sonsideration of the transfer made t o him and his heire
by the provisions of the foregoing article Maharaja Gulab Singh
Will pay t o the British Government the sum of seventy-five
lakhs of rupees (Nanokshahi), fifty lakhs t o be paid on ratifica-
34 INSIDE KASHMIR
tion of this Treaty and twenty-five lakl~son or before the 1st
October of the current year, A.D. 1846.
Article 9
The British Government will give its aid t o Maharaje
Gulab Singh in protecting his territories from external enemies.
Article 10
Maharaja Gulab Singh will acknowledge the supremacy of
the British Government and will in token of such supremacy
present annually t o the British Governn~entone horse, twelve
shawl goats of approved breed (six male and six fcrnale) and
three pairs of Cashmere shawls.
Although the district of Hazara also went over
t o Gulab Singh according t o the Treaty of Amritsar,
he soon after exchanged this area for Mandir, Dadhi,
Kathua and Suchetgarh.
The Treaty of Arnritsar did not mention any-
thing about the internal administration of the State.
Evidently Gulab Singh was left completely free to
deal with it as he liked. H e was t o be the master
of his kingdom. He was t o be its sovereign. In
later days the British authorities themselves have
bemoaned the handing over of Kashmir to an Indian
Prince. But a t the time of signing the treaty they
knew next t o nothing about the valley. Not more
than half a dozen Englishmen had visited the whole
area and none of these had done so with any
political purpose in view. Therefore they found
this arrangement inevitable during those uncertain
times when Punjab politics were in a fluid state
and the North-Western Frontier and Afghanistan
were unsettled. The only anxiety of the British was
to have a subordinate ally in the north and they were
 EARLY DOGRA RULE 35
admirably successful in getting one in the person of
Gulab Singh. " One great object which the Governor-
General had in view when he made this arrangement
for the Jammu and Kashmir territories was t o lessen
the force of the Sikhs by establishing on their flank
a power independent of them and inclined t o British,"
wrote Drew. He added. " This object may be said
to have so far succeeded that, on the next and final
trial of strength between the Sikhs and the British,
Gulab Singh's aid was withheld from the nation to
which formerly belonged his allegiance." It will be
seen that even the mere mention of a British
Resident in Kashmir was not made in the Treaty. But
the situation changed almost immediately when the
s e c o ~ dTreaty of Lahore was signed a few months
after that very year bringing the Punjab under the
control of a British Resident at Lahore. The
Governor-General did not like the Maharaja t o
enjoy as much freedom as was guaranteed t o him
under the provisions of the Treaty. Soon after the
Second Sikh W a r when the allied forces of Chattar
Singh and Dost Mohammad were defeated by the
British a t Gujrat in 1848, Lord Hardinge wrote t o
the Maharaja stating that the nature of his inter-
nal administration aroused misgivings in the minds
of the British Government and claiming the right
on the part of the Company t o interfere in his
affairs. The purpose behind this communication was
t o get a permanent Resident appointed in Kashmir.
The Maharaja resisted. The question was, however.
raised again in 1851 when the Maharaja agreed to
the appointment of a seasonal British Officer, with
36 INSIDE KASHMIR
no powers of political supervision, merely to look after
the affairs of European visitors to the valley during
the hot season. The proposal to appoint a Resident
was again revived in 1873 during the days of
Maharaja Ranbir Singh who like his father pointed
out that there was no provision in the Treaty that
gave authority to the British Government to appoint
a Resident. The Resident was, as we shall see a
little later, ultimately appointed in place of the
seasonal British Officer on Special Duty. This was
in 1885 a t the accession of Maharaja Partap Singh
to the throne.
Maharaja Gulab Singh proved to be a strong
and stern ruler. He did not live long t o rule over
Kashmir, but during the short period of about eleven
years he tried to establish peace in the country
with a strong hand. Much of his energy was spent
unsuccessfully in trying t o subdue the frontier
district of Gilgit which continued t o be in a state
of disturbance. In 1852 the Dogras were expelled
from all that part of Dardistan which is on the right
bank of the Indus. Gilgit went out of their hands
and Gulab Singh decided to advance no further.
Gulab Singh tried to rule the country justly
according to his own lights, but partly owing
to the exigencies of the unsettled and un-
progressive times and partly to his own avarice
and greed, he could not improve the economic
condition of the people. It continued to be
most dilapidated, verging on starvation. " This
last state was worse than the first," wrote Lieute-
nant-Colonel Torrens. " for Gulab Singh went
 EARLY DOGRA RULE 37
beyond his predecessors in the gentle acts of undue
taxation and extortion. They had taxed heavily it
is true, but he sucked the very life blood of the
people. They had laid violent hands on a large pro-
portion of the fruits of the earth, the profits of the
loom and the work of men's hands, but he skinned
the very flints to fill his coffers." It is said that
Gulab Singh "was traduced. slandered and openly
accused by the champions of the Sikhs, by the
imperialists and annexationists of the day, and by
the anonymous writers in the press, to whom his
towering personality offered a unique target for
attack." Frederic Drew is partial to the Dogras
having been in their service during the sixties of the
last century as Governor of Ladakh. He had formed
his impressions from what the servants and subjects
of the Maharaja spoke about him. Nevertheless,
in any impartial record of the time, his testimony
must be quoted side by side with that of others,
not so complimentary to the Maharaja. This is
what he says :
"As a n administrator he was better than most of those of
his own time and neighbourhood, but yet the results of his rule
do not give one the highest impression of his powers in this
respect. He knew how t o govern a country in the sense of
making his authority respected all through it. For t h e carrying
out of the further objects of good government he probably
cared little ; his experience had shown him no instance of their
attainment and possibly he had not in his mind the idea of a
Government different in kind from that which he succeeded in
administering ; for of all the Governments within reach of his
observation those were good in which the authority of the
ruler was assured by force and the revenue came in punctually.
On this principle he consolidated his power.
 INSIDE KASHMIR
.
" One of his chief faults was an unscrupulousness as t o the
means of attaining his own objects ; he did not draw back from
the exercise of cruelty in the pursuit of them, but he was not
wantonly cruel. An avariciousness always distinguished him ;
in the indulgence of the passion he was unable t o take the wide
view by which his subjects' wealth would be found compatible
with the increase of his own."*
Even K. M. Pannikar, whose inspired biography
of the Maharaja is the best panegyric that could be
drawn of him, has to admit that " the Maharaja did
not achieve his ends by methods which were always
beyond criticism. He did not hesitate t o resort to
tricks and strategems which would, in ordinary life,
be considered dishonourable. H e was trained in a
hard school, where lying, intrigue and treachery
were all considered part and parcel of politics."t
But Maharaja Gulab Singh was true t o the British
till his last day. However he might have dealt with
others and in whatever way he might have treated
his own subjects, he always readily and loyally
co-operated with the British. H e helped them a
great deal t o consolidate themselves in the Punjab
and North-Western Frontier. H e despatched troops
under the command of his son, Ranbir Singh, to
help them t o quell the widespread political rising of
1857 against the British. The Maharaja died the
same year.
Maharaja Ranbir Singh ascended the gaddi in
1857. H e maintained the traditions of his father in
remaining faithful and loyal to the British ; and

*Jammu and Kashmir Territories, pages 14- 15.

tGulab Singh, page 152.
 EARLY DOGRA RULE 39

rendered inestimable services t o them unselfishly and

ungrudgingly in the siege of Delhi, the very first
year of his reign. H e refused even to take rations
for his troops and, when a jagir was offered to him
in Oudh in recognition of these services, he refused
t o accept it. He proudly remarked that he had
helped the British Government out of loyalty
and goodwill and not with the sordid object of
receiving remuneration.
As soon as his resources became free from the
operations attending the Indian rebellion. Maharaja
Ranbir Singh turned his attention towards the
frontier of Gilgit. H e wanted to regain what his
father had lost and t o re-establish the name and
reputation of his army. There were internal dis-
sensions between the Rajas of various parts of the
frontier. The Rajas of Hunza and Nagar hated
.each other and those of Punial and Yasin were
.scarcely on better terms. Fortunately also the most
determined of them all, Gauhar Rehman, who had
held Gilgit from 1852, died before Maharaja's troops
reached the frontier. Maharaja Ranbir Singh &d
n o t only regain what his father had lost but he sub-
dued even Yasin in 1863. In 1865, when at the
instigation of the Mehtar of Chitral disturbances
reappeared on the frontier, reinforcements were
sent by the Maharaja, and this time Dare1 valley was
also occupied.
The British had by this time annexed the Punjab
and established themselves firmly in Northern India.
The rising of 1857 had been sternly and successfully
suppressed and no traces of opposition were left
40 INSIDE KASHMIR

anywhere in the country. They became anxious

about Kashmir. The Maharaja's power was n o
longer required t o lessen the force of the Sikhs.
The value of Kashmir and the importance of Gilgit
was becoming every day clearer t o the Government
of India and they waited now for an opportunity to,
meddle in the affairs of the State. It was a t this
stage that they made the suggestion for the appoint-
ing of a British Resident, which Maharaja Ranbir
Singh did not accept.
Having failed t o achieve any success by
negotiations the British, as always. did the next
best thing : they began t o accuse the Maharaja of
misgovernment. Anglo-Indian newspapers began
t o write that the misgovernment justified British
intervention. The gravest charges of apathy to-
wards his subjects and even of dreadful cruelty were
brought against him. O n one occasion i t was.
declared that in order t o save the expense of
feeding his people during the famine of 1877, t h e
Maharaja actually drowned his poor Muslim subjects
by boatloads in Wular Lake. Maharaja Ranbir
Singh was a man of strong will and resolution. He
declined t o sit quietly under such a calumny, and a t
his request a mixed commission was appointed by the
Government of India t o inquire into the truth of t h e
story. The commission found that there was no
truth in this hideous allegation, and the people who
were said t o be drowned were found alive and were
produced a t the inquiry. Other calumnies of a
similar nature were circulated but were found t o b e
false on examination by the British Officer. T h e
 EARLY DOGRA RL'LE 41
British, therefore, considered i t advisable to keep
silent for the time being and bide their time.
Maharaja Ranbir Singh was a man of peace. He
was a great patron of letters and respected men of
learning. He liked to sit in the company of scholars
and benefit by their debates and discussions. H e
encouraged research and established a good library
of old Sanskrit and Persian manuscripts.
Two notable events took place during the reign
of Ranbir Singh. One was a clash between the Shia
and the Sunni sects of the Muslims in 1872. It was a
serious riot, the most serious that had broken out for
many a day. The Shias are a numerical minority,
mostly concentrated in one place, Zadibal, in
Srinagar, and it was easy for the Sunnis t o attack
them on all sides. They were looted, their
houses were burnt and many lives were lost. O t h e r
Shias living in the country-side, a t Badgam and
Magam and other villages, also suffered terrible
privations. The riot caused an estrangement.
between the two sects that has not been forgotten
or forgiven completely unto this day. The Maharaja
gave three lakhs of rupees as relief to the
Shias. The second event was the great famine of-
1877, caused by excessive rains, when thousands of
people died of scarcity of food and whole villages
were ruined.
The Afghan W a r broke out in 1878. The loyal
Maharaja as usual readily volunteered help and sent
a contingent of troops and artillery to assist t h e
British Government. This war made the British
more anxious than ever about the Gilgit frontier
42 INSIDE KASHMIR

and their desire t o interfere in the affairs of the

State became keener. A t the conclusion of the
Afghan W a r they began to mature their scheme of
intervention.
The Government of India knew full well that so
long as Maharaja Ranbir Singh was alive it was very
difficult for them t o succeed in their designs. Early
in 188.1, however, it became apparent that the death
of the Maharaja was near a t hand. So the time had
come for determining the course which the British
Government should adopt on the death of the
Maharaja. The Government of India in a communi-
cation dated 7th April, 1884, t o the Secretary of
State laid down their views on the subject. In this
communication it was presumed that there was mis-
government in Kashmir, the administration was
corrupt and inefficient, and drastic reforms to
improve the conditions were necessary. Some un-
satisfactory accounts of the heir-apparent were also
L1
mentioned. O n the basis of these charges, " it
was suggested that immediately on the occurrence
of the next succession the Maharaja be informed
that changes in administrative policy must take place
though the Government of India would avoid any
direct interference with administrative details.
A strong case was made out in the name of the
people of the State, which, however, was not the
real intention. The Government of India wanted t o
appoint a political Resident, which the Treaty of
Amritsar did not allow the111 to do. They wanted
t o occupy the frontier of Gilgit, for which n o
occasion had arisen. They did not hide their purpose
 EARLY DOGRA RULE 43
and let the cat out of the bag in the communication
referred t o above. They said :
" I t is a measure which may be called for, not merely by
the need of assisting and supervising administrative reforms,
but also by the increasing importance t o the Government of
India of watching events beyond the North-Western Frontier
of Kashmir. Any disturbance which continued misgovernment
might create in Kashmir would be acutely felt on the Frontier
of Afghanistan ,...........W e have, therefore, t o consider the
necessity of providing for efficient political supervision not
merely in the interests of the people of Kashmir but also in t h e
interests of people of India. Under these circumstances we are
anxious to obtain from Her Majesty's Government authority to
appoint, if i t should appear to us necessary a t any time after
the death of the present Maharaja, a residential political officer,
who will exercise a general supervision over the affairs of the
Kashmir State."

The mind of the authorities a t Simla was made

up. They had decided to thrust a Political Resident
o n the new Maharaja, whether he liked it or not.
They told the Secretary of State that the British
Government were not debarred by any engagement,
express or tacit (honest interpretation of the
Treaty of Amritsar indeed I), from posting a political
officer permanently in Kashmir. The Secretary
of State was only too willing and obliging to agree
with the Government of India, and in his reply he
advised them not t o lose any time on the expected
succession of the new Maharaja t o carry out the
project of appointing a Resident in Kashmir. His
Lordship wrote :
" In 1846 i t was decided not to appoint a political oflicer
to reside permanently a t the Maharaja's Court, whilst in 1873,
44 INSIDE KASHMIR
when the measure wae recommended by Lord Norfolk'e Gov-
ernment, the necessity for i t did not seem to Her Majesty's
Government t o be so clearly established as t o justify them in
disregarding objections which were expressed by authorities
entitled t o respect. But in the interval which has since elapsed
circumstances have greatly changed : and whether regard be
had t o the condition of the country, or to the character of the
prince into whose hands the Government will shortly pass, o r
t o the course of the events beyond the border which has
materially increased the political importance of Kashmir, the
appointment which you request a discretionary authority to
make appears t o be not only desirable but necessary."

The following ominous remark of the Secretary

of State, in which may be traced the seeds of the
communal policy adopted by t h e Government of
India towards the State problems and which became
so prominent in later years, may also be quoted :-
" It may indeed be questioned whether, having regard to
the circumstances under which the sovereignty of the country
was entrusted to the present Hindu ruling family, t h e
intervention of the British Government on behalf of t h e
Mohammedan population has not already been too long
delayed."
This from the British Government which
transacted the transfer of Kashmir with an undue
haste, behind the back of the very Mohammedan
population ! W a s it not the British Government
who helped the Hindu Maharaja t o occupy Kashmir
when the Muslim Governor. Sheikh Imam-ud-Din,
had routed his army and killed his Vizier in 1846 ?
But the circumstances had entirely changed in 1885.
The Maharaja of Kashmir was no more needed
against the Sikhs.
 EARLY DOGRA RULE 45

Be that as it may, the Government of India in

their letter dated 1st August, 1884, instructed their
Officer on Special Duty in Kashmir, one Sir Oliver
St. John, how he should conduct the whole affair
on the occurrence of the opportunity. Maharaja
Ranbir Singh died on 12th September. 1885. The
next day his dead body was cremated a t Jammu on
the banks of the river Tawi. Sir Oliver, who had
lately arrived from Kashmir to discharge his duties,
now proceeded to fulfil his mission. How he did it
and with what results may be described in the very
words he used in reporting the matter t o the
Government of India :-
" After a few sentences of compliment and condolence,
I told Pertab Singh that I had a message for him from the
Viceroy, t o be delivered in the presence of his Council. H e
replied that he had not yet appointed a Council, to which I
answered that i t was to the members of late Maharaja's Council
t h a t I referred. He then called in Diwan Anent Ram alone.
It was clear that a n unpalatable communication was sntici-
pated, and that i t was hoped to confine i t t o as small a circle of
hearers as possible. I therefore said that the message I had to
deliver was not private and confidential though very important.
On the contrary I had hoped t o deliver i t t o His Highness in
Durbar ; but this being impossible, I begged t h a t he would call
in at least Babu Nilambar and Diwan Gobind Sahai, who, I
knew, were waiting outside. On this, Pertab Singh ordered
them t o come in. On their seating themselves, I told Hie
Highness that His Excellency t h e Viceroy had ordered me in
the first place t o lose no time in announcing that His Excellency
is pleased t o recognise his succession t o the Chiefship. This
was received with expressions of gratitude and loyalty, the
Maharaja rising and bowing his thanks. I then gave him the
message contained in your letter, translating it sentence by
46 INSIDE KASHMIR
sentence into Hindustani, only using the words " Kushmir and
Jammu" instead of " Kashmir " only as it might have been
asserted afterwards that t h e message referred t o Kashmir only,
and not to the whole State.
" The first part of the message referring t o the introduc-

tion of reforms was received without any mark of surprise by

my auditors, but t h e announcement of the immediate appoint-
ment of a Resident was evidently an unexpected blow.
" I then took leave of the Maharaja. I n the evening Babu
Nilambar called on me with reference to another subject, and
asked that I would :explain, for the Maharaja's information,
what was meant by the 'assistance' of a Resident. Did it
imply that the Resident would take an active part in the
administration of the country ? I told him that I could not
undertake t o define the exact duties of a Resident, but that he
would certainly leave all the active work of administration to
the Durbar, while claiming the right to be made acquainted,
should he require it, with all its details. He would give advice
if asked for, and on any point he thought proper unasked ; and
in this latter case would expect his advice to be followed."
Next day, on 16th September, the Maharaja sent
Babu Nilambar and Diwan Anant Ram t o Sir Oliver
begging him t o use his influence t o obtain a short
delay before the appointment of a Resident in order
that the Maharaja might get the credit for reforms
he had long made up his mind to introduce. But
the officer was helpless and regretted his inability t o
recommend t o His Excellency any delay in the
formal appointment of a Resident. While thank-
fully acknowledging the Kharzta dated the 14th
September received by him from His Excellency the
Viceroy confirming his succession t o the Chiefship
of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Partap Singh
said :
 EARLY DOGRA RULE 47
" It has, however, pained me exceedingly t o learn that
exactly a t the time when I had made up my mind to deserve
and win over Your Excellency's approbation and encourage-
ment, by proving myself equal to the onerous and responsible
duties of a good ruler, Your Excellency has been thinking of
changing the status of the British Officer on Special Duty in
Kashmir t o that of a Political Resident, and thus lowering me
in the eyes of my subjects and in the estimation of the public."
Mian Partap Singh took his seat formally in the
Durbar as Maharaja on the 25th of September.
Sir Oliver St. John became the first Resident in
Kashmir. H e was not on very cordial terms with
the Maharaja but did not set himself in opposition to
his Government a t every step. H e was transferred
from Kashmir early in 1886 and was succeeded by
Mr. Plowden. From the very moment that
Mr. Plowden took charge of his office he assumed
an attitude unfavourable to His Highness. He
affected a lofty, supercilious air and treated the
Durbar with almost undisguised contempt. Soon he
became obnoxious. At the time of proposing t h e
appointment of a Political Resident i t had been
definitely stated that such an officer would not
enjoy any special powers other than those that
were ordinarily given to a British Resident in a
feudatory State. When after many protests the
Maharaja reconciled himself t o the position, t h e
Government of India did not feel satisfied. They
wanted full control over the whole State and it was
t o achieve this end that Mr. Plowden directed
his activities.
In March 1888 Mr. Plowden sent a report to the
48 INSIDE KASHMIR
Government of India on tlie affairs of the State. in
which he definitely stated, on the basis of his
personal observations, that Maharaja Partap Singh
was incapable and unfit to rule, and that he could
do nothing beneficial for the people. H e therefore
boldly proposed t o the British t o set him aside and
rule the country themselves with the help of an
administration directly supervised by them. He put
forth three schemes t o achieve this purpose. One
plan was t o appoint Raja Ram Singh. Maharaja's
younger brother, the Prime Minister "on the
condition of his undertaking t o carry out in all
respects the policy of the Government of India."
Before the Government of India could take any
decision in the matter. Maharaja Partap Singh
forestalled them and submitted a scheme for the
administration of his State. Indeed. he put the
scheme into practice, nominated a Council of
Ministers and appointed himself its President. As
outwardly the Government of India was bringing
pressure on the Maharaja in the name of his people
and with a view t o ending misgovernment, the
Foreign Office did not approve of the haste with
which Mr. Plowden wanted t o proceed and therefore
set aside his proposals. But what was a t the bottom
of the whole affair can be seen from what
H. M. Durand. the Foreign Secretary. wrote in his
minute recorded in the file. H e said :
" I do not agree with Mr. Plowden, the Resident in
Kashmir, in this matter. He is too much inclined to set
Kashmir aside in all ways, and to assume that if we want a
thing done we must do it ourselves. The more I think of this
 EARLY DOGRA RULE 49
scllerne, the more clear i t seems t o me t h a t we should limit our
overt interference as far as possible t o the organization of a
responsible military force in Gilgit. So far we can hope t o
carry the Durbar thoroughly with us. If we annex Gilgit or
p u t an end t o the suzerainty of Kashmir over the petty
principalities of t h e neighbourhood, and, above all, if we p u t
British troops into Kashmir just now, we shall run a risk of
turning t h e Durbar against us a n d thereby increase the diffi-
culty of the position. I d o not think this is necessary. No
doubt we rrlust have practically the control of Kashmir rela-
tions with those principalities, b u t this we already have.
Indeed, t h e Llurbar has now, since the dismissal of Lachman
Dass, asked Mr. Plowden t o advise t h e Gilgit authorities direct
without reference t o them. If we have a quiet a n d judicious
Officer a t Gilgit, who will get t h e Kashmir force into thorough
order and abstain from unnecessary exercise of his influence,
we shall, I hope, in a short time, have the whole thing in our
hand without hurting any one's feelings."
His Excellency Lord Dufferin agreed with
Durand and the Maharaja escaped unnecessary
disgrace and humiliation a t the time.
But Mr. Plowden was incensed. Having failed
t o harm Partap Singh in this way, he now began t o
a c t according t o the principles of occidental
diplomacy. lHe began t o intrigue and hatched a
conspiracy. We have seen how the Britishers used
Gulab Singh against the Sikhs. In a similar manner
Mr. Plowden and after him his successor. Colonel
Nisbet, used Raja Amar Singh, the Maharaja's
youngest brother.
Maharaja Ranbir Singh had three sons and
it was known that the country had been rent asunder
for years by the rival claims and factions of the
three brothers. all hungry for the crown. The
50 INSIDE KASHMIR

Resident took advantage of this mutual rivalry and

bitterness. Early in 1889 a plot was conceived
between Colonel Nisbet, Raja Amar Singh, and the
Revenue Member of the Maharaja's Council. When
the plot matured, Raja Amar Sing11 informed the
Maharaja that "certain letters have been found
which prove the Jammu family to be in league with
Russia and Dulip Singh. The Maharaja solemnly
denied the genuineness of the letters but this
was to no purpose. The Raja told him t o his face
that he had already told the Resident that the
writing appeared t o be that of His Highness
though the signature was doubtful. Besides, about
34 letters were alleged to have been written by the
Maharaja which, among other things, revealed a
design set on foot t o murder Mr. Plowden, the
British Resident, his own brothers, and a Maharani.
The Maharaja was stunned t o hear this astounding
news but with great composure of mind declared
that if his own brothers were determined to ruin
him with false accusation, he would submit t o his
fate. His Highness did not take his meals for t w o
days. H e was much overpowered, and in his
frenzy he saw no way of escape except to give his.
consent t o such arrangements as were proposed to
him.
The rest of the story is briefly told. The
Resident who, be it remembered, had only sent
threatening messages through the Raja, now prepar-
ed the draft of an edict on the basis of which
His Highness was asked t o issue an irsad." This
bb

was a virtual deed of abdication and His Highness

 EARLY DOGRA RULE 51
persistently refused to sign it. Another serious
threat. and the next morning, 27th Phagan, 1945.
(March 1889) a vernacular translation of the
Resident's draft was made out and His Highness'
signature obtained.
According to the " Irsad" the Council of
Ministers was to exercise all administrative powers
in all departments of the State for a period of five
years. Any vacancies in the Council were to be
filled up a t His Highness* desire but by the Govern-
ment of India. The President of the Council
was to be appointed from among His Highness* full
brothers. The Maharaja was not t o interfere in the
management of the State for the period of five
years.
The Council, or rather the Resident who was to
supervise its work, became the virtual ruler of
the country. Only they could not grant any jagir
or enter into a treaty or agreement with any State
or the Government of India. The Maharaja's
palaces were left immune from the control of the
Council, and it was there that he now became
a virtual prisoner, " cribbed, cabined and confined."
In an autographed letter which he sent to the
Viceroy in May 1889. Maharaja Partap Singh
asserted that " the treasonable letters were
forgeries." H e protested in strong and pathetic
language against the harsh treatment to which he
had been subjected; denied that he had resigned
his rulership; begged for a further opportunity of
ruling his own dominions and, in a not unnatural
frenzy, besought Lord Lansdowne t o restore him and
52 INSIDE KASHMIR

thus save him from present ignominy, " t o shoot

him through the heart as life had become un-
supportable."
Much excitement was caused in India and in
England by an announcement in the press that the
Maharaja of Kashmir had been found guilty of
treasonable activities and that there was ample
evidence t o prove his treachery. It was said further
that the Maharaja, conscious of his guilt, had
abdicated and placed his letter of resignation in the
hands of the British authorities. When, however,
the autographed letter of the Maharaja appeared
in the press, the public was shocked and the princes
began to shake in their shoes all over India. W h a t
startled the people of India was the publication in
the columns of the Amrita Bazar Patrika of the
document containing the opinion of H. M. Durand
about Kashmir, already quoted herein.' It showed
that there was so much intrigue surrounding the
affair. The Viceroy was very much perturbed to
read the document in the press. But the Patrika
defended itself with its wonted dignity and
outspokenness.
" The object of the publication of the document was to
put before the Viceroy, who is a new comer, the real facts of
the Kashmir case. The Viceroy has brought certain charges
against the Maharaja of Kashrnir, upon the strength of secret
and exparte reports from Mr. Plowden and the Foreign
Secretary. Our object in publishing the document was to
show that those who had persuaded him t o believe in the
guilt of the Maharaja and to cause his deposition, were, even

* See page 30.

 EARLY DOGRA RULE 53
before the advent of His Excellency, hankering after 'the
whole thing * ."
Kashmir Imbroglio became the talk of the day.
It roused the indignation of all fair-minded men.
The matter was taken up in the House of
Commons where Charles Bradlaugh supported the
cause of the Maharaja. The liberal statesmen
considered it a breach of faith on the part of the
Government of India t o treat a feudatory Prince in
such a shabby manner. In a forceful and spirited
letter every sentence of which was characterised by
candour and truthfulness, William Digby, a wise
and large-hearted Englishman, strongly protested
against this high-handedness of the British authorities
to Sir Ughtred Kay Shuttleworth and advocated the
cause of the poor Maharaja.' In his indignation
Digby rightly observed :
" Indian Government procedure towards feudatory princes
is an advance on Jedburgh justice which hanged a man and
then proceeded to inquire whether he was, guilty. In India
condemnation takes place, sentence is carried out, and no
attempt is made to ascertain whether a sentence ought to have
been pronounced."
Certainly, nobody believed that the treasonable
letters had been written by the Maharaja. The
bb
Government of India were not disposed to attach
any excessive importance to these letters " a11d the
Secretary of State said that " the intercepted
etters were of very little importance." Their
importance was exaggerated at the outset and
:k This letter along with relevant papers was subsequently
published in the form of a book named Condemned Unhaard.
Most of my information is drawn from this book.
54 INSIDE KASHMIR

in the initial stages of the matter. As soon as

the Maharaja's r e s i ~ n a t i o n became a settled
fact. the British Government reverted t o its
usual charge that there was mis-government in
Kashmir; that the Maharaja had not carried
out the reforms proposed by the Viceroy; that
there was no money in the State Treasury and
that the administration was corrupt. In his letter
William Digby has proved that all these charges
were false, and the only motive that prompted the
British t o take such a drastic action was that
they wanted the control of the State in order t o
safeguard their Empire against any aggression on the
North-Western Frontier from Afghanistan or from
Czarist Russia through the Gilgit District.
The Council appointed by the Maharaja in his
Irsad or the ' voluntary resignation ' was a nominal
one. In the very constitution of the Council, 2.e..
rules made for its guidance, it was ordered that their
deliberations could be vetoed by the Resident in
Kashmir. They were careful t o pass only such
resolutions as would meet with his approval
ascertained beforehand. None of the members of
the Council except one knew English, yet the
minutes of the proceedings of the Council were
maintained in that language !
Maharaja Partap Singh was in this manner
deprived of all his power of rulership and the Politi-
cal Resident became the virtual ruler of the State.
Gilgit was forthwith fortified and British troops
were sent to that district. The Government of
India attempted to convince the world that these
 EARLY DOGRA RULE
arrangements had been made because of the
inefficiency of Partap Singh t o rule and his un-
willingness to introduce reforms to ameliorate the
lot of the half-naked peasants and famishing
artisans of the State. But the publication of the
document by the Amrita Bazar Patrzka exposed the
whole matter. Besides, there were Britishers them-
selves who released the truth. A n anonymous
writer in The Times of London, one who had
worked in the country for nearly ten years, (was it
Frederick Drew ?) said :
" Then i t is said Kashmir is of no military importance;
that the British Government do not cast greedy eyes on it.
Blame me as you will, but record it for yourhclf, unless there is
a decided change of policy, before long Kashnlir will soon be
as much British India as is now Burma.
" And is the country of no military importance 3 I think
the military authorities in India consider otherwise. Why,
the first instructions issued to me ten years ago, were to make
a ' gun carriage road ' through the mountains. Is there not a
road being projected now t o the utmost corner of the kingdom,
with vast sums of money being spent on it, solcly for military
purposes ? Has the Maharaja not been repeatedly tlireatcned
with a military cantonment, t o be placed in the most favour-
:. ble situation in the valley ? "

E. F. Knight has written to the same effect. He

had taken part in the expedition which was sent
under Colollel Durand t o the frontier to subjugate
the Conjouts in 1891 when hostilities again broke
out in the frontier.
'* The value of Gilgit t o the Kashmir State commanding
as i t does the Indus valley and mouth of Hunza river, and eo
holding in check t h e unruly tribes on either side is obvioue
enough ; but it is only recently that the great strategiml im-
 INSIDE KASHMIR
~ortancet o the Empire of this position has been fully realized.
rhis region is now attracting some attention. The Russian
:xplorers are exploring the passes of the Hindukush on the
gorthern side. They have crossed the range too a t several
mints, trespassed into the territories of our allies ..,.....Now
whatever position we take up with regard t o the debatable
land beyond Hindukush there can be no doubt as to what our
Zourse of action should be on the Southern slope. Our influence
~houlda t least extend up to that great rrlountain range which
forms the natural frontier of India. It is necessary for the
safeguarding of our Empire that we should a t any rate hold
Dur side of t h e mountain gates but unless we looked to it
Russia would soon have both sides under her control."*

A t one time it was seriously suggested by some

that the words of the Treaty of Amritsar, namely.
86
the hilly or mountainous country. with its depen-
dencies, situated eastward of the river Indus and
westward of the river Ravi ", did not include Gilgit,
and so it should not be in the possession of the
Dogras. But evidently this was not the spirit of the
Treaty and only showed colossal ignorance of geo- '

graphy on the part of those who signed it.

Knight wanted the whole of Kashmir t o be
under the British. This is what he says :
" The climate of this Paradise of Asia appears t o be well
adapted to the European constitution. The few English
children who have been born and brought up here are so strong
and rosy cheeked as if they have been bred a t home; while
there is no necessity for their leaving t h e country when they
have attained a certain age, the separation between parents
and children, which forms for our people the great drawback
to an Indian career being quite avoidable in Kashmir. Had we
not sold this magnificent country a great military cantonment

+Where Three Empires Meet, page 268.

 EARLY DOGRA RULE 57
would no doubt have been long since established here. This
would not only have been most advantageous from a stretegi-
cal point of view but would have avoided much of the sickness
and nlortality which thins the ranks of our white army in
India." *
And Knight was not all alone in thinking like
this. All Imperialists thought likewise and cast
greedy eyes on Kashmir. Maharaja Partap Singh had
to become a pathetic spectator of his own misery for
several years not because of misgovernment and cor-
rupt administration in his country, which undoubted-
ly existed as he himself openly admitted in his com-
munications to the Viceroy, but because Kashmir
valley was wanted by the British. W h a t is surpris-
ing in this particular instance and in other similar
instances of intervention by the Goverrlment of
India in the internal affairs of an Indian State is not
the discovery of maladministration, which is always
there, but the coincidence of this discovery with
Imperialistic self-interest ; and, where this is not
concerned, the adoption by them of a policy of in-
difference or connivance, or giving the Indian
Princes plenty of rope. The Residency remained in
charge of the affairs for a pretty long time but,
finding that they could not in the teeth of hostile
public opinion prove successful in annexing Kashmir
nor turning it into military cantonment, the Gov-
ernment of India restored the Maharaja t o his
throne with full powers in 1905.
A Political Agent had been posted a t Gilgit in
1877 to watch the Imperial interests in the Frontier.
-
' I b i d , page 34.
58 INSIDE KASHMIR

His papers used t o pass through the Foreign Office

of t h e Maharaja. T h e Agency was withdrawn in
1881. It was re-established in 1889 when the Resi-
dency became the master of the whole land, and ever
since the Political Agent has been directly under the
Government of India. H e wields supreme command
over the tribal chiefs as well as the people of
the district. T h e civil administration was normally
carried on by the State Government till August 1935
when it was leased t o t h e Government of India,-a
recent change about which I shall have t o speak in
its place.
While writing about these warlike tribes of
Gilgit I cannot but admire t!le love of independence
t h a t they showed again and again by maklng great
efforts t o keep their country free. They had lived
a communal life for ages past and unlike t h e people
of Kashmir had never known a foreign master
before. I n fact even at the end of t h e last century
there were some small republics in t h e Frontier. It
is interesting t o read how they functioned. Writing
about them Drew says :
" There is a general assembly of the people, called Sigas,
wllich decides on almost every matter. It is called together
by beat of drum; men, old and young, attend it, but not
women; none who have the right t o attend are allowed to be
absent, under pain of fine. I n this assembly t h e rights of
a m'inority are carefully guarded. I have been told t h a t if
even one man, supposing him t o be of any consideration, object@
t o a policy, i t cannot be carried out ; the assembly is adjourned
for a few days, and in the interval effort is made either to
convince the objector or t o modify the proposal ; then meeting,
they have perhaps again t o adjourn; but in time something
o r other is sure to be arranged.
 EARLY DOGRA RULE
" Tlre executive consists of u. few men, rnay be five or six,
chosen by tlre people in their assembly. These arc called
Joslllero in tlrc I h r d 1:ingungc. Tlrcy are chosen for their
wisdonr : b u t here as elrjcwllere wealtlr scenrb: to have influence
t o <:onvincc t h e people of t h e wisdorn of those who possess it.
Tlre office of Joshtero is not l~ereditary; t h e Joshteros must be
in general accord with the asscmbly else they will be displaced.
The Joshteros dclibcratc together on a policy, b u t cannot carry
i t o u t w i t l ~ o u t h e consent of the adsenlbly of the people, which
they tl~emsclvescall tojilt ther. The Joohterou are also arbitra-
tors t o rjettle dispules of' water and wood, and whal not.
" Wllere the valley is lnrgc, like, for instance, Darel, each
village has its own Signe, or asserr~bly, which settles the parti-
cular affairs of that village, while for matter6 of rnore general
policy t h e J o s l ~ t w o sof all t h e villages first meet, and rnake
among themselves a plan t o propose, and then a general par-
liament is called : t h a t iq, the people tlrernselves of all t h e
villages together meet t o hear a n d decide. If all the villages
cannot agree on one policy, tlren each is free t o pursue its own
without severing the federal bond. Thus I have heard t h a t
some villages have joined with orre power, have ;lgrecd t o pay
tribute, wlrile otliers of the same valley have done t h e same t o
t h e rival power. B u t there must be sorrre lirnit t o this. They
could not, of course, actively join on opposite sides."

W i t h such institutions still existing it must have

appeared revolting to the people of the Frontier that
outsiders should come and occupy their native land.
They valiantly fought the Dogras and turned them
out whenever an opportunity offered itself. They had
heard about the coming of the British and how they
had conquered India. They were determined not t o
allow any Britisher to set foot on their soil.
The Raja of Hunza refused to allow the
Commission sent to demarcate the territories
of the Maharaja in 1847 to enter his boundaries.
60 INSIDE KASHMIR

Poor Northerners, little did they know a t that time

that before long they would be completely under the
suzerainty of British Imperialism.
I have discussed this episode in Kashmir politics
a t some length only t o show how from almost the
very moment that the Treaty of Amritsar was signed
the British did not hesitate to reduce it t o a scrap of
paper. If during the time of Gulab Singh and Ranbir
Singh they were not able t o cut i t t o pieces i t was
only because they either wanted the co-operation
and alliance of these Rajput Chiefs or did not
know the importance and value of the country.
Soon after that ill-fated Afghan W a r in 1877, the
British realized the strategical position of the State
and then no treaty was sacred enough t o be broken
t o achieve their end. I have noted how both
Gulab Sing11 and Ranbir Singh rendered valuable
services t o the British in 1857 when there was a wide-
spread rising all over India against them as also in
1877 when a foreign power had come into clash with
the Government of India. These strong proofs of
loyalty and co-operation did not help the Dogras
when the British made u p their mind t o carry out
their intention.
Nowadays British Imperialism in season and out
of season emphasizes and exaggerates the sanctity of
these treaties, sanads and engagements to thwart the
constitutional progress of the people of the States.
N o advance is allowed even when people living in
them clamour for it. The Princes put down these
demands with ruthless hands ; and the British
Government express their inability t o do anything
 EARLY DOGRA RULE 61

because the Treaties, they say, do not allow them

t o meddle in the internal administrations of the
States ! How the Treaty of Amritsar could be
repeatedly ignored and easily put aside without any
qualms of conscience when Imperial interests de-
manded it has been made abundantly clear from
what I have said above.
During the earlier period of the Dogras the
people of Kashmir suffered much misery. It is true
that Pax Brittanica gave them outward peace which
was lacking during the rule of either the Pathans or
the Sikhs. But this peace a t best helped the upper
classes of the people in general and the upper
classes of the Hindus in particular to consolidate and
fatten themselves a t the expense of the masses.
The masses did not make any progress, but, econo-
mically, they became poorer. The land was in
a dilapidated condition in the reigns of Gulab Singh
and Ranbir Singh. Taxes were almost as exorbitant
as in the times of the Pathans and the Sikhs. Revenue
was collected in kind and sepoys were despatched to
the villages in advance a t the time of the harvest t o
collect it. As the sepoys themselves were not paid
their dues which remained in arrears for several
months, one can imagine what havoc they must have
been creating in the villages while colIecting the
rent. A system was prevalent by which the State
itself farmed a part of the lands. Advances were
made annually to persons employed for the purpose,
and it was notorious that they embezzled the money
and cultivated the land with forced labour and with
seed extorted from the villagers. There was a heavy
62 INSIDE KASHMIR
octroi duty on rice brought into Srinagar. -The
Government itself was the principal grain dealer and
fixed the price of the rice as i t liked. While they
would sell their own sha.22 a t this fixed rate, the
zemindar had t o defray the octroi duty out of his
price. There were strange taxes. Such, for instance.
was a tax on the sale of horses called Zar-i-nakhas,
which amounted t o fifty per cent of the purchase
money.
Corruption was rampant in every department
and the brunt of it fell on the poor peasant in the
village. The corrupt official was not looked clown
upon as a contemptible human being. H e was respec-
ted in society and the Government never tried to
check him. Nay, he was encouraged as an instance
will show. Every village community in Kashmir had
a Zilladar or Harkara whose business it was to
report the misdeeds of his fellows. The Durbar
affected t o look on these officials as State Police. But
as sometimes they were women and had no power
beyond reporting, spies would be the better name
for them. They were paid by a cess of l1Ie per cent
on the gross produce of the land. Once i t occurred
t o a Vizier of the. Maharaja that the Zilladars were
making too much money and he made their chief,
the harkara bashi (Head Reporter of News), pay an
annual sum t o the treasury which a t one time rose
t o 60,000 chi1ki rupees (Rs. 37,500). The harkaras
had full liberty t o extort the money as best as they
could. The condition in other departments was the
same.
Then there was that obnoxious system of forced
 EARLY DOGRA RULE
labour. As if the difficulties mentioned above were
not enough for the much abused cultivator, he was
evsry now and then impressed into begar (forced
labour) by the State officials. Poor people were
dragged like slaves out of their houses against their
will to carry loads. etc.. and were never paid for their
labour. This evil practice continued during t h e
Residency raj. W h a t it was like may best be de-
scribed in the words of Dr. Arthur Neve :
" I was a t Islamabad, endeavouring t o fight a n epidemic
of cholera by sanitation, and noticed coolies collecting from
all the surrounding region, each with his blanket, spare
grass-shoes, his carrying crutch, and light frame of sticks and
rope in wllich t o carry the load upon his back. And I was
present a t the great concourse on a green meadow in front of
the mosque when a sort of farewell service was held for those
starting on this perilous journey. Loud was the sobbing of
many and fervid the demeanour of all as, led by the mullah,
they intoned their prayers and chanted some of their special
Ramazan penitential psalms. Even braver men than t h e
Kashmiris might well have been agitated a t such a time, when
taking farewell of their loved ones ! Who would till their
fields ? What would happen during their long absence t o their
wives and children ? To what perils would they themselves
be exposed in the snowy passes of that deadly Gilgit
district ? "*
Knight has described i t more graphically. He
says :
"Many thousands of villagers have been driven off every
year to toil as carriers of burdens on the Gilgit road. Gilgit
is a name of terror throug!~out the State. An enormous
transport service is needed, t o supply the garrisons on the
northern frontier with grain ; and the Kashmir authorities have
been utterly careless of tlle comfort, and even of the lives, of

:FThirty Y e a r s ir? Kaskniiv, page 140.

 INSIDE KASHMIR
the unfortunate wretches wlio are clraggetl from their hornes
and farnilies to trudge for ~ n o n t h sover the wearisome marches
of that arid country. They full on the road t o perish of hunger
and thirst, and, thinly clad as they are, are destroyed in hund-
reds a t a time by the cold on the snowy passes. \Vhen a rr~anis
seized for this form of begar, his wives and children hang upon
him, weeping, taking i t almost for granted t h a t they will never
see him more. A gang of these poor creatures, heavily laden
with grain, toiling along the desert crags between Astore and
Gilgit, on a burning sumrner day, urged on by a sepoy guard, is
perhaps as pitiablc a spectacle as any t o be seen on the roads
of the Siberia. But these are not convicts and criminals, they
are Rlussulman farmers, harmless subjects of the Maharaja."
Again :
" Most of the begar has t o be carried on in the sumrner
months, when the passes are open, a t the very season that the
villagers are needed in their fields, t h e crops suffering from
their absence. I t is then t h a t the grasping official swoops
down on a district, and while raising the complement of men
required by the State, levies blackmail from all the others. I t
has been calculated t h a t for one man who is taken on this
foroed labour, ten purchase their irnrnunity from the officials,
as much as one hundred rupees being paid in some instances.
The village is thus impoverished and rendered incapable of
paying its share of revenue to the State.
" The begar and its accompanying blackmail assumes many

forms. Thus recently, when a dozen carpenters were required

for Government work in a distant region, every carpenter in
Srinagar was impressed by t h e police and had t o pay for his
liberty. Sometimes all the men of a trade, the bricklayers,
for instance, getting wind that it is intended t o make one of
these raids upon them, fly from the capital t o the mountains
for a time public and private building work coming to a
standstill until they return."
After reading this one is pained t o find Knight
justifying the system by saying that begar is a just
and useful institution ; that there is no hardship in
 EARLY DOGRA RULE
properly conducted and legitimate forced labour; and
that it could not be abolished by a stroke of the pen.
But a n imperialist like Knight was helpless in this.
H e knew that the Britishers were in virtual posses-
sion of the country a t that time (1891) and were
themselves guilty of the crime. A s a matter of fact
they were party t o it. This appeared in the States-
man of April 1,1890 :
" A correspondent, whose information is unquestionable,
writes t o say that on the departure of Colonel Nisbet, the
Resident, for Srinagar, all his baggage was sent by the
Maharaja's private route a t State expense, though that
gentleman himself went via Murree. Now, when we come t o
consider t h a t the begar system flourishes in Kashmir in its worst
form, and that the carriage of a whole houseful of furniture
rneans the impressing of hundreds of poor unoffending peasants
all along t h e route, not for a day or two, but for weeks
together, i t is, t o say the least, inexplicable how an officer of
Colonel Nisbet's standing could be induced to accept such
assistance. That he should draw any help a t all is contrary to
the best traditions of English rule, but that he should do so at
the expense of a lot of miserable villagers-for State expense
virtually resolves itself into that-is scandalous. Were the
people employed on Colonel Nisbet's work paid by him ? Nor
is this the only point on which Colonel Nisbet's doings in
Kashmir are challenged-doings which, though not without
precedent, are none the less regrettable. It has often been a
reproach to the British administration that political officers
of high merit and integrity should place themselves under
indirect pecuniary obligations t o the Princes whose interests
they are supposed t o watch. Thus it is well known that a t
Sialkot-for he never resides a t the Maharaja's capital, where
there is a Residency-our gallant Colonel lives in a house
belonging t o the State ; the whole of this is furnished a t State
espense, and certainly a quarter of the expenditure is
defrayed from the selfsame source. Even in distant Lahore
 INSIDE KASHMIR
he is provided with a linely furnished l~ouseurld carriages,
while a t Srinagar i t is impossible to esti~rllrte the nmount
expended for Residency purposes. Not that Colonel Nisbet
is alone t o blnme in this matter. His predecessors havc all
more or less becn guilty of it ; but, as 11c is said to bc a man
of high spirit and as, moreover, his apj)ointxr~entto ICasll~nir
was accompnnied by trunlpct blasts of applause, hc might
have been more careful in thus risking exposure."
This, then, was the condition of the people of
Kashmir in the closing years of the last century.
Nature also did not favour them. I have mentioned
the great famine of 1877 when hundreds of
thousands of people died of starvation and whole
villages were ruined. Kashmir is a country in
which, with ordinary foresight, there should be n o
famine. But where corruption had entered the
very marrow of the officials such foresight was
impossible. But, whatever may be said about the
causes of the famine, the responsibility for the
appalling waste of human lives that followed rests
entirely on the Dogra rule and its officials. The
famine was followed by a terrible earthquake in
1885, when thousands of houses collapsed all over
the valley and innumerable people died under the
debris or were severely injured. The finances of
the State were in disorder which was increased by
the extravagance and squandering of the revenues of
the State in a most reckless and improvident manner
by the Maharaja and his underlings. There was n o
fixed privy purse, no regular budget, and no assess-
ment of revenue. Mere will of the ruler was the
law in this behalf. It was not strange, therefore.
that the Treasury had become empty and, a t the
 EARLY DOGRA RULE
death of Maharaja Ranbir Singh, money was brought
from the Palaces and put into the Treasury to pay
the salaries of subordinate officials.
As regards the cultural progress of the people
during the period of the Dogras nothing substantial
was achieved. The state of stagnation that had set
in during the reign of the Pathans and the Sikhs con-
tinued. Barring Ranbir Singh, little attempt was made
by any other ruler t o raise the cultural level of the
people. Some Kashmiri poets however flourished dur-
ing this period. Out of these mention may be made
of Mahmud Gami, author of a Kashmiri version of
Panj Ganj, Walli Ullah Mattu who wrote the legend
of Himal ; Pir Maqbul Shah Kralwari who wrote the
romance called Gulrez ; and Wahab Pare who retold
the Shahnama of Firdausi in Kashmiri. The most
famous among Hindus are Parmananda, his disciple
Lakshman, Prakash Ram and Krishen Dass.
Parmanand of Matan is author of Radha
Syayam Vara Sudama Charitra and Shiva Lagan
besides numerous devotional and philosophical short
poems. His profound mysticism makes his poems
very obscure, but their obscurity does not detract
from their popularity among the Hindus of Kashmir.
His disciple, Lakshman Ji of Nagam, is the author of a
Kashmiri version of Nala Damayanti besides several
devotional poems. Prakash Ram of Kurigam is famous
for his Ramayana in Kashmiri. Krishan Dass of
Vanpuh is the author of Shiva Lagan published by the
Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal through Sir George
Grierson, of the Linguistic Survey of India fame, and
of numerous delightful devotional poems. A Muslim
68 INSIDE KASHMIR
poet of to-day writing under the pen-name of
Mahjoor is very famous among the living poets and
has so far written dozens of lyrical poems which are
sung far and wide.
In a historical survey of times nearer one's own,
one is apt t o lose the proper historical perspective
and events nearer one's own time loom large. It
may also be said that during these transitional times
in the northern parts of India, the general level of
administration in the outlying parts of British India
was hardly higher than in Jammu and Kashmir, and
that in most Indian States conditions were even
much worse. This may, however, explain but it
cannot justify all that was done or left undone. But,
it must be said that begar was a legacy from the
Muslim times, that confiscation of mosques and the
marriage tax on the Muslims were a legacy from the
Sikhs. There is also enough historical material t o
prove that mosques were confiscated by the Sikhs
for political and not religious reasons. Whatever
harshness was shown by the Government cannot
directly be attributed t o religious intolerance. In
this respect, if in no other, the Dogra times were
more welcome than the preceding regimes. There
was no demolition of mosques as there had been a
large-scale demolition of temples. At some places in
Jammu Province the right of Azan could not be free-
ly exercised owing t o the opposition of the Hindu
Rajputs and the connivance of the subordinate
Hindu officials; but I may say it with regard t o the
Muslim masses generally, as I said with respect t o
the Hindus under Muslim rule, that their troubles
 EARLY DOGRA RULE 69

were not due to their religious belief or creed but

to the fact that they belonged to lower classes. The
Muslim upper classes lived an easy life as did the
Hindu upper classes, while lakhs of the Hindu
masses, the co-religionists of the Dogra Rulers, eked
out only a miserable existence.
 CHAPTER I11
Before the Year 1931
On 25th September, 1885, when Maharaja Partap
Singh formally ascended the gadda in the open
Durbar, he announced certain reforms in the adminis-
tration of his country. The system of farming
a part of the land by the State itself was given
up and the customs duty on rice abolished. The
organization of Harkaras was disbanded and soldiers
were no more to be paid in kind or allowed free
rents instead of salaries. There were other minor
concessions, such as remission of the tax on the
sale of horses and on plying of ekkas from Jammu
t o Sialkot.
Soon after his accession the Maharaja, in 1887,
appointed Mr. Wingate, an official of the Govern-
ment of India, t o make a regular settlement of the
lands. He remained in Kashmir for two years and
was succeeded in 1889 by Mr. (afterwards Sir)
Walter Lawrence as Settlement Commissioner of
the State. Sir Walter completed his work within a
period of seven years. H e has written a very
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 71
interesting book, T h e Valley o f Kashmir, which shows
how deeply he had studied the people of Kashmir
and the conditions they were living in during the
period.
Owing t o the exorbitant taxes and the loot of
the corrupt officials of the Government most of the
cultivators had given up their lands and abandoned
the profession of cultivation. I t was with great
difficulty that Lawrence could persuade people t o
take possession of lands. With the bitter experience
of the treatment that the authorities meted out
to the possessors and cultivators of the soil, city-
dwellers and the peasants alike refused to accept
the offer of the Settlement Commissioner in the
beginning. Ultimately Lawrence's great powers of
persuasion succeeded, and he was able to parcel out
the land among the people.
The land was parcelled out but its proprietor-
ship in the Kashmir Province and the Frontier
Districts was retained by the Maharaja, and land-
holders, whether they cultivated or only possessed
land as Chekdars, did so as ' tenants-at-will.' In
very rare cases were they declared t o be occupancy
tenants. All these people had the right t o occupy
land so long as they paid the revenue as it fell
due but they could neither sell nor mortgage it.
Tenants-at-will held land subject to the will of the
proprietor, who could eject them a t any time. They
were of two kinds, namely. (1) those who held land
direct from a landholder or the State and (2) those
who held land under occupancy tenants of class (1).
In Kashmir occupancy tenants consisted mainly
72 INSIDE KASHMIR
of those tenants who held land a t the time of
Lawrence's Settlement and had since been declared
by a competent court t o be such. In the cities
and towns of Kashmir and the frontier districts
people were given the rights of selling or mortgag-
ing the land. In almost the whole of the Jammu
Province, excepting the three tehsils of Ramnagar.
Basohli and Mirpore, the people were declared t o
be proprietors of land which was parcelled out t o
tenants. In these three tehsils land-holders were
malguzars and enjoyed the rights of selling or
mortgaging it. This is a glaring instance of the
differential treatment that the people of Kashmir
Province received under Dogra Rule-a case of
provincial prejudice. This was the first time in the
history of Kashmir that people lost proprietorship of
their own land.
On the recommendation of Lawrence Iand
revenue was realized partly in cash and partly
in kind, care being taken that the latter was
so fixed as t o cause the least hardship t o
the cultivators. But the system of obtaining it
partly in kind has often led t o grave abuses. The
sepoys who used t o coerce the cultivators were
removed. Begar was theoretically abolished but
it continued in its full vigour in practice. All
those lands which were not occupied a t the time
of the first Settlement were declared khalsa, i.e.,
belonging t o the State. As t o how exorbitant the
revenue fixed was the following will be read with
interest :
" The standard for k i n g revenue in places where Govern-
 BEFORE T H E YEAR 1931 73
rnent did not enjoy proprietary rights was the same as in the
Yunjab, namely, half net assets or half the profits of the pro-
prietor from land cultivated by :tenants-at-will. To arrive a t
the percentage represented by half net assets some deductions
were made from the gross produce, 8 per cent t o 10 per cent
altogether, on account of customary payments from the
common harvest heap before division. This left the divisible
produce a t about 90 per cent. At the prevailing rent rate of
half the produce the net profits of the proprietors would be
45 per cent of the gross produce wllicll could leave the share of
the state at 22i per ccnt of the gross produce. Where cash
rents were common, which was selclotn the case, another set of
'half net assets' was obtainable by the simple process of
dividing by two the average net cash rent per acre of a given
class of land. Where the state held proprietary rights in all
land, as in Kashmir, i t was in theory entitled to half of the
gross produce, which it actually took before the first regular
settlement, but this was changed subsequently, and the
standard fixed a t 30 per cent of the gross produce."*
T h e condition of industries grew worse than
ever. I n the first chapter of this volume I have said
that King Zain-ul-Abidin introduced several indus-
tries in Kashmir, notable among them being shawl.
silk and paper-making. T h e biggest of these indus-
tries was undoubtedly that of shawl-manufacture.
Some authorities are inclined t o think that this
industry was known in Kashmir long before King
Zain-ul-Abidin. T h e author of Kashmir and Its
Shawls tells us that " a whole people do not learn
t o weave such stuffs as Kashmeerees have so long
turned out. in a day or year or even in centuries." l-
A French writer has the following remarks on the
- - -

*Annual Administration Report of Jammu and Kashmir

State for t h e Samvat 1995-96. page 13.
t"Kashmir and Its Shawls," page 16.
74 INSIDE KASHMIR
ancient origin of the shawls :-
" B u t i t must not be inferred t h a t i t is thc produce of nloder'n
civilisation. The Indian shawl dates four thousand years buck,
a n d t h e shawl cloth of Babylonia, t h e silky textures of Huth,
t h e mantles of Thamar, a n d t h e long pieces of cloth with which
Biblical characters were clothed were no rnore a n d other tliarl
t h e shawls of mnnufhcture of wtiich Asia enjoyed a monopoly.
India especially produced them by nieans of precious wool
obtained from animals 1)retl on an Asiatic soil, such as the sheep
of Kashmir, the goats of Angora, Kirman a n d Tibet, and t h e
camels of Bokhara."*
Be that as i t may, it is a settled fact that in the
days of King Zain-ul-Abidin the industry was well
organised and received every encouragement from
the Government. Whatever view one might hold
.of the politics of the Muslim Period, it cannot be
denied that the shawl-industry flourished under the
Sultans. Even in the reign of the Pathans its pro-
gress was maintained and its reputation upheld. As
early as 1519 " the Kashmir fabrics, even of the finer
kind, must have been known in the W e s t of Europe
a s may be inferred from the tradition that the light
veil fastened by a thin golden thread over the
forehead, covering the back of the head and falling
on the shoulders, of Leonardo de Vinci's famous
portrait of Mona Lisa, wife of Francesco of
Giocondo, a citizen of Florence, was in reality one
of those earlier Kashmir fabrics that could be drawn
through a lady-s ring as a test of its fineness."
The Mughal Emperors took special interest in the
development of this industry. In the Ain-i - Akbari
Abul Fazl has recorded that " by the attention
*Quoted in Kashmir and Its Shawls, page 17.
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 75
of His Majesty, the manufacture of the shawls in
Kashmir is in a very flourishing state." The
King introduced the custom of wearing two
.

shawIs, one under the other which was a consider-

able addition t o their beauty. There can be little
doubt that such patronage liberally bestowed did
much t o foster the manufacture of shawls in
Kashmir. It is interesting to note that Abul Fazl
has quoted the prices of different shawls as ranging
between Rs. 2 and Rs. 1,200 each. Bernier tells us
that in his time " the Kashmiris possessed an almost
exclusive and very considerable manufacture of
shawls made in prodigious number; attracting trade
and money on which even little children were
engaged." H e alludes t o futile attempts made a t
Patna, a t Agra and a t Lahore t o imitate these shawls
and adds, " T h e produce of the foreign looms has
never equalled that of Kashmir in its delicate
softness."
It is not precisely known how Kashmir shawls
were introduced in the West. It is said that they
were first brought t o the notice of the French ladies
by officers of the army of Egypt who obtained some
there and sent them t o Paris, but it is beyond
dispute that their importation created quite a
revolution in the toilet of fashionable ladies.
bb
This fine, silky web of wool," says Larousse, " work-
ed with fanciful flowers, distinguished by the tints
of its colours, its singular designs, those strange
palms draped in shades of great varieties, those
borders formed of tortuous lines crossing each other
in endless devices, all combine to inspire, a t the
76 INSIDE KASHMIR
very sight of a shawl, those who see it with a
desire t o possess it. Fashion adopted it, protected
it, and it soon became the indispensable item of
an elegant wardrobe with all those who could
afford t o purchase and thus aspire t o be consi-
dered well dressed. W o e to the husbands whose
limited incomes would not admit of making their
wives a present of a shawl! Double woe t o those
ladies whose husbands were too poor or too stingy
t o afford their wives the gratification of their
wishes."'
The Governments of Western Europe took
advantage of this furore and imposed prohibitive
duties on this merchandise. The British Govern-
ment imposed as high as eighty per cent import duty
and yet a shawl of the finest kind would sell a t
£500 each, of course duty included. It was no
wonder that in these circumstances spurious pro-
ducts were manufactured outside Kashmir and sent
in the name of the country t o various European
centres. In 1850 an experiment was therefore made
by Frenchmen t o derive advantage by purchasing
the genuine article from Kashmir itself. Agents
were employed who would visit the valley every
\

year regularly and purchase collectively t o the

amount of from four to six lakhs of rupees. I quote
below the value of Kashmir shawls that were export-
ed from India t o all parts of the world 1851-
1865 :-
1851 £171,709 1853 Z215,659
1852 . 16146,270 1854 ~170,153
'Quoted in Kashmir and Its Shawls, page 22.
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 77

The Sikhs levied exorbitant tax on the manufac-

ture of shawls charging each shop up t o Rs. 120
per year. T h e great pestilence and famine of
1819 decimated the number of t h e shawl manufac-
turers. But, as Moorcroft observed in 1824, lacs of
people were still employed in this industry. W h e n
Kashmir was ceded t o the Dogras and handed
over t o their tender mercies i t was in full
bloom. If we add t o the values quoted above t h e
quantity that was absorbed by Indians themselves,
it will easily be conceded that this industry alone
brought half a crore of rupees t o the people of
Kashmir when Kashmir came under the rule of the
Dogras.
But where has this industry gone ? H o w many
people were employed in i t a t the time when
Maharaja Hari Singh ascended the throne in 1925
a t t h e death of Partap Singh? T h e answer can only
be most disappointing for the patriot and the well-
wisher of the State. It is a sad commentary on the
economic progress of Kashmir during the reign of
Dogras t h a t such a gigantic industry which support-
ed lakhs of poor people and supplemented t h e
meagre income of a large part of the peasantry by
keeping them employed during idle months of
winter, became almost extinct by 1925. T h e charkha
 INSIDE KASHMIR
which was a prominent part of the household pro-
perty in Kashmir, is rarely visible now and has been
turned out from the cities and towns for good.
The Government of Kashmir tell us that the
Franco-German W a r of 1870 gave a fatal blow t o the
shawl trade in .the W e s t from which it could not
revive. But this is n o defence when we know that
such blows had been dealt upon the industry prior
t o 1870. If the market in the W e s t was lost tempo-
rarily a Government could create new market else-
where. But this could be achieved only if the
Government were sympathetic and wide awake.
W h a t the condition of shawl weavers was in the
times of the Dogras and before the industry was
substantially ruined has been described by Drew
thus :--
" A large p r o p o r t i o ~of
~ the town inhabitants are shawl
weavers whose handicraft has mode Icashmir t o be familiarly
kaown over the whole both of India and Europe. These Inen
spend long days in t h e low crowded factories where t h e air is
very impure especially in winter; they keep the place close for
warmth, and in the absence of ventilation t h e atmosphere
becomes very highly vitiated. This and the constancy of the
sedentary employment has acted on the physique of the shawl
weavers; they are a class whose sallow complexions and weak
frames contrast strongly with the robustness of most other
Kashmiris."
It is a shame that even the Indian market was
gradually lost. It is no wonder that after several
centuries of brisk trade the shawl manufacture
remained of no importance in Kashmir. Thousands
of weavers left the valley early during this century
and established themselves at Lahore, Anxitsar,
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 79
Agra and other less important centres. Shawls are
not mentioned now as an important merchandise the
export of which would yieId to the State a revenue
sufficient t o deserve mention in the Administration
Report of the Government.
If this was the condition of the biggest industry.
that of the smaller industries was even worse. The
paper-making stopped altogether in the reign of
Partap Singh. So did also the manufacture of cotton.
When ,no encsuragement was received from the
Government the manufacture of Gabbas, Namdas
and Puttoo and the ornamental arts of Srinagar,
such as silver work and papier-mache also began t o
show signs of decay and the craftsmen were economi-
cally reduced t o the very lowest level. It is beyond
the scope of this book to go into any details of this
degradation. I can only say that from a self-
contained province Kashmir became a country
totally dependent for its needs on outsiders; from
an exporting nation Kashmiris became a people
who largely import goods from foreign countries.
While deploring this setback in the industries
of Kashmir I must admit that it was in the
reign of the Dogras that Kashmir perhaps for the
first time in its long history got the blessing
of the two big mountain roads which link i t
with the outside world. New avenues of trade and
commerce were thus opened, but for reasons which
I shall discuss a little further, not much could be
achieved.
In one thing Kashmir did make progress. The
Government of India was anxious to establish a
80 INSIDE KASHMIR
bureaucratic form of administration in the State.
Although the process had already begun in the
reign of Ranbir Singh, the various departments now
existing have been created in the days of Partap
Singh when there was the Residency raj. Almost
immediately, when the Maharaja was shorn of all his
royal powers, the British Political Resident through
the State Council bzgan to interest himself in open-
ing the different bureaus t o make the administration
look civilised and modern. But there were few local
men with the requisite qualifications available to do
t h e jobs and fewer schools and no colleges in the
Statz where the State subjects could have been
educated for the purpose.
So men with Western education and training
were imported in large numbers from the neighbour-
ing province of the Punjab. " Armies of outsiders
trailed behind the officers from the plains with no
more interest than t o draw as much as they could,
and then t o depart leaving behind their kindred as
successors to continue the drain; and thus was
established a hierarchy in the services with the result
that profits and wealth passed into the hands of the
outsiders and the indigenous subjects lost enterprise
and independence." Thus a t the beginning of the
present century a new problem confronted the people:
that of facing the outsider who had occupied every
position of vantage in the administration of the
country. From those early times the struggle for the
rights of the people living in the State against out-
siders took a definite shape. While the masses were
groaning under the unbearable load of taxes and
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931
crushing economic poverty, the upper classes felt
displeased and resentful because of this foreign
domination in every branch of administration. The
feeling of resentment which was running under-
ground for centuries found an outward expression,
though it was not yet directed against the ruler or
his administration as such. Representations were
made to the Government of India who, in a letter t o
the Kashmir Durbar a t the close of the last century,
sent instructions that in the matter of State employ-
ment Mulkies should be given preference over the
outsiders and that this principle should be strictly
adhered to. This letter was circulated through all
the departments of the State. But this was vague,
and it did not produce any effect, owing t o the fact
that any outsider could call himself a Mulki by
simply declaring himself to be one. The struggle
continued ; and in 1912 A.D. a definition of ' State
Subject * was formdated for the first time. A State
Subject was one who had obtained an Ijazat Nama.
Evidently, therefore, this was inadequate, and out-
siders continued to be imported in even larger
numbers by their kith and kin, who held the Minis-
ters* jobs, besides almost all the posts of the
Heads of Departments. In the meantime, Kashmiris
had advanced in education. Early in 1905 A.D.
through the strenuous efforts of Mrs. Annie Besant,
some luminaries of the Theosophical Society, and
Pandit Bala Kaul of the Sahib family, a Hindu
College, which subsequently came to be known as
the Sri Partap College, had been started a t Srinagar.
Another college was started by the Government in
82 INSIDE KASHMIR
the city of Jammu. Many young men passed through
the portals of these institutions after completing
their course. They imbibed the spirit of the new
age. Their minds were full of the ideas of the
onrushing tide of democracy in the West. They
read with emotion about political movements of
Turkey, Ireland, Egypt and other countries as also
the part young men played in these movements.
They saw, what, nearer home, young Bengal did t o
defeat the scheme of Lord Curzon to partition that
province. Life became visible in the decayed bones
of Kashmir again. Her soul began t o breathe. The
hearts of the people throbbed. T h e spirit of inde-
pendence revived and with it came the desire t o
turn out the outsiders.
Another factor, as yet unnoticeable, was taking
shape. Muslims, who form the great majority of the
population of the State and who had not taken
kindly t o modern education. began to feel their
backwardness. The cry of "down with the out-
sider " was raised mostly by the Hindus. Sensible
Muslims did not oppose it but before taking any
active part in it they wanted t o make up the defi-
ciency in the matter of education. Titne and again
they approached the Government to grant them
some facilities enabling them to make rapid advance
in the sphere of education. It appears that these
requests were not heeded in the beginning. The
British Government, who had become defenders of
the rights of the Muslim majority against a Hindu
Maharaja while proposing t o deprive Partap Singh
of his powers, did practically nothing t o push the
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 83
Muslims on the path of literacy and education during
the period Kashmir administration was under the
Residency raj.
The demand of Muslims became irresistible and
the Maharaja was moved a t last t o do something in
this direction. In 1916, Mr. Sharp. then the Educa-
tional Commissioner with the Government of India,
visited a t the request of the Kashmir Durbar the
educational institutions in the State, examined the
Muslim demands, enquired into their grievances and
submitted a report containing his recommendations
for the guidance of the State authorities. These
recommendations were sanctioned by His Highness
but were lightly treated by his Ministers, and instruc-
tions issued by him were seldom followed by those
in charge of the Education Department, who were
invariably non-Kashmiris. As a matter of fact, soon
after its publication, the report was safely put in the
archives from where nobody could find it out.
Fifteen years after, an official enquiry committee
had t o admit that " n o one appears t o be aware of
the nature of the report submitted by the educa-
tional expert." The Muslims rightly felt aggrieved
over such a state of affairs. For years they com-
plained and protested, fretted and fumed, but all t o
no purpose.
Other communities were in the meantime
making some progress. Especially in the Kashmir
Province the Pandits were making rapid advance in
education and had on this account begun to capture
the offices as subordinate clerks. Kashmir Muslims
became impatient. They had now many grievances
84 INSIDE KASHMIR
against the authorities which were collected and sent
t o them with no results. A t this stage a bold step
was taken by a few leading Kashmiri Muslims.
Recklessly enough a memorial was submitted by them
t o Lord Reading, then Viceroy of India, when he
visited Kashmir in 1924. In the course of the
memorial the Muslims demanded that proprietary
rights of the land should be given to the peasants ;
that a larger number of Mohammedans should be
employed in the State Service ; that steps should be
taken t o improve the condition of Mohammedan
education in the State ; that the system of begar
should be abolished ; that the work of the Co-opera-
tive Department should be extended ; that all Muslim
mosques in possession of the Government should be
released and handed over to the Muslims. This
memorial was signed by some eminent Jagirdars and
the two Mir Waizes (the Religious Heads of Muslims)
also affixed their signatures to it. Some demonstra-
tions in the State-owned silk factory at Srinagar
and disturbances of semi-political nature took place
in the city during the summer of that year. But
everything was in an embryonic form tnen and all
this was put down by the authorities with a firm
hand.
A committee of three official members consist-
ing of a European, a Hindu and a Mohammedan
examined the memorial and reported that there was
no substance in it ! Some of the memorialists were*
exiled and their landed property confiscated. The
two Mir Waizes were let off with a warning, but all
official privileges enjoyed by them were immediately
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931
stopped. The demonstrators were summarily dealt
with and punished.
In 1922, a State Council of Ministers was again
formed t o assist Maharaja Partap Singh in the
administration of the country. Raja Hari Singh,
heir-apparent t o the throne, was put in charge of i t
as the Senior Member of the Council. Educated
young men looked to him for help in driving out the
nonostate subjects when they failed t o receive any
encouragement in this behalf from the Maharaja
himself. And the Senior Member did his best to
fulfil the wishes of his people. H e issued a circular
order to all the departments enjoining upon them
t o employ only the State subjects to all ordinary
vacancies. It is interesting to read what the circulars
said :
" The Maharaja Sahib Bahadur has becn pleased to direct
t h a t in future no non-State subject shall be appointed to any
position without the express orders of His Highness-in-Council
in each case. Each such proposal shall be accompanied by a
full statement of reasons in writing as t o why it is considered
necessary t o appoint a non-State subject, it being definitely
stated whether there is no State subject qualified and available
for the appointment proposed. In like manner no scholarships
or training expenses of any kind should be granted t o non-
State subjects. His Highness has also directed t h a t any
infringement of this order will be very seriously dealt with.
"His Highness the Maharaja Sahib has been pleased t o
inform you that in future all grants of land for agriculturcll and
house-building purpose and grant of houses and other State
property shall be made t o State subjects only, and every pro-
posal to make a grant sllall be accompanied by a written state-
ment setting forth the reasons for doing so. It should be made
clear t o all concerned that any disobedience of these orders will
be dealt with very severely and no exception will be made."
86 INSIDE KASHMIR
The main difficulty of determining who a State
subject was still existed, and these well-intentioned
circulars could not carry the educated young men
any further. W h a t was wanted was a restrictive
definition. A committee of six officials and four
non-officials was appointed forthwith for the purpose
of defining the term according t o the changed cir-
cumstances and in response t o the public demand.
O n this committee the non-State subjects did have
their due representation.
Maharaja Partap Singh died in September 1925
and, having no male heir of his own, was succeeded
by his nephew Raja Hari Singh, the son of Raja
Amar Singh. As Senior Member of the Council,
Maharaja Hari Singh had proved of great promise.
As soon as he ascended the throne he gave demon-
stration of his energy and enthusiasm. H e took
keen personal interest in the welfare of the people
in the beginning of his reign. H e participated in
many public functions and went t o the headquarters
of the districts t o come in touch with his subordinate
officials and the masses living in the country-side.
All this presaged well. The State Subject Definition
Committee submitted its report in 1925. Its recom-
mendations were readily accepted by His Highness.
A definition of the term Hereditary State Subject '
was duly formed and passed into a law on the 31st
of January, 1927. According to this definition " All
persons born and residing in the State before the
commencement of the reign of Maharaja Gulab Singh
Bahadur and also persons who settled therein before
the commencement of Samvat 1942, and have since
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 87
been permanently residing, " are hereditary subjects
of the State. This definition was a bolt from the blue
t o the outsiders as it meant instantaneous stoppage
of their entry into State Service, nay, into the State
itself; for what use was it for adventurers t o come
into the State if they could not purchase agricultural
or non-agricultural land, get an appointment or a
scholarship or, in certain circumstances, obtain even
a Government contract? Thus further influx of the
non-State subjects was stopped. But what of those
who were already in the State either in Government
service or following different professions and trades?
Some of them might get State Subject certificates
by fraudulent means, but it was evident that all of
them could not. So some method of evading the
new law was to be found out. Intrigues were set
afoot and conspiracies hatched t o do this ; and, as
we shall see presently, it resulted in accentuating the
communal feelings of the people of the State and
largely contributed to turn a national fight into a
communal struggle in 1931.
While the adoption of the definition of State
Subject fulfilled to some extent the hopes of the
rising spirit of a depressed people, signs became
visible that this could not serve as a panacea for all
ills. The unbridled autocracy of a Prince is a
double-edged weapon. By passing the law of the
definition of State Subject, no doubt, Maharaja Hari
Singh stopped the jobbery and nepotism of outsiders
but immediately after he ascended the gaddi, a sort
of a Rajput oligarchy began to be formed under his
shelter. Mediocre Rajputs became Heads of various
88 INSIDE KASHMIR

Departments of the State. The military was exclu-

sively reserved for the Dogras, chiefly Rajputs, and
more than sixty per cent of the gazetted appointments
went to them. This invidious distinction became
intolerable soon and voices, indistinct in the begin-
ning, were raised in protest.
In the beginning of the year 1929, Kashmir was
already seething with discontent. An intelligent
observer like Sir Albion Banerji deplored the state
of affairs. H e was disgusted with the unimaginative
mind of the Government, and resigned the post of
the Foreign and Political Minister which he had held
for over two years. On the 15th March. 1929. his
observations on the state of affairs here as made
before the representative of t h e Associated Press
produced a deep effect on the minds of the people
of Kashmit. H e said :
"Jammu and Kashmir State is labouring under many
disadvantages, with a large Mohammedan population absolute-
ly illiterate labouring under poverty and very low economic
conditions of living in the villages and practically governed
like dumb, driven cattle. There is no touch between the
Government and t h e people, no suitable opportunity for repre-
senting grievances and the administrative machinery itself
requires overhauling from top to bottom to bring i t up t o t h e
modern conditions of efficiency. It has a t present little or no
sympathy with the people's wants and grievances.
"There is hardly any public opinion in the State. As
regards the press i t is practically non-existent with the result
that the Government is not benefited t o the extent that i t
should be by the impact of healthy criticism."

Sir Albion stated that in the villages of

Kashmir people were living very low economic lives
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 89
and the artisans of Kashmir were finding i t very
difficult to earn a living owing t o the unsympathetic
attitude of the Government. H e advised that some-
thing should be done early t o raise the standard of
the masses who had fallen a prey t o various abuses
and evils owing t o grinding poverty. As we shall
presently see, the Kashmir Government disregarded
this timely warning of an experienced politician like
Sir Albion with fatal consequences t o itself.
Before I narrate and discuss the events that
followed, I should try t o analyse the situation a little
further. As stated already, the Jammu and Kashmir
State comprises three provinces. People speaking
different languages, belonging to diverse cultures
and with varying modes of life reside in these three
different provinces of the State. As many as four-
teen dialects are spoken by them. The people of
Jammu province living on the left side of the river
Chenab are called Dogras' and, broadly speaking,
they use Dogri though many of them also speak
Punjabi. In the Kashmir Province Kashmiri is the
chief language. The majority of Kashmiris is pure
Aryan in blood. The people of Dardistan, as the
frontier district of Gilgit is generally called. belong
t o the Shin and Yashkun caste of the Aryan race.
They are Mohammedans and a large number of
them follow H. H. the Aga Khan. Buddhists live in
the eastern part of the Ladakh district. The people
of the frontier speak their own dialects. Moham-
medans and Sikhs are spread all over the three
*The word Dugar comes from Sanskrit Dvigart (between
t w o lakes).
90 INSIDE KASHMIR
provinces. But Kashmiri Pandits are concentrated
in the Kashmir Province. Hari jans (depressed
classes) are confined t o the Jammu Province. Raj-
puts are a part of the Dogra community of Jammu.
A few thousand Punjabis who have migrated t o the
State either as traders or as State employees are
spread all over the country. The ruling family
belong to the Dogra Hindu race and are Rajputs.
There is therefore a lurking suspicion among all
non-Dogra Hindu classes of the people that they are
not treated well. Even the non-Rajput Hindus of
Jummu have complained that they are being ignored.
Harijans, who are theoretically a part of the Hindu
community, have always been socially tyrannised
over and positively suppressed. The people of
Kashmir consider the Maharaja as an alien ruler.
N o t only do the Muslims, who have religious differ-
ences with him, not look upon him as their country-
man but the Kashmiri Pandits also do not consider
him as one of their own. In language, in mode of
living. and in his descent he has nothing in common
with the people of Kashmir and the Frontier districts.
They have always felt aggrieved and felt discontented
with the policy of the Government which excessively
favoured the people of the Jammu Province,
especially the Rajputs, a t their expense. Th2 policy
of Provincial discrimination became pronounced and
acute in the reign of Maharaja Hari Singh though it
was there from the very beginning of the Dogra rule.
Frederic Drew wrote in 1575 :
" Judged of in this capacity-that of agents and instru-
ments of Government-we must allow to the Dogras consider-
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 91
able tailings. They have little t a c t ; they have not the art of
conciliating the governed, of trenting them in such a way as to
attach them. Thove who are high in autllorily have not width
enough of view t o see t h a t the interests of both governors and
governed rnay be in a great measure coincident. As a rule,
they are not liked by the dependent nations even t o t h a t
degree in which, with moderately good management, a ruling
race may fairly hope t o be liked by its alien subjects."

There are reasons t o believe, as we shall see

further on, t h a t the suspicions and doubts entertain-
ed by the non-Dogra races of t h e State are not
groundless. For the present I should like t o men-
tion one instance. T o the end of Maharaja Partap
Singh's reign t h e headquarters of the Durbar moved
seasonally t o the two biggest cities of t h e State.
Jammu, t h e capital of the Jammu Province, used t o
be the winter headquarters and Srinagar, the reput-
ed city of Kashmir, used t o be the summer head-
quarters of the Government. But soon after
Maharaja Hari Singh ascended the gaddi, he fixed
his headquarters permanently a t Jammu. This was
extremely resented by the people of Kashmir,
particularly by the Pandits, who were affected by the
change immediately. T h e biggest officials, the
Ministers and Heads of Departments used still t o move
with their camp offices t o Srinagar, but low-paid
clerks most of whom were Pandits and some of
whom were Kashmir Muslims were left behind.
Unaccustomed t o it, their lives became in the
excessive heat of summer months in Jammu unbear-
able t o them. It was suspected that the arrange-
ments were made, firstly, t o force Kashmiris t o
relinquish their jobs and, secondly, in this way t o
92 INSIDE KASHMIR
make their further recruitment in the higher offices
difficult. It also affected the trade of Kashmir
Province, to some extent. The political importance
of Kashmir Province in general and Srinagar in
particular was undoubtedly undermined.
A storm was raised in the press against this
change ; this could be done only outside the State,
as there was no local newspaper. Thq arrangement
of fixation of headquarters did not work well but,
even if it could, the Kashmiri clerks put all obstacles
in its way. In the beginning the Government
was obstinate but ultimately, under pressure of
public opinion, it gave in and reverted to its old
practice.
The people of Jammu Province were allowed t o
have a political organisation in the shape of the
Dogra Sabha. In the name of the people the Sabha
protected the interests and safeguarded the rights
of the upper-class Dogras. I t was a most loyal
body so that even the Government servants were
allowed to join it. Having found out that Dogra
aristocracy wanted more voice in the administration
of the State the rulers had allowed the existence
of this organisation t o act as a safety-valve t o
evaporate and discharge any dangerous agitation
that might otherwise go underground. When during
the twenties of this century the signs of discontent
became visible in the upper classes of the people of
Kashmir, the organisation was extended to that
province as well. A session of the Dogra Sabha was
held at Srinagar in the autumn of 1926. But for
various reasons the Sabha and its aim did not cap-
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 93
ture the imagination of the people of Kashmir.
This Sabha is still in existence, though only in name.
Many efforts were made to infuse new blood into
its old veins but without any success.
Maharaja Hari Singh had begun well and
inspired the people with high hopes. The State
Subject definition and its strict enforcement
were great concessions t o the educated classes
and the nobility among the hereditary subjects,
while the Raj-Tilak Boons and the Agricultural
Relief Regulation were a favour bestowed on the
landed classes generally. Everyone was agreed
that the Maharaja meant well t o his own people.
As time went on, however, these hopes were not
realised. Perhaps the hopes people were led to
entertain were too high. The machinery of the
Government could not adapt itself so quickly t o
the new impulse. Besides, there were no capable
Ministers. They had neither vision nor acumen
to observe and read what was happening around
them, nor even practical sagacity or administrative
intelligence. They were either mushrooms or oppor-
tunists. Perhaps sympathy for His Highness* sub-
jects should have atoned for their inefficiency,
but sympathy they lacked. The only capable
Minister, Sir Albion, had t o resign in disgust.
Mr. G. E. C. Wakefield made a bid for supreme
power by playing Disraeli t o the Maharaja and was
very near success, when down he came with a
crash for he had overshot himself. Surrounded
by a group of mediocre ministers, fit only for
low intrigue and gross flattery, and because of
94 INSIDE KASHMIR
them, perhaps, the Maharaja became inaccessible
and lost all personal touch with his people.
Maharaja Partap Singh was freely, even informally.
accessible, t o which and to his reputation for piety,
his swadeshi ways, and a limited privy purse, he
owed not a little of his popularity with the common
people. I n the absence of any freedom of press,
platform, or association, this inaccessibility t o the
people of their Maharaja coupled with the ineffi-
ciency and the antipathy of his ministers amounted
in actual practice t o an almost complete estrange-
ment between the ruler and the ruled.
Moreover, the discrimination between the
people of the two provinces of Jammu and Kashmir
became a pronounced factor in the policy of the
present rule by t h e end of the twenties. Rajputs
were granted undue latitude in dominating the
official politics of the State. It must, however.
be remembered that this policy of the Government
affected only the upper classes of the people.
T h e masses in all the three provinces were equally
backward. The fight for the loaves and fishes
of office was carried on between the advanced
sections of the society. Yet it was the only sign of
any political activity during those days though
the struggle took various shapes and forms.
The Rajputs were a satisfied community.
They were not advanced in education. A large
number of the posts, high or low, in the army were
open t o them. I n the civil administration many
appointments were filled by them though far better
qualified and highly educated young men belonging
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 95
t o other communities were available. One Rajput,
practically illiterate, became the Head of a Depart-
ment even in the year 1928 when hundreds of
graduates were unemployed. In the case of certain
Rajputs from outside the condition of being a
State subject was relaxed.
Though Dogra Hindus, most of whom are
not Rajputs, resented this, yet they were not
quite dissatisfied. They are nearer t o Rajputs
and the Ruling Family by the community of
language, religion and culture. The army is open to
them and so are all the civil departments.
All other communities (I mean the upper
classes among them) have been indifferently
treated, even positively discouraged and suppressed.
There have been provincial as well as communal
bias and prejudice in this policy of the Government.
For instance, the people of Kashmir and the
Frontier districts, both Hindu and Muslim, who
ate looked upon as a subject race are not entitled to
join the army. The doors of the military have
been closed against them. This was not so before
the Dogra Rule and even in the reign of Maharajas
Gulab Singh and Ranbir Singh many Kashmiris
took prominent part in expeditions t o the frontier
illaqa. Drew tells us that there was a Balti re-
giment in Ranbir Singh's army. But now there
is no place i n the army either for Kashmiris o r
the people of the Frontier districts because they
belpng t o a subject race and cannot be trusted.
The regiments of the Maharaja are formed either
by Hindu Dogras or Muslim Dogras. Kangra
% INSIDE KASHMIR

Rajputs and Gurkhas, and even Punjabi Sikhs,

from outside the State can have a place in the
military of our country, and are, as a matter of
fact, employed in the Infantry and the Rifles.
But not the Hindus nor the Muslims of Kashmir.
In the civil administration higher appointments
were practically reserved for the Punjabis in the
reign of Partap Singh and for Rajputs in the
beginning of the present Mahara jags rule.
As I said, this policy of the Government be-
came glaringly visible by 1929. Kashmiri Pandits
are the most advanced in the matter of education.
They took the greatest advantage, a t the earliest
opportunity, of the facilities provided by the
Government. Many hundreds of young men be-
longing t o this community obtained diplomas
from the Punjab University. Many of them got
petty jobs in the Government offices and many
remained unemployed. This created a problem.
As far back as 1920, an agitation was started in
the outside press interested in the State politics
against this sad state of affairs. Maharaja Partap
Singh's Government was severely condemned for
employing outsiders when qualified sons of the
soil were available. During those days Dogras,
including Rajputs joined the Pandit young men
in raising this cry. It resulted in the promulgation
of the Definition of State Subject. But this law
mainly benefited the Rajputs and the Dogras.
Kashmiri Pandits remained almost where they
were. So they continued t o grumble and resent.
They became impatient. Writing about them,
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 97
Sir Albion said in his interview just referred t o
that they " form the intellectual class and are
in a sense depressed because they get no oppor-
tunity of rising either in Government service or
in any other field of useful activity, such as in-
dustry or commerce, with the result that they are
also discontented and present a problem which
requires t o be seriously tackled."
Kashmiri Pandits demanded a change in the
policy of the Government. In the name of the
people of Kashmir they protested against discri-
mination and unfair treatment. But while they
spoke in the name of people what they demanded
was not for the benefit of the masses and the
lower strata of the society, but for themselves.
They wanted a share in the State Services. In
fairness t o them, however, let it be said that a t
times some of them even made a case for freedom of
speech and freedom of association as also a
legislature and some kind of constitutional Gov-
ernment. Kashmiri Pandits form only 1'6 per cent
of the population of the State. They are thus
in a microscopic minority. Their appeals and
-
demands, though they reached the ears of the
authorities, had but little effect on them as it
was not backed by the large minority of the popula-
tion of the State. It was evident that they could
not carry on the propaganda by themselves with any
appreciable success.
Things, however, changed when in 1930 a
sufficient number of Muslim educated young men,
finding themselves unemployed, began to move.
98 INSIDE KASHMIR
They started a reading room near Fateh Kadal in
Srinagar, where most of them used t o meet and
discuss the current topics of the day. None of
the problems absorbed them more than the one
that faced them immediately, the problem of
unemployment among the educated Muslims.
I have said that Pandits were resentful and
sullen for having been suppressed in Government
Services. I t would therefore appear that there
was a very good opportunity for the educated
among both the communities t o act jointly in
the matter. Btit certain causes contributed t o
their not doing so. Firstly, the young men of the
respective communities lived apart socially and there
was hardly any intercommunication between them
during those days. Public opinion was non-existent
and public workers were unknown even to one
another. There were no far-sighted and experienced
public workers endowed with the gift of statesman-
ship to guide men towards this happy consumma-
tion. Secondly, the Pandits dominated the
subordinate services in the provincial sphere,
mostly the jobs of clerks. They had begun t o
gain a foothold in the Secretariat offices as well.
They did not like easily t o abandon the monopoly
on the one hand and create a rival in the shape
of the Muslims on the other. Class-conscious-
ness blinded them t o the fact that Muslim young
men had as much right t o get their legitimate
share in services as they themselves had. They
forgot that a few years back they had to fight
desperately against non-Kashmiri domination in
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 99
the Services. Moreover, the Muslims were con-
scious of the fact that the Pandits manaeuvred
t o deprive the Muslims of a share in the jobs
in the subordinate departments of the offices
where they had any real power or even a semblance
of it. Thirdly, it was expedient t o protest against
only the predominance of the Pandits in the
Services. Muslims would not protest in the
beginning and even later. when the agitation burst
forth openly, against the Rajput stranglehold on
the services lest they should thereby offend the
Maharaja personally. T o attack the Pandit's
share in the services was of course the line of
the least resistance. They were nearer home,
they could be instanced as the petty engines of
Government corruption, and they were fellow-
slaves as against the ruling class of Jammu. Fourthly,
the communal Muslim propaganda which was
carried from outside, chiefly the Punjab, influenced
the views and activities of the Kashmiri young men.
They, therefore, acted separately and by them-
selves in the matter.
In the summer of 1929 a representation was
made t o His Highness by a few moderate Muslim
politicians of the Dogra Sabha, notably General
Samunder Khan and Sheikh Abdul Aziz, about
the inadequate representation of their community
in the State Services. It appears that the Gov-
ernment wanted to do something at this time.
According t o an official report His Highness was
anxious to take as many Mohammedans in the
public services as possible. A private understanding
100 INSIDE KASHMIR
was also arrived at, and it was decided that
about 50°/,-, vacancies should be reserved for them.
It is useless to discuss whether there existed any
sincere desire to implement this understanding.
but this much is a fact that the understanding
was never made public and was known, if at all,
to a few non-official Muslims only.
In the beginning of 1930 His Highness went to
England to attend the Round Table Conference.
Under his instructions a Cabinet of four Members
was formed, consisting of (1)Mr. G. E. C. Wakefield.
an European, (2) Mr. P. K. Wattal a nonostate
Subject Hindu, and (3) General Janak Singh, a
Dogra Rajput, to carry on the administration in his
absence. Thakur Kartar Singh, a Dogra Rajput,
worked as its Secretary. No Kashmiri and no
Muslim was a member of the Cabinet. Instead
of working as a happy team the members of the
Cabinet conspired against one another. Everyone
wanted to be popular and prove his loyalty to ,
His Highness. Some of them seemed to be
suspicious of one another. Spies were employed
by at least some of them to know the others'
activities. While Thakur Kartar Singh was actively
busy in pushing forth the scheme of establishing
a Dogra oligarchy in the State, he considered
Mr. Wakefield to be a thorn in his side, as he
displayed tendencies to help the Muslims.
It was at this stage that the Kashmir Govern-
ment constituted an official body known as the
Civil Service Recruitment Board. This Board
was to replace another which had been in existence
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 101
for some time t o select candidates for scholarships
t o prorecute their studies in foreign countries in
various branches of learning. The Board notified
the Rules and Regulations which would be followed
in recruiting candidates for gazetted appointments
and higher jobs in the services. Candidates were
expected t o submit various certificates and undergo
a competitive test. This was resented by Muslim
young men. They demanded direct recruitment for
themselves. Were not non-Muslim candidates
always appointed without any competitive exami-
nations and without having t o face any difficulties
and obstructions which were now placed in their
way ? O n 11th September the young men of the
Fateh Kadal Reading Room sent a representation
to the Cabinet to this effect. An interview was
granted t o the representatives of the Muslim
young men. Mr. S. M. Abdullah, a newly returned
M.Sc. from Aligarh, then absolutely unknown except
as a frequent visitor t o and an earnest member
of the Reading Room, was one of the two repre-
sentatives. All the three members of the Cabinet
were present a t the interview. Mr. Wakefield
explained the principles underlying the constitution
of the Recruitment Board and tried t o impress
upon the young representatives that it was t o
safeguard the interests of the educated young men
that the Government had taken this step. He
wanted t o remove any doubts and misunderstand-
ings which had been created in the minds of the
Muslims. Mr. P. K. Wattal complained against
the attitude of the Muslims whom he characterised
102 INSIDE KASHMIR
as ungrateful. H e reminded them that some Muslim
young men had been actually appointed directly
t o certain higher jobs in the Accountant-General's
office by him.
The interview lasted more than two hours.
I n reply Mr. Abdulla and his colleague reiterated
the arguments which had been stated in the
memorial. They said that if the conditions then
laid down for recruitment to higher services were
not necessary till that time and even low qualified
non-Muslims were appointed t o responsible posts,
why were these obstructions created now? They
did not make any secret of the fact that Muslim
young men suspected that these obstacles were
put by the Government t o debar the Muslims from
getting their legitimate share in Government
Services. The Cabinet members were adamant.
They did not budge an inch from the position which
they had taken. They refused to make any amend-
ments in the rules and regulations published by
the Recruitment Board. The young men approached
Aga Syed Hussain, a Kashmiri Muslim who, though
he was the Home Minister of the Government,
had not been included in the Cabinet. They
complained t o him against this attitude of the
Cabinet, even uttered some harsh and hot words,
but with no better results. Aga Syed Hussain
had little or no effective voice in the Government
as he himself admitted subsequently before an
official committee of enquiry. Although the
Education Minister of the State, he " could not
modify the rules in order to bring more
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 103
Mohammedan boys t o the Normal Schools which
were provided for the training of teachers and
which were conspicuous by the absence of Muslims."
H e " could only advise the Director of Education,
but had no power t o interfere." I t was most
amazing for the Committee to hear that Aga
Syed Hussain did not 'know anything about the
reply which the Cabinet gave to the memorial.
For, subsequently, a reply to the points raised in
the memorial had been given by the Cabinet on
28th January 1931, which was considered unsatis-
factory by the Mohammedans. The young men
were sorely disappointed and discouraged. But
what could they do but wait and watch ?
W e must now pause a little and, against this
small issue of the State Services, look on the
wider field of politics.
In 1929 political gatherings of far-reaching
importance were held in British India. A t Lahore
t h e Indian National Congress adopted the Reso-
lution of Complete Independence under the Presi-
dentship of Pandit Jawahar La1 Nehru on Decem-
ber 31st. This was followed by the Civil Disobedi-
ence movement in which the Indian masses took a
prominent part. The success that attended the
movement markedly affected the people of the
Kashmir State. In his Presidential Address to
t h e annual session of the All-India Muslirn League,
the great philosopher-poet of the East, Dr. Sir
Mohammad Iqbal, adumbrated what is now com-
monly known as the Pakistan Scheme. The
prominent British statesmen and the Hindu poli-
104 INSIDE KASHMIR
ticians no doubt laughed a t the idea of partitioning
the country during those days, but the imagination
of communally-minded Muslims, particularly of
Northern India, was fired a t the suggestion. It
opened a pleasant scene of Pan-Islamism before
them.
During the very days that the Congress was
held a t Lahore a convention of the workers of the
States' Peoples was held in the Bradlaugh Hall under
the presidentship of Barrister P. L. Chudgar.
It passed several resolutions, some of which directly
concerned the Kashmir Government and the people
of the State.
Many young men belonging to Kashmir attended
these political gatherings and were imbued with
fresh ideas and a new spirit. They wanted to
do something to put things right a t home.
T o turn back t o Muslim young men. A t
the time when the members of the Fateh Kadal
Reading Room were engaged in parleying with the
Government about the Civil Service Recruitment
Board, an independent movement of a similar nature
had taken birth a t Jammu among the educated
Muslim young men of the province. A n organis-
ation known as Young Men's Muslim Association
had been started there with a similar object in
view. But each worked on its own initiative, the
one not :knowing what the other did. By the
autumn of 1930 when the reports of the activities of
the Reading Room and the Young Men's Association
appeared in the Punjab Press, the two began
negotiating with each other. Ultimately in order
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 105
to adjust their activities and produce a deeper
effect they desired t o coalesce. The Jammu
organisation despatched their plenipotentiary to
Srinagar t o settle terms. It was decided that both
should work jointly in the interests of the Muslim
community as a whole.
W e have seen that educated Muslim young
men were dissatisfied and were making preparations
t o get their grievances redressed. They were
now trying t o organise themselves on an All-State
basis or, a t any rate. the young men living in t h e
two capital cities of the provinces were joining
hands to make a move. It is doubtful whether
any of them was a t this stage thinking in terms
of a revolution or even a drastic change. Most of
them were anxious to get a big slice in the Govern-
ment Services and some of them might have been
anxious to ameliorate the lot of the poorer classes,
such as peasants. A few intelligent men desired
small constitutional reforms. But all of them were
hazy about their future programme. Little did they
know that a spontaneous mass-rising unknown i n
the annals of the State would take place very soon
in spite of them. Little did they know t h a t
historical forces had already prepared a field and
they were tools in the hands of time t o work a
change in the political conditions of Kashmir which
they could not imagine or dream about.
W e must now explore other factors which
contributed t o the birth of the uprising before w e
narrate the various incidents which took place i n
the course of its development.
106 INSIDE KASHMIR
I have already discussed the miserable plight
of the peasantry and the masses in the last chapter.
I have said that in spite of the establishment of
law and order they were overburdened with new
and so far unknown taxes. O n the one hand
they did not and could not derive any substantial
benefit from the nation-building and the utilitarian
departments of the State ; on the other, the petty
village officials and higher officers of the Govern-
ment, being corrupt to the very core, skinned them
alive by squeezing bribes out of them. They were,
therefore, living on the verge of starvation and
their condition was indescribably bad. Kashmir is
rich in every way ; the lands are fertile and pro-
ductive ; the forest abound in great wealth, and the
orchards are full of fruits. In fact nature is bounti-
ful. But in the midst of this plenty human beings
are starved and die a premature and miserable
death because they cannot partake of these gifts
of nature bestowed on mankind without distinction
of high or low, creed or caste. No wonder that in
these circumstances there was hatred in the minds
of the masses for the extant order of things. In-
stinctively they wanted a change as did their
forefathers whenever conditions had become un-
bearable in the past. But being ignorant and
backward, they did not know how to bring about
this change. The masses in the Kashmir province
are solely Muslim, but in the Jammu province they
are both Hindu and Muslim. Their problems
a r e more economic and social than political, but
certainly not religious.
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 107

The Muslim bourgeoisie had their own grievances

against the Government. The loss of Muslim Rule
in Kashmir was and is their grievance No. 1. As I
mentioned in the, earlier part of this book while
discussing the past history, the struggle which
has been labelled religious persecution of Hindus by
Muslims was in essence the suppression of the
Hindu upper classes by the Muslim bourgeoisie. In
fact if there was any section of the people who were
happy and enjoyed life during the Rule of the
Pathans and other Muslim kings generally, it was
the Muslim bourgeoisie. There was, therefore,
every reason for them t o feel sullen and spiteful
during the Dogra rule. For now the scales had
turned. The upper classes among the Hindus had
got the upper hand and the predominating voice in
the administration. The throne was accessible t o
them and they could do what they liked. They tried
in every way t o keep the Muslim bourgeoisie
suppressed. But it must be said in fairness t o the
statesmanship of the Dogras that before serious
attempts began t o be made to establish a Dogra
oligarchy in t h e State, the upper classes of all the
communities were properly respected and encourag-
ed, though by the very nature of things some
received a lesser degree of this encouragement than
others. Some of the more enthusiastic and radical,
perhaps also patriotic and advanced, Muslim
bourgeois felt disgusted with the conditions that
existed in the country. They wanted some change
but did not know how to bring it about. A few of
them had tried their luck in 1924 by approaching the
 108 INSIDE KASHMIR
then Viceroy. But the attempt was clumsy and
I
they had t o pay heavily for it.
The middle classes of the Muslims, among whom
I include the educated young men. traders, craftsmen
and contractors. were passing through more
strenuous times. Not only had they t o suffer all the
disabilities and hardships which the Hindu middle
classes had t o face owing t o the existence of an
irresponsible and unsympathetic Government, but
they had also to compete with the Hindu middle
class itself which was undoubtedly placed in an
advantageous position in certain respects. The
subordinate services and the offices were dominated
by the Hindus. both State-subjects and non-State-
subjects. who would not tolerate parting with even
a small portion of this monopoly. They would not
allow the Muslims t o get their legitimate share.
The result was that the Muslims not only were
deprived of their share in the services, but of all help
and patronage in every department of the Govern-
ment. Not unnaturally, Hindus would receive
preference a t every stage a t the hands of thkir
co-religionist officials, who were present everywhere
in large numbers. For these reasons the Muslim
middle classes also wanted a change.
T o understand the Muslim politics of those days
completely and grasp the full significance of the
events which followed in quick succession, we shall
have t o discuss a t some length the outside Muslim
forces which influenced the local politics. For
several years before 1931, an organisation known
as All-India Kashmir Muslim Conference functioned
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 109
in British territories with its headquarters at
Lahore. Its main function was to help the destitute
and poor Muslim students of Kashmir with money
to get themselves trained in various technical and
educational institutions outside the State. It
advanced a large number of loans to be returned
when the recipient was well established in life and in
a position to repay. I t did appreciable work in this
behalf. But it also dabbled in Kashmir politics. In
1926 the Conference approached His Highness for
permission to submit a memorial, but this request
was disallowed on the ground that " it was made by
outside Mohammedans regarding the grievances
of His Highness' own subjects."
The Punjab Muslims, particularly those with
communal ideology and bent of mind, have always
looked with viciously covetous eyes on Kashmir.
Overwhelmingly predominated by the followers of
Islam, Kashmir has been a country where they have
disliked to see a Hindu Maharaja on the throne of
the State. Some of them have inadvertently
expressed themselves in no uncertain terms. But
intelligent politicians have been more wary in this
regard. They have made responsible public
statements about it. But even these have not left
critical minds doubtful about their ultimate intentions
and objects. We have already mentioned the
proposal of Dr. Iqbal to establish a pan-Islamic State
in the North and North-Western Frontier of India
which would include the provinces of Sind,
Baluchistan, Punjab, N. W. Frontier Province and
Kashmir. This was a responsible statement made in
110 INSIDE KASHMIR

the annual meeting of a big Muslim political

organisation by an eminent poet, philosopher and
politician. W e need not mention some other
proposals made by less eminent personalities. Suffice
it t o say that the outside Muslim politicians were
anxious t o see that Kashmir was handed over to
Muslim rule again. The saner and the wiser
sections, however, saw that the dethronement of the
Hindu Maharaja was not an easy affair so long as
British paramount power lived to support him.
They, therefore, wanted to follow a wiser course and
demanded constitutional Government for the people
of the State. The democracy they wanted to see
established was virtually a Muslim rule in Kashmir.
Two parties worked with this end in view in the
Punjab. They were the Ahrars and the Ahmadis. I
feel that it is rather unfair t o bracket them together.
I must therefore say a few wqrds about them before
I proceed any further.
The All-India Majlis-i-Ahrar, mostly confined
t o the Punjab and a part of the U.P., is a radical sec-
tion of the democrats and nationalists among Muslims
and a t times formed part of the Congress forces.
For several reasons, which it is not necessary t o
discuss here, they did not join en masse the Civil
Disobedience Movement of 1930 in British India.
Their energies were pent up and they felt restive.
They had also lost face in their home province
of the Punjab, and wanted to save it. Early in
1931 they heard about the stir in Kashmir, the
movement that the educated Muslim young men had
started. Here was an opportunity for them t o
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 111
achieve their desired aim. By participating in the
movement they would, they thought, kill two birds
with one stone. They could fire the imagination of.
the Muslims all over India by actively helping with
men and money the movement of the Muslims8
against a Hindu State and gain immense prestige in.
the Islamic world. They would also unloose the
pent up energies of the party. Without any further,
ado, and like the reckless soldiers that they are,
they threw in their lot with the movement and
took a brilliant and marvellous part in it.
The Ahmadis (they are commonly, perhaps.
also hatefully, known as Mirzais) are a well-knit,
compact and highly organised section among
Muslims. They are avowedly communal and pro-,
British. For various differences born of different
interpretation of the principles of Islam, this small
community was most unpopular among the orthodox
and progressive sections of the Muslims of the
Punjab. Like other Muslims they had an eye on
Kashmir and its millions. As soon as they saw the
dust of the moving feet rising on the horizon of
Kashmir they realised the importance of the occasion
and began to act. They also wanted t o kill two
birds with one stone. They wanted t o wash the
stains of unpopularity in British India and win the
millions of Kashmiri Muslims to their side and
faith. But true t o their political creed, and unlike
the Ahrars, they had no desire to take any radical
step. Though avowedly communal they were
moderate in their demands.
Evidently Ahrars and Ahmadis could not and
112 INSIDE KASHMIR
did not join hands. Both worked mostly in-
dependently of each other. This produced an
inevitable rift and a constant setback in the progress
of the movement. W e shall discuss that at its
proper place. For the present we must only say
that the outlook and the activities of both the
parties produced a highly communal atmosphere
inside the State. Even the Punjab politics was
gravely affected by it subsequently, when the
movement assumed enormous proportions.
Besides, there were Muslim politicians belonging
t o the All-India Muslim League and the All-India
Muslim Conference (which was still functioning
then) as also certain eminent statesmen owing no
party affiliations who interested themselves in the
affairs of the State. At the first beat of drum all of
them became active and alert. Their communal
a n d religious sentiments were roused and, though
they did not take as prominent a part as did the
Ahrars and Ahmadis, yet their contribution was by
n o means negligible.
Another factor which must be mentioned as
contributing to the communal atmosphere of those
days and t o the amazingly quick success of the
uprising was the attitude of the British Government
towards the politics of the State. Strangely enough,
forgetting its position as a government subordinate
t o them, and quite unmindful of the earlier part of
Maharaja Partap Singh's reign, the State did not
show that mild subordination to the Government of
India and its omnipotent Foreign Department or to
its representative on the spot, the Kashmir
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 113
Residency, which was expected. His Highness also
displayed tendencies towards nationalism in British
Indian politics while delivering speeches a t the
Round Table Conference. The Imperial Govern-
ment became annoyed. They had a weapon handy,
the one about which a Secretary of State had
hinted in an ominous communication t o the
Government of India while dealing with Kashmir
affairs in the beginning of Partap Singh's reign.
That weapon was now t o be admirably and efficiently
used. They did not, therefore, easily protect the
Maharaja against a rising of his Muslim subjects.
There was also a reason for the British Government
t o encourage the Muslims in their designs. In the
Civil Disobedience campaign of the Indian National
Congress in 1930 communalist Muslims had kept
themselves aloof. The policy of the British Govern-
ment was to help the Muslim communalists as far as
the Imperialist interests would allow. The Kashmir
movement having taken a definite communal turn
soon after i t started in July 1931, nothing could
please them more than that it should continue under
their protection and patronage.
Having discussed the forces which shaped the
Muslim politics during the days immediately before
1931, let me now say a few words about the attitude
of the Hindus a t the time. I have already mentioned
Kashmiri Pandits and the reasons that made them
feel disgruntled and dissatisfied with the policy of
the Kashmir Government. The condition of the
Hindu masses, the people who like their Muslim
brethren, the Muslim masses, did not and could not
114 INSIDE KASHMIR

look a t things from a narrow communal point of

view, was most wretched. They were starving and
famishing. Only a fringe of the upper class of the
Dogra Hindus, maiilly Rajputs, were satisfied with
the state of affairs that prevailed. It was their own
creation. They dominated the Government and
influenced the Maharaja. Inefficient and utterly
unimaginative, they wanted t o tighten their hold
more and more and create a complete Rajput oligar-
chy in the State. The establishment of a school for
Hindu Rajput boys at Jammu roused the suspicions
of all the communities. It was feared that young
Rajputs were trained t o hold all the responsible
military and civil posts in the future oligarchy that
was already in the making. The Government
explained that " the school was founded and
supported by dun (religious gift), money left by His
late Highness Maharaja Partap Singh. But i t was
pointed out that the dun is given t o Brahmins and
not to Rajputs, and if Hindu Rajputs benefited, why
should Mohammedan Rajputs, who took pride in
calling themselves Rajputs. be deprived of the benefit
of joining the school." Sardar Thakur Kartar
Singhji, the main pillar of the Rajput oligarchy, who
was one of the trustees of the school, stated that
" it was the personal wish of Maharaja Partap Singh
that this dun money should be used for the benefit
of Hindu Rajputs." If there was any truth in the
statement it is a proof positive of the sectional bias
of the Dogra rulers who claimed t o remain impartial
in dealing with their subjects. T o say that such
things and worse are being done in the Nizam's
 BEFORE THE YEAR 1931 115
Dominions is t o justify one wrong by another. The
short-sighted communal Hindu is loud in repeating
this ad nauseum, while the short-sighted communal
Muslim applauds it in his heart, forgetting that
wholesome maxim of civics and moraIity " D o unto
others as you would that they did unto you."
This was the condition just before that uprising
took place in Kashmir in 1931. Any man could see
that old structures were shaking and breaking in the
State. The earth was running under their feet ; the
times were moving fast and everything was going
out of joint before their very eyes. Yet seeing the
authorities saw not, nor did they understand. Such
was their colossal incompetence !
 CHAPTER IV
Those Memorable Weeks
Back again t o the educated Muslim young men
a t Srinagar. They wanted t o act. But how, that
was the question. They could not speak : there was
no freedom of speech. They could not write : there
was no freedom of the press. They could not report
and publish even the activities of the party and the
deliberations they held about their local politics.
They began t o send their articles and news for
publication t o the outside press a t Lahore. A large
number of copies of the two, now defunct, Muslim
papers, the daily Siyasat and the daily Muslim Outlook
began to pour into the State. Educated Muslims in
the towns, not necessarily connected with the Read-
ing-room Party, would read them and consider it
their sacred duty to carry the message far and wide
into the country-side. The articles that appeared in
these journals contained forceful condemnation of
the authorities. Not infrequently scurrilous attacks
were also made on the Hindu Raj and the Hindu
community. This spread the agitation. The Govern-
 THOSE MEMORABLE WEEKS 117
ment became unnerved. They banned the entry of
both the Muslim papers into the State territories.
Muslim young men thereupon managed to obtain the
services of another Muslim daily, the Inqilab, with
the same result. Then a new process was started.
Pamphlets began to be published a t Lahore contain-
ing this inflammatory matter, and were despatched
in bundles t o different centres in the State, where
they were distributed and sold to the Muslims and
the general public. Thus one after another, appear-
ed the Kashmirt Musalman, the Kashmiri Mazlum,
the Maktub-i-Kashmir and others which were
written in the language of fire. In these pamphlets
appeals were made t o the Muslims of Kashmir t o
rise against the Hindu administration of the State.
In the name of the Holy Prophet and Islam the
followers of the Faith were asked to sacrifice every-
thing for the cause of the community and join
the struggle which it was evident to everyone
b6
was coming with great speed. Now or never"
was the slogan.
About this time, or a little while before, news
was received from Europe that His Highness was
returning home. Her Highness the Maharani, who
accompanied him, had given birth to the Heir-
apparent Maharaj Kumar Karan Singhji on the
26th of Chet (March 1931) in the city of Cannes
in France. So their return home was t o be cele-
brated with great pomp and show as befitted the
occasion. The officials of the State, the vested
interests and the bourgeoisie made preparations on
an extensive scale t o demonstrate their loyalty to
118 INSIDE KASHMIR
the person of the Ruler. The jagirdars and a few
prominent men wanted t o excel all others. They
decided t o receive Their Highnesses a t Bombay
and present a n address of welcome t o them. They
held a meeting in Srinagar t o elect a Committee and
its office-bearers for the purpose. Pandit Bal Kak
Dar, a Hindu jagirdar and W a z i r Wazarat (Deputy
Commissioner), was elected the President of the
Committee. Pandit Bal Kak forthwith sent a tele-
gram of welcome and greetings t o Their Highnesses
on behalf of the Committee.
The Reading-room Party resented the election
of a Hindu jagirdar as the President of the Com-
mittee. They taunted the Muslim jagirdars and
jeered a t them. This was done with the purpose of
creating dissatisfaction among the Muslim jagirdars.
And this i t did create. A meeting of the Muslim
jagirdars was held a t the house of young Mit
Maqbul Shah, where a decision was arrived a t that
the Muslim raises and jagirdars should present a
welcome t o Their Highnesses separately by them-
selves. About 200 people from all over the Kashmir
Province attended the meeting. A Committee was
formed who sent a telegram of greetings expressing
sentiments of loyalty t o His Highness.
Both the Committees applied for permission to
present their respective addresses of welcome t o
His Highness who, however, was wise enough not
t o countenance communalism among his subjects in
this manner and did not grant the permission.
In Kashmir, as elsewhere in India, Muslim
masses, being most backward educationally and
 THOSE MEMORABLE WEEKS 119
economically, are slaves of superstition and deadliest
social evils. In the name of religion the Mullahs
have kept them in their strong grip and fleece them
as much as they can. Among these Mullahs mention
should be made of the two octstanding ones, the
Mzr Waizes of Srinagar as they are called. Owing
to their popularity in the community and their
strong hold on the masses, they have always exerted
a considerable influence in the politics of the State.
There is, however, no denying the fact that the
Mir Waiz of the Jama Masjid is a bigger person-
ality than the Mir Waiz Hamdani of Khanqah-i-
Mualla. It may be noted that, for reasons stated
t o be religious but in reality economic and political,
they have never been on friendly terms with each
other. In fact they are irreconcilables because they
a r e rivals in profession, and their interests clash.
The Reading-room Party had the wisdom to
see from the very beginning that if they were t o
succeed in their mission, they must be able t o enlist
t h e sympathies of both the Mir Waizes. Fortunate-
ly a suitable opportunity presented itself. Maulana
Ahmad Ullah, Mir Waiz of the Jama Masjid, died
early in 1931. About a lakh of Muslims accorn-
panied the mourning procession which f 0110 wed the
bier towards the m v e y a r d . The procession was
led by the Reading-room Party who were conspi-
cuous by their activity in honouring the dead and
arranging the procession.
Maulana Usuf Shah, an earnest young man with
some education, was installed as the new Mir Waiz
of Jama Masjid. He was in entire sympathy with the
120 INSIDE KASHMIR
Reading-room Party and promised all help. H e
was prepared t o allow the young men t o use the
Jama Masjid as their political platform.
The Party manoeuvred t o obtain the consent of
the other Mir Waiz also t o join the movement.
Perhaps he had the sagacity to foresee the coming
events and feel the pulse of the community which
was becoming more and more excited as time passed.
The differences of the two religious leaders were
evaporating into thin air. A t any rate, it appeared so
for the time being.
Preparations were now complete and a signal
alone remained t o be given. The Muslims lay in
wait for an opportunity t o do so. I t came handy.
April 29, 1931, was I'd day. After offering
prayers the Maulvi as usual delivered his Khutba
to the congregation in the Jammu city. Owing to
the excited times the Sub-Inspector of Police on
duty, not knowing that the Khutba formed a part of
the religious observance of I'd prayers, bade the
Maulvi t o stop. This was considered an interfer-
ence with religion and meetings were held all over
the country protesting against it.
A few days after this incident, another of the
same nature took place in the Police Lines a t Jammu.
A Muslim police constable did not attend t o his
duty and remained asleep in his bed in the lines.
His immediate superior officer, a Hindu head
constable, reproached him for this negligence and
winding up his bedding pushed it towards a corner.
A Panjsura (part of holy Quran) fell down from the
bedding. This was considered disrespect and defile-
 THOSE MEMORABLE WEEKS 121
ment of the holy Book. The report of the incident
spread like lightning throughout the length and
breadth of the country and the Muslim young men
exploited it t o their advantage. Yet another incident
of a similar nature happened a t Digore, a village in
the Jammu Province, on the I'd day. The local
police officer did not allow the Muslims t o use a
tank and the adjacent ground for offering prayers.
Both these were in joint possession of the Hindus
and Muslims and had been used by both for several
years.
These incidents provided the slogan. " Islam in
danger," which was raised in every part of the
country by the Muslims. The atmosphere became
highly tense and the Government lost no time
in making inquiries. In order to appease the
Muslims, the Hindu Sub-Inspector of police who
forbade reading of Khutba was suspended; the police
officer of Digore expressed regret for his inadvertent
action. As regards the incident in the police lines
Mr. G. E. C. Wakefield, a member of the Cabinet,
proceeded from Srinagar to Jammu to hold a n enquiry
himself. Labh Ram, the Hindu head constable,
was exonerated of the charge of any deliberate o r
intentional defilement of the holy Book. He was,
however, prematurely retired from service for his
rash deed and the Muslim constable. found guilty of
the negligence of duty, was dismissed.
No enquiries and n o drastic action could satisfy
the Muslims or suit their purpose. They went on
with their mischievous propaganda. A big printed
poster was issued by the Young Men's Muslim
122 INSIDE KASHMIR
Association of Jammu describing these events in
language which was highly provocative and inflam-
matory. These posters were sent t o all the towns
where the workers were to distribute them. The
Reading-room Party arranged to paste them in
Srinagar, through their own volunteers. Mohammad
Ismail, one such volunteer, was arrested by the
police near Fateh Kadal. This was a signal for the
Muslims. In the twinkling of an eye thousands of
them collected at the spot. The police officers
including the D. I. G. and the I. G. arrived a t the
scene and pacified the mob.
A meeting was held that very day in the Jama
Masjid t o protest against the Jammu incidents.
There was an unprecedented gathering in the meet-
ing. Speeches were delivered and resolutions passed
condemning the Hindu officials who had wounded
the religious susceptibilities of the Muslims. A t
the end of the meeting the mass of people present
formed themselves into a procession which passed
through various streets shouting slogans.
The authorities were now perturbed. They
realised the importance and the significance of the
Jama Masjid gathering. They had tried, a little
while ago, t o persuade Usuf Shah not to join the
young recalcitrants. Having failed in his en-
deavours in this direction, the District Magistrate of
Kashmir convened a meeting cf some well-known,
influential and leading Muslims of Srinagar in his
office. They were Mirza Ghulam Mustafa, Maulvi
Rahim Shah Banday, Maulvi Sharif-ud-Din, Mir
Maqbul Shah Gilani, Munshi Asad Ullah, Maulvi
 THOSE MEMORABLE WEEKS I
123
Abdullah and others. The District Magistrate
invited their suggestions t o maintain peace and
order in the province. There were both reac-
tionaries and progressive men among the invitees.
Mirza Ghulam Mustafa, Maulvi Rahim Shah, Maulvi
Sharif-ud-Din and Munshi Asad Ullah, who did not
look with favour upon the activities of the Reading-
room Party, advised the District Magistrate t o take
drastic action and arrest the young men. Others
did not approve of such a course. They submitted
that the grievances of the Muslims ought to be
redressed. I t is impsrtant to note that the former
have consistently remained reactionaries in Kashmir
politics and formed the nucleus of the party which
played the historic role of the counter-revolution
soon after the first phase of the movement had
passed.
The meeting did not prove helpful and the
District Magistrate had to fall baclc upon his own
resources t o control the situation. The Government
had been helping the Muslims since the days of
Maharaja Partap Singh to realise a small tax from
the Muslim peasantry for the construction of the
Jama Masjid. The president of the construction
commitee was the District Magistrate himself. In
his capacity as the president he issued orders that
n o speeches of political nature were to be delivered
inside the premises of the mosque until permission
had been previously obtained. A notice to this
effect was posted on the main gate of the mosque.
But when the information reached the Reading-
room Party, they decided to defy the orders.
124 INSIDE KASHMIR
The next Friday was a religious fair of the
Muslims t o be held a t Durgah, a place four miles
away from Srinagar. About fifty thousand Muslims
attended this fair. Apprehending some trouble. the
District Magistrate. accompanied by the reactionary
Muslim leaders just mentioned, went t o the place
himself. A very cold reception awaited them there.
It became quite obvious that these people had lost
all influence over their co-religionists almost over-
night. In glaring contrast t o this, when three mem-
bers of the young party arrived to participate in the
fair, slogans unknown in the history of Kashmir
were raised t o give them an ovation.
N o speeches were made a t Durgah but people
were asked to go t o the Jama Masjid. The leaders
proceeded in that direction and the whole mass
followed them. In the afternoon that day a public
meeting was held a t the Jama Masjid in great
excitement. For the first time the constituted
authority in the State was deliberately flouted. The
District Magistrate's orders were openly defied and
the demands previously made were reiterated.
I have alluded t o the visit of Mr. Wakefield t o
Jammu in connection with the enquiry into the
Police Lines incident. In addition to the declared
purpose of the visit he wanted t o meet the leaders
of the Jammu Muslims and have an idea of their
intentions. During the course of an interview they
told him that Muslims were suffering from many
hardships in the State and had many grievances
against the administration. If permanent calm was
to be restored in the country these must be re-
 THOSE MEMORABLE WEEKS 125
dressed. Mr. Wakefield advised the Muslims to
depute a few representatives t o Srinagar where,
along with some more representatives of the
Kashmir Muslims, they would be afforded an oppor-
tunity t o present themselves before His Highness to
submit their demands. Accordingly four Muslim
leaders, Chaudhri Ghulam Abbas, Mistri Yaqub Ali,
Gauhar Rahman and Sheikh Abdul Hamid, pro-
ceeded t o Srinagar.
In order t o elect representatives of the Kashmir
Muslims, the Reading-room Party formally con-
vened a public meeting of the Muslims on 21st of
June, 1931 in the open compound of the Khanqah-i-
Mualla. This was one of the most important meet-
ings in the history of the movement. In certain
respects it was unique. Both of the irreconcilable Mir
Waizes appeared on the same platform. Mir Waiz
Usuf Shah entered the precincts of the Khanqah-i-
Mualla which neither he nor perhaps his forefathers
had done before. Even Maulvi Abdullah, " the
Mirzai," was present. All sectional differences had
been relegated t o the background. Sunnis, Shzac,
Hanfis, Wahabis and Ahamdis had joined hands
and the whole community was unanimous in its de-
mands. Leaders swore by all that was holy in their
eyes that they would remain faithful till the last.
Brief speeches were delivered and the seven repre-
sentatives were elected. Kh. Said-ud-Din Shawl,
Mir Waiz Usuf Shah, Mir Waiz Hamdani, Aga Syed
Hussain Shah Jalali, Khwaja Ghulam Ahmad Ashai,
S. M. Abdullah and Munshi Shahab-ud-Din. .
At the end of the function, when the meeting
126 INSIDE KASHMIR
had already been adjourned and the leaders had left
the premises, an ugly-looking, short-statured Pathan.
Abdul Qadir by name, obviously excited by the
environments, delivered an inflammatory speech
vehemently denouncing and abusing the Hindus
and the Hindu Raj, before the gathering which was
dispersing. This Pathan belonged to the North-
West Frontier Province and had come to Srinagar
with a European visitor as his cook. Abdul Qadir
was arrested on 25th of June for this speech, which
was considered seditious.
There were incessant rains in Kashmir during
this time. These were followed by threatening
floods. People became engaged in saving their lives
and property for a couple of days. Everything was
forgotten including the movement. As soon as the
floods subsided, however, the Government duly
prosecuted Abdul Qadir in the Sessions Court.
During the course of the four hearings in the Court
on the 6th, 7th. 8th and 9th of July it was found
that the trial had greatly excited Mohammedan
public opinion, and crowds of Mohammedans
obstructed traffic on the way every time while
the prisoner was brought to the court and taken
back t o the judicial lock-up. There was unrest
again. The matters took a serious turn, and it was
quite evident that a clash between the Muslims and
the Government was imminent.
His Highness had lately returned from England
after attending the first Round Table Conference in
London. H e was upset " to see a changed and reg-
rettable attitude in certain sections in the cities of
 THOSE MEMORABLE WEEKS 127
Jammu and Srinagar." O n July 9th. he delivered a
bb
message " to his " beloved people " in which he
greatly deplored this state of affairs and formally
announced the policy and intention of his Govern-
ment. H e reiterated that " his religion was justice
and all his public acts and policies were guided by
b6
it." H e would allow no discrimination against
any class of people on the grounds of religion and
subject to two fundamental conditions, v i . 1 that
political activities were confined within the law of
the land, and (2) that no outside intervention was
sought in any shape or form, he had no desire what-
ever to suppress the legitimate requests and voice of
his people whether expressed in writing or in speech.
HisHighness further assured his people that " he was
prepared to receive and consider most sympatheti-
cally any representation that any community might
desire to submit t o him." " Whenever I have found.
that any of you have been led into wrong action," ran
this Royal Message, " I have always tried to make
you see the errors of your ways and win you over t o
the right path by reasoning and conciliation. I am
not a believer in false ideas of prestige for I hold that
just action is a sign of strength and not of weak-
ness." W h a t fine sentiments from the head of an
unbridled autocratic Government ! But in the same
breath in which these sentiments were uttered, the
message administered a severe warning when i t
bb
proceeded to say, I cannot allow my ~ o v e r n m e n t .
to be coerced by threat into unjust action, and
it is my duty t o protect the law-abiding sections of
my people from encroachments on their lawful
128 INSIDE KASHMIR
rights. The immediate burden of maintaining law
and order necessarily falls on the magistracy and
the police whose duty it will be to see that the law
is upheld a t all costs, and where the law is defied its
authority is restored .... . .I assure them that they will
be supported by myself and my Government in the
d u e discharge of their duties and will not be sacri-
ficed t o unjust clamour of intrigue."
This dual policy might have been successful in
achieving its object had it been announced some
months earlier, but now that every inch in the
atmosphere was thick with excitement it produced
no good results and the people dashed on. Numerous
meetings were held throughout the State in which
tens of thousands of Muslims participated. Hundreds
of processions were taken out. The authority of
law was openly defied and before long it became
apparent that it was not easy t o bring the situation
under control as men, women and children took
active part in these demonstrations.
Under these circumstances Abdul Qadir's open
trial was considered inadvisable. I t was confiden-
tially ordered that he should be tried a t the Central
Jail and in camera. But the matter did not remain a
secret and within a few minutes it was well-known
that the trial would be held a t the jail. Large crowds
of Mohammedans collected before noon on the 13th
July outside the jail gate, and when the time of trial
came, the crowds had swelled to about seven
thousand. The Sessions Judge has stated that it was
related by the jailor that the crowd wanted to
enter the jail building and t o have a look a t t he face
 THOSE MEMORABLE WEEKS 129
of the accused. When the Sessions Judge and other
officials arrived, the mob became uncontrollable and
some of the Muslims forced their way into the
outer compound of the jail. The District Magis-
trate, who had also come by this time, ordered the
arrest of some of the ring-leaders of the mob. Out
of all the officials present-and their number was
large-not even one went forward to the crowd to
reason with it and pacify it. The official Enquiry
Commission which investigated into the affair sub-
sequently have deplored this attitude of the officials
and recorded their opinion that the crowd ought a t
least to have been told by the District Magistrate
that it was a criminal gathering and ran the great
risk of a clash with the authority. The arrests
highly excited the crowd, who demanded the release
of their leaders, and not obtaining it became infuri-
ated and threw stones. Telephone lines were
furiously shaken and subsequently cut. Attempts
were made t o set fire t o the Police Lines and their
contents were thrown out. A t this stage firing was
ordered. According to the official report ten men
were killed and several wounded. I t was found on
the 26th of July that 21 persons died as a result of
the jail incident.
After the firing the matters took a very grave
turn. The officials became greatly nervous but
could not leave the jail premises. A large part
. of the crowd carried the dead bodies on charpoys and

. went towards the city in the form of a procession.

They carried a banner of blood in front and raised
slogans. Public opinion among the Muslims had, by
130 INSIDE KASHMIR
this time, crystallised on the point that the Govern-
ment and the Hindus were inseparable and the one
stood for the other. Almost all the officials were
Hindus-the Maharaja was a Hindu. So the respon-
sibility for the actions of the Government must be
shared by the Hindus. The jail firing which killed
several Muslims created great resentment in the mob
mind against the Hindus. So when the procession
reached Maharaj Gunj, a busy trade centre of the
city, Hindu shops which had been closed owing to
panic after hearing of the jail incident were broken
open and looted. A serious rioting followed not
only a t Maharaj Gunj but also at several parts
of the city, notably Vicharnag and Nowshehra.
Hundreds of Hindu houses and shops were denuded
of their contents and the inmates badly handled.
Three Hindus were murdered and 163 wounded. The
rioters held the northern part of the city for three
hours until the military came and occupied it. Firing
was again resorted to that afternoon a t Nawab
Bazar, where one man was killed. Over 300 rioters
were arrested, out of whom about 217 were sub-
sequently released for want of sufficient evidence
against them.
We need not go into the various details of these
happenings. They have been dealt with comprehen-
sively by an Official Commission comprising of three
High Court Judges with the Chief Justice, Sir
Barjor Dalal, Kt., I.C.S., as its President, which was
set up for the purpose. In the opinion of the Com-
missioners "there was the height of topsy-turvydom
a t the time of disorder in the city and the executive
 THOSE MEMORABLE WEEKS 131
Head of the Police, the Inspector-General (a Dogra
Rajput) was blessed neither with intelligence nor
with imagination. H e played a very sorry part on
the 13th July. This Executive Head of the Police,
principally responsible for order in the city, was
nowhere in evidence prominently on that memorable
day."
Historically and politically the 13th July is the
most important day in the annals of Kashmir.
Recently quite a lot has been written on its signifi-
cance. The decision of the Kashmir National Con-
ference to celebrate this day as a national festival
has aroused a controversy in the press and on the
platform. Communal Hindus have tried t o minimise
its importance while communal Muslims want t o
extol it only because the rioters got an opportunity
to tyrannise over the Hindus.
I hope that from what has been said so far about
the Kashmir politics it is quite evident that the
Kashmir masses irrespective of their creed and caste
were seething with discontent. While there is no
denying the fact that the Muslim upper classes and
communalists had an effective voice in the move-
ment, it must be recognised that the driving force
behind the mass agitation till the 13th July was the
discontent among the rank and file of the Muslims.
The attack on the jail was in no way directed against
the Hindus, and those who laid down their lives a t
the jail gate did so fighting against an unsympathetic
Government. Though conducted by the Muslims the
struggle was national in essence. It was a fight of
the tyrannised against their tyrants, of the oppressed
132 INSIDE KASHMIR
against the oppressors.
But the whole scene changed when the mob
reached the city and the rioters looted the shops and
injured the Hindus. While it is difficult to prove and
highly doubtful t o state that the Muslims responsible
for t h e movement took any part in the loot which,
in my opinion, must have been the work of goondas
and those others who are always on a look out for
such opportunities t o fulfil their evil designs, it
cannot be denied that the responsibility for these
most unfortunate and sad events must be shared by
the leaders of the Reading-room Party. Their
inexperience, lack of foresight and inefficiency to
cope with the situation which they had so carelessly
developed must be admitted. But it should also be
remembered that the indifferent and sometimes
positively inimical and unnecessarily hostile and
indiscriminate attitude of the Hindus towards both
the nationalistic and communalistic aspirations of
the Muslims. was by no means a n insignificant factor
in developing the movement on these dangerous
lines.
c here can be no doubt about loot taking place
in Maharaj Gunj Bazar, in Vicharnag, and in other
quarters of the city, of Hindu shops and houses by
Mohammedans. Untold barbarities were committed
by the rioters. Houses were broken, windows and
doors were smashed and whoever resisted was beaten
and wounded. Indescribable hardships were perpe-
trated on innocent passers-by. Even women and
children were not spared ; they had their share of the
molestation. For full two hours and more the
 THOSE MEMORABLE WEEKS 133
gwndas ruled these parts of the city. Vandalism,
incendiarism and brutalism became the order. This
under the very nose of the Government !
Through hundreds of telephone wires the poor
Hindu sufferers wanted t o inform the Prime
Minister, Mr. Wakefield, of what had happened, but
he was not a t home. The inefficient Rajput
Inspector-General of Police was wandering about in
search of him to receive instructions. When he
heard about the riot and the loot, gallantry did
not compel him t o go t o the scene of occurrence a t
once. He interested himself otherwise. " I t is the
91
height of topsy-turvydom, wrote the official
Enquiry Committee, 'I when the Executive Head
of the Police a t the time of great disorder in the
city should be only fit to have his services utilised in
collecting lorries and despatching the military to the
scene ot terror and sorrow." Even when he ulti-
mately reached Maharaj Gunj a t 4-45 p.m. he was of
little use either as help or in making observations as
to what had happened. In answer t o a question by a
Commissioner, he admitted that he did not enter a
single shop in Maharaj Gunj to find out " whether
any loot had been committed there or not."
But how did the subordinates of the Inspector-
General behave ? The policemen of the Maharaj
Gunj station and the outpost near the scene of oc-
currence shut themselves up by locking the doors of
their building inside. The official Enquiry Corn-
mittee came to the conclusion that " there is notone
act of bravery to the credit of the police during the
..
disturbance. .. .Every witness, official and non-
134 INSIDE KASHMIR
official, has declared that policemen were conspicu-
ous by their absence until the military arrived, A
more scandalous exhibition of pusillanimity by thg
guardians of law and order can with difficulty
be imagined." Severe strictures have been parsed
by the Committee on other high officials, such as the
Governor of Kashmir, for remaining exceedingly
negligent and making no preparations to meet the

It was alleged by the Muslims that after the

occupation of the disturbed parts by the military, the
Hindus also looted Muslim houses, heavily beat
the men and molested their women, The official
Committee did not enter into any enquiry of
the matter as they considered it outside their
scope, While it cannot be denied that all such
reports were exaggerated, I have reasons t o believe
that they were not entirely unfounded. The official
Enquiry Committee lavishly praised the military and
the attitude that it adopted. But in fairness it must
be said that men posted a t the disturbed quarters
helped fanatics among the Hindus t o take revenge
for what had happened. I t will be conceded, how-
ever, that the Hindus, especially the Pandits, had
sufficient justification to lose balance.
The riot and loot in the city which began at
about 2-30 p.m. on the 13th July proved a turning
point in the Muslim movement. The Government
got an opportunity to suppress it by dealing with it
firmly. For the moment they could, with ample
reasons t o support their statement, tell the world
that no legitimate grievance existed and the distur-
 THOSE MEMORABLE WEEKS 135
banres were caused owing to the mutual hatred of
the two major communities living in the State.
I n fact the Riots Enquiry Committee started with
this assumption and wrote its report on this basis.
The Hindus became definitely hostile to the move-
ment and openly and solidly joined the Government
forces t o get it suppressed. As to the Muslim movement
itself, the communalists and pan-Islamists came to
the helm. Not that there was any change in the
leadership. That is not necessary in such move-
ments. Only the indeology of the leaders became
emphatically communal. The national essence of
tht movement was not understood. Consequently
tk communal and religious character of the struggle
became more pronounced and its economic and
political side lost its importance. The idea of Hindu
rights and Muslim rights, characteristic of the
bourgeoisie politics in India, began t o assume greater
tignificance, and small issues loomed large in the
Ores of the people. This ideology of the movement
lad far-reaching consequences as we shall presently
s e in course of our survey. Slowly though steadily
be Muslim masses began to lose interest in the
mvement and politics became the game of the
u p e r and the unemployed educated middle classes.
But 13th July saw the beginning of gigantic force
bhind the mass movement. Soon after the jail inci-
d n t , oddly enough, the three representatives of the
Jmmu Muslims, Mr. Abbas, Gauhar Rahman, and
Mstri Yaqub, who had come to Srinagar a few weeks
a p a t the suggestion of Mr. Wakefield, were arrested.
hS. S. M. Abdullah was taken into custody during the
136 INSIDE KASHMIR
night a t Jama Masjid where he, along with thousands
of Muslims, was attending on the wounded and the
dead who had been taken there in the afternoon.
The next day two more leaders of the Muslims,
Abdur Rahim (now employed as a Munsiff in the'
Judicial Department) and Ghulam Nabi Gilkar, were
put under arrest. All of the six arrested persons were
sent to the military cantonment, from where they
were subsequently removed on the 15th of July to
Hari Parbat fort, "the Bastille of Kashmir" when
the condition in the city became threatening and
grave.
 CHAPTER V
The Mass Movement
The country from one end to the other was now
one big mass of discontent and unrest. Law and'
order remained only in name, and the orders of the
authorities were openly flouted a t every place a n d
a t every stage. Complete hartal was observed by
the Muslim shopkeepers throughout the Kashmir
Province. The few Hindu shops also remained
closed owing to the fear of loot. Hundreds of mass
meetings were held to protest against the actions of
the authorities, particularly the arrest of the leaders.
Processions were taken out in all towns and big.
villages, in which men, women and children partici-
pated in large numbers. The bridge over the Jhelum
a t Sangam, a place 26 miles from Srinagar, was burnt
down. The situation continued to be dangerous and
difficult for many days. The Government resorted
t o the dual policy of threatening and cajoling the
Muslims. A Royal Proclamation was issued on the
14th of July appointing a Committee of Enquiry to*
report upon (a) the circumstances which led to the
136 INSIDE KASHMIR
night a t Jama Masjid where he, along with thousands
of Muslims, was attending on the wounded and the
dead who had been taken there in the afternoon.
The next day two more leaders of the Muslims,
Abdur Rahim (now employed as a Munsiff in the'
Judicial Department) and Ghulam Nabi Gilkar, were
put under arrest. All of the six arrested persons were
sent to the military cantonment, from where they
were subsequently removed on the 15th of July to
Hari Parbat fort, "the Bastille of Kashmir" when
the condition in the city became threatening and
grave.
 CHAPTER V
The Mass Movement
The country from one end t o the other was now
one big mass of discontent and unrest. Law and'
order remained only in name, and the orders of the
authorities were openly flouted a t every place and
at every stage. Complete hartal was observed by
the Muslim shopkeepers throughout the Kashmir
Province. The few Hindu shops also remaines
closed owing to the fear of loot. Hundreds of mass
meetings were held to protest against the actions of
the authorities, particularly the arrest of the leaders.
Processions were taken out in all towns and big,
villages, in which men, women and children partici-
pated in large numbers. The bridge over the Jhelum
at Sangam, a place 26 miles from Srinagar, was burnt
down. The situation continued to be dangerous and
difficult for many days. The Government resorted
to the dual policy of threatening and cajoling the
Muslims. A Royal Proclamation was issued on the
14th of July appointing a Committee of Enquiry to.
report upon (a) the circumstances which led to the
138 INSIDE KASHMIR
disturbances a t the Jail, Maharaj Gunj and other
localities in the city of Srinagar, ( b ) the sufficiency
lor otherwise of the action taken to anticipate and
deal with the disturbances, (c) the restoration of
communal peace and harmony, and ( d ) prevention
of such deplorable occurrences in future. Two
Muslim leaders, Kh. Said-ud-Dinand Maulvi Abdullah,
of rather moderate views were nominatad, one after
the other, to work as non-official members of the
Commission; but they refused as the Muslim public
opinion did not favour their participation so long as
other leaders were in jail. A purely official Com-
mittee consisting of three judges of the High Court
with the Chief Justice, Sir Barjor Dalal, as its
President, was, therefore, set up to make the enquiry.
T h e Committee submitted their report on the 24th
.of September, 1931. I have already alluded to the
findings of this Committee at several places in the
last chapter. While discussing the circumstances
leading to the disturbances and means and methods
of establishing communal peace, the Committee
made some suggestions for the consideration of His
Highness. The Committee admitted that " t h e
education of the Mohammedans is a matter over
which Mohammedans are most sensitive." But they
had nothing constructive to suggest beyond that the
Education Minister must personally interest himself
in this matter and have a consultative committee of
Mohammedans t o bring prominently t o his notice all
defects in the Department which the Mohammedans
might consider injurious to their educational pro-
gress. Oddly enough, the Committee recognised the
 THE MASS MOVEMENT 139
existence of the growth of political and semi- political
consciousness among the people and deprecated the
delivery of provocative communal speeches in
mosques; but they had nothing to say about the
entire absence of freedom of press, platform and
association in the State. O r , was it that such de-
mands were nationalistic in essence and the Com-
mittee, who had presumed from the outset that the
unrest was communal, did not Iike t o countenance
t h e m ? They laid great emphasis on the grant of
adequate representation of Muslims in State services.
T h e Committee did not consider the people fit for a
Legislative Assembly but, afraid of the revolution in
the country, clumsily recommended the establish-
ment of two Boards comprised of equal Hindu and
Muslim members under the Presidentship of Pro-
vincial' Governors a t Jammu and Srinagar, which
would advise the Government regarding the adminis-
tration. It was as if the Committee wanted to see
more political unrest before the demand of a consti-
tutional Government could be granted. And fot
this they had not long to wait.
In the meantime Mr. Wakefield, the Police
Minister, was asked t o resign by the end of July. It
was found by the Dalal Committee that his behaviour
during the days of disturbance was highly objection-
able. For some time Mr. Wakefield had become
extremely unpopular with the Hindus owing to his
liberal and pro-Muslim leanings. They accused him
of indirectly fanning the Muslim unrest. For more
or less the same reasons Mr. P. K. Wattal, another
member of the Cabinet, had t o vacate his seat on a
140 INSIDE KASFIMIR
subsequent date. On the 25th of July finding the
situation unchanged and serious, His Highness
requisitioned the services of Raja Hari Kishen Kaul.
a Hindu jagirdar and capitalist with a stake in the
country, as his Hazur Minister. Soon afterwards
the Raja became the Prime Minister of the State.
Raja Hari Kishen tried t o pacify the Muslims.
but he could not prove successful so long as the
prominent and popular leaders were in jail. He
tried his hand at various methods, but finding no
other effective way of restoring peace and order in
the country, he decided t o set at liberty the State'
prisoners in Hari Parbat fort. The leaders were
released by the end of July on furnishing an under-
taking that they would not deliver any speeches
which might create communal bitterness.
The successful termination of the movement
which resulted in the release of its leaders gave a
great impetus to the activities of Muslims. The
representatives of the two provinces became the
confirmed and recognised leaders of the people.
Mass meetings were arranged in their honour and
people from all corners of the country flocked to
he.ar their message.
A t the time of the release of the internees a
petition was submitted t o the Government by those
representatives who were outside jail that they
might be allowzd to submit a memorial t o His
Highness about the demands and grievances of the
Muslim community. This was granted and accord-
ingly August 6 was fixed as the day when a deputa-
tion would be received by His Highness. But o n
 THE MASS MOVEMENT 141

that date the Muslims could not present themselves

before His Highness and the date was postponed till
the 10th. Ultimately the memorial was presented
to His Highness on the 15th when the representa-
tives of the Muslims were granted an interview.
The memorial was a long one and put forward an
allegation of the Muslims regarding the events of the
13th July and the circumstances leading up t o them.
It contained allegations that false evidence was being
fabricated and that official influence was brought t o
suppress true evidence being given before the Dalal
Committee. I t also referred to the Press Com-
munique which the Government had issued on the
28th July regarding the Srinagar riots as a premature
verdict likely t o influence the conclusions of the
Committee. The representatives also demanded the
dismissal of Raja Hari Kishen Kaul as Prime Minister.
There were no other demands and grievances ! W a s
it a political manaeuvre to bide time. to dislodge a
Hindu Prime Minister with a reputation for being a
strong man, and thereby to weaken the Maharaja ?
Was it done a t the suggestion of the Ahmadis and
other Muslim communal leaders outside who rightly
felt that the time was not yet ripe for the inter-
ference of the Political Department of the Govern-
ment of India ?
His Highness expressed his unwillingness t o
displace the Prime Minister in whom he said he had
full confidence.
Soon after the 13th of July the communal-
minded Muslims of the Punjab who took any interest
in the politics of the MusIims of the State had
142 INSIDE KASHMIR
formed a body known as the " Kashmir Committee "
t o help the movement by propaganda and funds.
The main pillars of this Committee were Dr. Sir
Mohammad Iqbal and Mirza Bashir Ahmad. the
Head of the Ahmadis at Qadian. The latter worked
as the President of the Committee. The Committee
desired to send a deputation to Kashmir to see for
themselves what had happened. The Government
refused the permission on the grounds that His
Highness did not like any outside interference. A
wise decision. The Kashmir Committee then decided
t o celebrate an All-India Day for the purpose of
expressing sympathy with those injured on the 13th
of July and of organising Muslim public opinion. It
was named " Kashmir Day" ; and 14th August was
set apart for the purpose. Sheikh Mohammad
Abdullah and other leaders took a great part in
making the Kashmir Day a success in the State.
This was another instance that the Muslim move-
ment in Kashmir was working under outside
influence.
We have seen that the Muslim representatives
did not co-operate with the Dalal Committee in their
enquiry and t o a large extent refrained from giving
evidence before it. Oddly enough. without suggest-
ing any reasonable alternative, they chose t o regard
the appointment of the Committee as an additional
grievance.
In these circumstances public unrest among the
Muslims continued to increase steadily during the
month of August.
Some important nationalist leaders of all-India
 THE MASS MOVEMENT 145
'4
fame visited Kashmir during these days-notably
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Sir T e j Bahadur
Sapru. The Maulana advised the Muslims to be
non-communal in outlook in their political affairs,
and Sir Tej Bahadur advised the Government to be
large-hearted and liberal in considering the grievances.
of the public. This produced a sobering effect on
both sides so that through the intervention of Sir,
Mehr Shah, a moderate Muslim politician of some
standing in British India, an understanding was.
arrived a t between the Government and the ten
representatives of the Muslims on the 26th of August.
It is known as Temporary Truce. According to this
understanding the Muslims undertook completely to
stop the agitation. N o speeches would be delivered
nor any action taken in mosques and other religious
places or in public meetings which was likely to
create feelings of hatred against the Government or
any class of His Highness* subjects. The Muslims
declared that no outside influence affected their
affairs and undertook t o appeal t o their sympathisers.
that, pending decision as regards their demands, no
such action might be taken by them as would injur-
iously affect the calm atmosphere needed for a
favourable consideration thereof. The representa-
tives expressed their sentiments of loyalty and devo-
tion t o their Ruler, His Highness the Maharaja
Bahadur, and expressed their gratitude to the Prime-
Minister who had. they said, displayed great mag-
nanimity in dealing with their requests.
The Government on their behalf undertook t o
suspend all such measures as they had adopted under
144 INSIDE KASHMIR
the law in force for the time being for the suppression
of this agitation. Persons accused were released on
bail and the cases of those officials who were dis-
missed. suspended or degraded in connection with
the agitation were t o be reconsidered. If they
furnished assurances that they would take no part in
agitation they would be reinstated.
The terms of this truce were revealed to the
public on the 28th of August in the Jama Masjid and
not unnaturally the Muslims were greatly disappoint-
.ed to hear them as they did not deal with the
underlying grievances but only with matters arising
out of the agitation and its causes. The Muslim
public began t o realise that the leaders were selfish
and cared more for their own prestige and power
than the interests of the poor people. The represen-
tatives began t o be much upset, not knowing how
t o deal with the situation
The Pandits of Kashmir now felt aggrieved over
the temporary truce. ,They did not like that the
.Government should have parleyed with the Muslim
leaders who were mainly responsible for the riot and
the loot in which they had terribly suffered. The
three representatives of the community, among
whom I was one, sent a letter t o the Government
-laying down their main grievances. Unfortunately
the Prime Minister was ill-advised to send an indis-
creet reply in which he challenged the claim of the
leaders t o represent the community. He called it a
*
b
tall presumption *' and could not bring himself
round t o agree with it with the "largest stretch of
imagination." A n agitation was therefore started
 THE MASS MOVEMENT 145

by the Pandits which culminated in the arrest of

Pandit Kashyap Bandhu, one of their representatives.
The Government was, however, soon' successful
in pacifying the Pandits. The Prime Minister
withdrew his reply and agreed t o grant certain very
minor demands and the agitation came to an end. It,
however, created more bitterness in the communal
atmosphere and more suspicions in the minds of the
Muslims who imagined that the Hindu movement
was a manoeuvre t o hoodwink them.
In the meantime fresh trouble arose. The Gov-
ernment was rather slack in implementing the terms
of the temporary truce and made undue delay i n tak-
ing action in accordance with them. Muslim leaders
became impatient and expressed their disappoint-
ment in public meetings a t this attitude of the
Government. But, one might ask : what was there
in the terms of the truce which benefited the masses
.so much that they responded t o the call of their
leaders so readily ? The truth is that the masses had
once risen in revolt owing t o grinding poverty and
hunger. They wanted t o end the regime that was
the cause of this economic backwardness. Instinct
pushed them forward and from whatever side and
o n whatever basis they were called upon t o fight the
Government they were immediately available. They
were in a state of ferment throughout those long
months until they found out that they were being
exploited by the upper classes to frighten the Gov-
ernment in order to gain their own ends.
It was bad, inefficient and inexperienced leader-
ship; it could not derive the best advantage of the
 INSIDE KASHMIR
situation and utilise this gigantic force for better
and higher purpose. It was a tragedy that the
Muslim leaders who were accidentally playing the
historic role of leading the masses could not realise
the importance of their charge and toyed with it. It
is a pity that such an enormous force which could
have changed the very complexion of the Govern-
ment of Kashmir was allowed to fritter away. Muslim
communalists bartered the widespread mass con-
sciousness for a few crumbs thrown from the dining
table of the Government towards middle and upper
class Muslims.
O n the 21st of September, Mr. S. M. Abdullah
and M. Jalal-ud-Din (now, Lecturer of Arabic,
S. P. College) were arrested by the Deputy Inspector-
General of Police a t 11a.m. while they were making
collections in the city for the annual jalsa of the
Islamia High School. A t this very moment some of
the representatives of the Muslims were discussing
the alleged breaches of the temporary truce with
the Governor of Kashmir in his office. The news of
the arrests spread like wild fire throughout the city.
Complete hartal was observed and in the afternoon
many processions were taken out by way of protest.
O n the next day it became evident that the
situation was grave again and resentment deep.
Thousands of people had collected a t the Jama
Masjid. The authorities mishandled the situation
and would not allow them to take out a procession.
When the people tried to do so in defiance of law
they were fired upon, with the result that three men
were killed and several wounded. A t the same time
 THE MASS MOVEMENT 147

a " not well-controlled fire " was opened on another

crowd in the city a t Maisuma, where two men were
killed and three wounded, including a woman.'
On the 23rd of September about fifty thousand
people assembled a t the Jama Masjid for the pur-
pose of giving a decent burial to the men who had
been killed on the previous day. But the officers on
spot would not allow the people to come out of the
mosque and accompany the funeral procession t o the
graveyard, which was a t a distance of about four
hundred yards. Permission was repeatedly refused.
but late in the afternoon Nawab Khusro Jung,
Minister-in-Waiting t o His Highness, came with an
order from the Prime Minister that the procession
should bz allowed. The procession thereupon allow-
ed to proceed to the graveyard was orderly in
going to and returning from the burial ground.
Upon their return t o the Jama Masjid the people
dispersed quietly and went to their homes.
That very night arrest warrants were issued
against Kh. Said-ud-Din Shawl, Kh. G. A. Asbai
(now, an Inspector of Schools) and B. Ghulam
Mohammad. The police party could not find
entrance into the house of Mr. Shawl till day-break
when, on hearing all kinds of rumours, about ten
thousand Muslims armed with various sorts of
weapons gathered a t the spot. In these circumstances
the arrest of Mr. Shawl could not be effected.
The 24th of September, 1931, is another impor-
tant day in the history of Kashmir. O n this day in

'Middleton Report.
148 INSIDE KASHMIR
spite of their leaders the masses made their over-
whelming majority felt. They also, in spite of their
leaders again, proved that the struggle was political
and non-communal and directed entirely against the
administration of the State. Large crowds of Mus-
lims with all kinds of crude weapons in their hands
were parading the streets and brandishing their arms.
There is evidence to believe that thousands of
people came from the countryside to participate in
these demonstrations. According t o the official
report it was impossible for any policeman to go out
into the streets. Throughout the city the police
remained inside their quarters and police control
was for the time being entirely suspended. It is
highly significant that not a single Hindu-man,
woman or child-was molested by the mob on this
day. O n the other hand, there is reliable evidence
t o show that certain members of the mob furnished
instances of great chivalry and real heroism in
escorting some Hindu women. Men voluntarily
accompanied them t o their homes. Even though
mibguided by the upper classes, the Muslim masses
had not lost sight of their goal. They were giving a
demonstration of their strength and pointing t o
their real ambitions and aspirations. I do not
believe that this demonstration had been planned by
the representatives. It was spontaneous. It was a
protest both against the unwanted Government
of the day and against the bourgeoisie leader-
ship. While the Hindu upper classes thought that
this gigantic and terrible demonstration was the
creation of the Muslim upper classes, the latter were
 THE MASS MOVEMENT
themselves frightfully taken aback on finding the
magnitude of the demonstration. Muslim leaders
hurriedly held a meeting a t Mr. Shawl's residence
and five or six of them applied for an interview
with His Highness which was granted. They ex-
plained their position before their august sovereign.
So long as the Muslim masses were under the con-
trol of the bourgeoisie leadership and faithfully
carried out their behests, the leaders used them t o
bring pressure upon ths monarchy ; but when they
acted spontaneously and in their own interests, the
leadership sought refuge in royalty. This was
another effect of the class mentality, and proof
enough that the leadership was afraid of leading the
masses.
But the Government was deeply annoyed by
now. T o them the spontaneous and gigantic action
of the masses was intolerable. The brandishing of
knives and spears in the public streets, although
happily without any untoward accidents, furnished a
good justification for taking drastic steps. So on the
24th of September an Ordinance was drawn up. It
is called Ordinance No. 19-L of 1988. It was drawn
on the lines of an ordinance which had been pro-
mulgated in Burma t o put down an organised and
armed rebellion in that country, and was immediately
put into operation. The city was handed over to
the Military Control and the Civil Administration
was suspended.
w e shall have t o discuss Ordinance 19-L in
some detail in a subsequent chapter of this book.
For the present let it suffice t o say that it is a mea-
150 INSIDE KASHMIR
sure granting special and exceptional powers of
arrest and detention t o ordinary officials such as
sub-inspectors of police. In all cases offences against
its provisions or against the rules made under it are
tried summarily and punished with imprisonment or
with flogging or both.
A route march of the available troops through
the city was held in the forenoon on the 25th
September when people in the streets were made to
stand up and salute the State flag. If inadvertently
or knowingly someone did not do so, he was
brutally assaulted by the military men who left the
ranks for the purpose. Even women were not
spared. In the evening ten ailans (announcements)
were issued under the signature of Brigadier
Sutherland ordering that (1) all shops should be
opened before 9 a.m. on the 26th of September ; (2)
all arms should be deposited ; (3) gathering of five
or more persons on public place was punishable ; (4)
all slogans excepting those of a loyal nature were
prohibited ; (5) presence on a thoroughfare between
10 p.m. and 5 a.m. was prohibited except in the case
of Europeans ; (6) permission was to be obtained for
entry into or exit from Srinagar except, again, in the
case of Europeans.
An ailan was drawn up to the effect that the
public should salute military officers passing in the
streets, but it was considered unnecessary. The
Ordinance remained operative for 11days.
The troops misbehaved themselves. As already
stated, Kashmiris are not recruited in the State
forces. The troops were therefore not only non-
 THE MASS MOVEMENT
Kashmiris but, most of them, Dogra Rajputs. They
gave full play t o their racial animosity and religious
perversity when dealing with the Muslims. Although
the ailan enjoining people to stand up and salute all
military officers, high and low, passing through the
streets, was not issued, yet the military men carried
it into effect and people were harassed everywhere
on this account. " As the suggestion to draw u p the
ailan had come from the State Military officers, i t
is not unreasonable to suppose that they had already
enforced the practice and were unwilling t o dis-
continue it," wrote Mr. L. Middleton*. Men
were dragged from their shops and even houses on
mere pretences and severely beaten ; the contents of
their shops were looted. Some Europeans have
recorded their evidence that this was being done
entirely unprovoked. Brigadier Sutherland had to
arrest several military men when this wanton aggres-
sion went to extremes.
The police did not behave any better. They
were busy in squeezing bribes out of the people.
This is what Mr. Middleton said :
" The summary trials which were conducted were neces-
sarily based mainly on information supplied by t h e police or
the troops. It was unlikely t h a t non-official hIohammedaos
would come forward t o give evidence against each other a n d I
feel quite certain t h a t non-official Hindus would fear t o d o so
during the continuance of the excitement and ill-feelings which
followed the disturbances. I n these circumstances there was
rich field for dishonest minor officials to exploit a n d i t would be

*Mr. Middleton was subsequently appointed t o make

inquiries into the disturbances. Most of the facts and de-
scriptions given in this chapter have been taken from his.
reports,
152 INSIDE KASHMIR
surprising if no bribery had occurred. The -sea mentioned in
evidence are allegations not proved but I hove no doubt
that they are based on fact."
I t was easy for the police to report anyone as a
turbulent man, get him summarily tried and convict-
ed. Public flogging was the punishment awarded.
People were mortally afraid of this barbarous method
of dealing out justice. They paid handsome amounts
t o escape this torture and insult.
For insult it was. The flogging centre was the
Exhibition ground which is on the roadside near
Amira Kadal in the city. The civilised Government
officials would not care to cover the place while
flogging a poor wretch who was exposed t o the
full gaze of passers-by-stripped naked of all
his clothes. One hundred respectable and grown-up
men were sentenced to flogging and in several cases
it was severe, as no less than thirty stripes were ad-
ministered on their bodies.
This inhuman barbarity could not be tolerated
and protests were made against it throughout
India in the Nationalist Press. The Tribune of
Lahore vehemently condemned the authorities for
the flogging and disapproved of the Ordinance R a j
in general.
The details of the news of Srinagar events
reached all places in the State. ,There was restless-
ness everywhere.
Complete hartal was observed, processions were
taken out and meetings held in all big towns
to protest against the repressive policy pursued by
the Government. The arrest of the political leadzrs
 THE MASS MOVEMENT 153
and the firings on Muslim crowds came in for con-
demnation in these meetings everywhere. At
Anantnag the matters took a serious turn. The pro-
cession which started from Idgah on 23rd of Septem-
ber was allowed t o pass through the town, as t h e
local officials who wanted to avoid responsibility
could not promptly decide what action t o take. But
when the procession reached near Malak Nag. a
narrow and confined place, after dusk, i t was not
allowed to proceed further. There was a clash and
the troops had to open fire with very tragic results.
According to official report twenty-one people were
killed and twenty-seven injured. Some of those
killed and injured were of less than ten years of age.
A t Shopian the matters became even worse. A
Muslim fakir was arrested there on 23rd of Septem-
ber for shouting seditious slogans. This was a signal
for a fight. O n the 24th the fakir was tried at the.
Munsiff's court. The proceedings added fuel to the
smouldering fire of unrest in the town. The next
day being Friday. Muslims gathered in large numbers.
at the Jama Masjid to protest against the actions of
the authorities a t Srinagar and elsewhere. A t the
end of the meeting a procession was taken out. It
was met by the Munsiff and a body of troops but re-
fused to disperse a t his bidding. Fire was opened
and several people wounded. Then the crowd dis-
persed. The Munsiff ordered a firing again when a t
another place he confronted a mob who appear-
ed hostile. Some of the Muslims became violent.
caught hold of a Hindu police official and beat him
to death. The police station was also pelted and
154 INSIDE KASHMIR
attacked. The police fired from the windows of
their thana building and many persons were in-
jured.
All those wounded in consequence of these
firings were left t o their fate and no attempts were
made to provide medical aid for them. Writing
about this Mr. Middleton said : " The most serious
comments that I have to make in connection with
the conduct of affairs in Shopian after the riot are in
connection with the inefficiency of the medical
treatment given to the wounded a t the local dispen-
99
sary.
But now there was cause enough for the Gov-
ernment t o take revenge. Troops had already
reached the town from Srinagar, but their presence
was not considered a sufficient guarantee to maintain
law and order. So the handy Ordinance L.49 was
promulgated and ailans were issued in the town on
the 26th.
During the period of the Military Control, the
tale of excesses which I have described while writing
.about the Srinagar disturbances was repeated. The
police had ample reason to torture the Muslims as
,one of their members had been murdered. Military
men helped them to take their revenge on the poor,
defenceless and unarmed people. From all accounts.
-official and non-official, it can easily be gathered
that there was no law in the town. A large number
,of people left the place or went into hiding. Those
who remained behind had t o attend the identifica-
tion parades as the police was busy in investigating
the cases of the riot and the murder of the police
 THE MASS MOVEMENT 155
official. While the villagers were thus engaged with
the police, the chivalrous Rajput soldiers would go
about the town, enter their houses, loot them and
abuse their women folk. Several cases of rape were
reported t o Mr. Middleton who himself admits grave
suspicion about one having actually taken place.
Shopkeepers were first ordered to open their shops
and were then arrested and taken t o the thana for
investigation. In their absence the shops were
looted. Every torture against Muslims was perpe-
trated. People were beaten on the slightest pretext
and made to stand up and salute every soldier or
police official who passed through the streets and
the lanes of the town. " I have nothing but con-
demnation to record regarding the facts that the
people were forced to stand up and shout on occa-
sions when the police and troops passed by, and in
many cases they were beaten if they delayed in
doing so," observed Mr. Middleton. Mark, the word
is "delayed and not " refused ". The beatings, he
"

adds, were not of a trivial nature. It is no wonder

that the Muslims were terror-stricken. When four
soldiers came t o arrest a Mohammedan he jumped
from the window. The soldiers questioned his wife.
She became dumbfounded and her nerves broke
down. After the departure of the soldiers her
husband found her lying dead. Such is the horrifying
tale of the Ordinance Raj a t Shopian.
During these dark days when the Kashmir Gov-
ernment became very short-sighted, the authorities
made it their special concern t o see that those per-
sons who had anything to do with the political
156 INSIDE KASHMIR
movement were s everely punished and extremely
humiliated. The idea was t o crush their spirits.
The houses of such persons were specially searched.
They were recommended for flogging. Even Bri-
gadier Sutherland, who has been generously praised
by Mr. Middleton for his impartiality, sent
Maulvi Abdullah to Shopian to work as an official
under the Ordinance 19-L. The intention was to
degrade him in the eyes of the Muslims. Maulvi
Abdullah is an old man of about sixty years. He is
one of the pioneers who worked for the uplift of the
Muslims in Kashmir. H e has been a pleader of the
High Court for more than two decades. No sooner
did he reach Shopian than he was arrested and
charged with having urged Hindus not to give evi-
dence against Mussalman offenders and with having
spread false rumours. H e was summarily tried, con-
victed and sentenced to six months' imprisonment
The whole affair was conducted in such a clumsy
manner that Mr. Middleton was forced t o observe in
his report that in his opinion " the Munsiff made ill-
advised use of his summary powers in this instance."
If all such trials were scrutinised by an impartial
judicial authority it would be found that in many
such cases with little exception partiotic men were
punished for no fault or crime but for the love of
their motherland. Judicial proceedings served only
as a veil to cover the malicious intentions of the
officials.
As I write these lines, admiration rushes
forth from the bottom of my heart, and my head
bows in reverencs to the unbounded spirit of
 THE MASS MOVEMENT 157

sacrifice which a large number of men and women-

illiterate, unsophisticated and defenceless-manifest-
ed in humbly, patiently and meekly undergoing the
brutal torture which was Inflicted upon them. The
present structure of the national movement truly
rests on the solid and secure foundation of those
sacrifices. These atrocities though extreme in their
severity did not produce the desired effect. The
military control did not restore peace and order.
On the other hand, as already observed, the
nationalist circles and liberal-minded politicians out-
side the State who had not approved of the
communal tendencies in the Kashmir movement,
now felt called up011 to cry halt to these barbarous
methods of dealing with the situation. N o
alternative was left for the Government but to
adopt conciliatory measures to appease public
opinion.
The 5th of October, 1931, was His Highness'
birthday. A Durbar was held a t Srinagar in the
afternoon a t which a royal proclamation was read,
in the course of which His Highness again deplored
the attitude of some of his subjects. His Highness
believed that all this agitation was artificial and
that the poorer classes who lost lives and suffered
most owing to loss of work and unemployment
resulting therefrom had t o gain nothing by it. H e
wanted t o conciliate the Muslims and therefore
said :-
" I t will be within the experience of many persons
assembled here that parents have at times to use force in
bringing refractory children to order. But a parent has not
 INSIDE KASHMIR
t h e heart to continue to punish a child after it has ceeoed t o
be disobedient. What applies to parents in their dealings
with children applies t o Rulers of Indian States in dcaling
with their people. I am satisfied t h a t the purpose which nly
Governnlent had in view in using fortbe has now been served.
Tlre law has been vindicated u r ~ dthe irripression that i t could
be defied with i r ~ ~ p u n i tno
y longer exists. I feel therefore
that tile time has come for the step in t h e direction of the
restoration of absolutely norrrlal conditions. Relying on thc
loyalty and devotion of nly Rluslir~isubjecbts t o my Throne and
Person and reposing the utnlost confidence in their good sense
and rcspcct for law and authority, I tiereby order as
follows :-
1. That Notification No. 19-L.of 1988 recently enacted
be withdrawn, as no present necessity exists for it.
2. That other emergency measures be abrogated a t the
earliest possible moment.
3. That troops be withdrawn irnr~lediately from the
Srinagar civil area to which they have been posted to cope
with t h e situation and from other areas as soon as possible.
4. That all persons interned or under trial for offences
against the State or convicted under Notification No. 19 L. be
released.
5. That all pending prosecutions for offences against the
State as distinguished from offences against persons and
private property be withdrawn and Policc inquiries into
similar cases be dropped. "
It is interesting t o note what was said in this
Royal Proclamation about the work of the Military
and Police in their dealings with the people :-
" 1 believe I a m voicing the general feeling when I say
that we are deeply grateful t o t h e Troops for their devotion t o
duty and t h e self-restraint they have shown in maintaining
t h e public peace and authority of law during t h e last three
months. Their task was necessarily unpleasant and thankless,
they were subjected t o great personal discomfort, grave
 THE MASS MOVEMENT 159
provocation and danger to their own livee. But they stood
the ordeal and trial8 admirably.
" The Magiatracy and the Police have also workee
extraordinarily hard. "
Self-restraint and devotion t o duty indeed !
This Martial Law under the provisions of 19-L.
remained in force in Srinagar and Shopian for a
period of less than two weeks. But it was enough
to show to what lengths Government could
go to suppress the people of Kashmir and break
their spirit. That they did not succeed in their aim
was in no way due t o their leniency or half-
heartedness in dealing with the situation and
crushing the peoples' front.
On 19th October a Committee was appointed
under the Chairmanship of the Chief Justice t o
enquire into the causes of disturbances which
occurred during the month of September. Maulvi
Usuf Shah Mir Waiz was nominated as one of the
two non-official members of this Committee.
Muslims again, for reasons unknown, boycotted it.
This Committee was dissolved on 10th November,
and on the 13th the enquiry was entrusted to
Mr. L. Middleton whose services were obtained
from the Government of India for the purpose.
I have exhaustively surveyed the events in the
Kashmir Province. It could not be that the people
of the Jammu Province would silently watch all
this as indifferent spectators. W e must therefore
take leave of the valley and turn our attention t o
the other side of the Pir Panchal and see what was.
happening there.
960 INSIDE KASHMIR
As a result of the events in the Kashmir
Province unrest in Jammu was simmering for a
considerable time. The Ahrar Party in the Punjab
organised several demonstrations to show that their
sympathies were with their co-religionists inside the
State territories. They also sent large parties of
Muslims called jathas into the State territories to
bring pressure on the State Government to remove
the disabilities of Muslims and grant their demands.
During the month of September over 2500 members
of these jathas were arrested within the State
boundaries in the course of a few days. Owing to
the royal proclamation on the 5th of October these
activities of the Ahrars were temporarily suspended,
but on the 29th of October a fresh inrush of Ahrar
jathas started and over 2000 Muslims were arrested
in the vicinity of Suchetgarh, the frontier post
between Sialkot and Jammu, by the 2nd of
November.
O n the 31st of October a procession organised
by the Young Men's Muslim Association paraded the
streets of Jammu. A copy of the report of
the Dalal Committee was carried on a bier and was
ultimately burnt at a place known as " Ghazi Camp,"
a private place of the Muslims. O n the 1st of
November the Muslims decided to resort to civil
disobedience and openly defy the laws of
the Kashmir Government. About 30 volunteers
headed by a dictator carried copies of proscribed
newspapers in a procession and sold them. The
procession went through most of the main bazars of
the city. The white-robed demonstrators were
 THE MASS MOVEMENT 161
shouting slogans and their dictator was delivering
brief speeches a t intervals, in which he said that the
power of the Dogra Government had been broken
.and that its funeral had been celebrated. The
authorities were undecided and did not know what
to do.
These processions led to great excitement and
the 2nd November found the city in a very disturbed
state. Unfortunately news was received at about
noon that an Ahrar jatha which had entered the
State boundaries had been involved in a fracas
with the Rajput villagers of Top, a village some five
miles from Jammu. This worsened the situation.
There was a minor Hindu-Muslim, clash and the
civil authorities finding themselves unfit t o deal with
the situation, requisitioned the troops which how-
ever appeared a t 8-30 p.m. when the outbreak had
actually ceased. That evening and night the Rajput
soldiers, it is said, allowed the Mohammedan shops in
various quarters to be plundered during the absence
of their owners. Some soldiers assaulted innocent
people. The city remained under Military control
on the 3rd, on which day an incident occurred a t the
Ghazi Camp which involved firing by the troops.
As a result of the riot and the firing two men were
killed and 50 wounded, both Hindus and Muslims.
The behaviour of the soldiers appeared so repre-
hensible that people openly and loudly expressed
their utter lack of confidence in them. It was a t
this stage that His Highness and his Government
realised that without the effective help of the
British Government it was difficult for them t o
162 INSIDE KASHMIR

control the gigantic movement which had spread far

and wide in the country. They had resisted the
temptation of writing to the Government of India
on this subject so far, but such a desire became
irresistible. The authorities a t New Delhi had
patiently waited for this moment and, of course,
they were only too willing to intervene and help His
Highness a t that hour of his weakness. The policy
of the British Government which was clear enough
from the attitude of the Anglo-Indian Press during
the whole course of the movement a t once changed.
From the beginning of November 1931, Kashmir
politics enters another phase of its development
owing t o this direct supervision of British Imperial-
ism. O n 4th November the British troops were
despatched to Jammu. The Rifle Brigade arrived
from Jullundur, and on 5th took over entire military
control of the city, and the State troops were with-
drawn. A few days later His Excellency the
Viceroy of India promulgated an ordinance t o stop
the inrush of the Ahrar jathas into the State
territories by banning this trouble at its source.
" Had it been possible to take that action a few days
earlier," wrote Mr. Middleton, who enquired into
the causes of disturbances in Jammu after complet-
b6
ing his work in the Kashmir Province, subsequent
events a t Jammu might have taken a very different
turn."
By the end of November trouble arose in the
district of Mirpur in the Jammu Province. A mani-
festo was issued by Sardar Gauhar Rahman, a Jammu
leader, in a most irresponsible manner asking the
 THE MASS MOVEMENT 163
ryots to desist from paying land revenue to the Gov-
ernment. This naturally created a spirit of defiance
among the most backward and illiterate peasantry.
No preparations had been made previously by the
Muslim leaders to organise and train the civil resis-
ters. The issue of the manifesto therefore produced
very disastrous results.
Sahukars (money-lenders) in the Mirpur district
are rich people. For a long time in the past they
have been bleeding the poor peasants by extorting
their hard-earned pennies in the shape of interest on
imaginary or genuine debts. Even after having paid
300 per cent interest the loan still remains intact and
is never written off. A large number of peasants
are born in debt, remain in debt all their lives, and
die in debt.
The preaching of civil disobedience and defiance
of authority produced a hatred for the Hindu Gov-
ernment. Almost all the sahukars were Hindus.
Therefore all Hindus were considered to be enemies
by the peasantry which is, in that district, mainly
Muslim. The destruction of the kafir (infidel) by
murder, loot, and incendiarism became the order
of the day. N o distinction was made between the
rich and the poor, between the money-lender and the
labourer ; all Hindus fell victims to their fanaticism.
Whole villages were burnt down and entire build-
ings razed to the ground in the greater part of the
Tehsils of Mirpur, Kotli and Rajouri. Economic
and religious factors played equal parts in this dis-
turbance, and for the time being it was difficult t o
separate them.
164 INSIDE KASHMIR
The unrest soon spread to the adjoining area of
the Poonch jagir. There was an enormous uprising
against the Hindu Raja of the jagir. He had to shut
himself up in the local fort for several days and leave
the city in the hands of the mob.
There were no good roads in the district of Mir-
pur and the neighbouring areas. Communication
was entirely cut off with the headquarters at Jammu
and the Government became helpless for some
weeks t o deal with the situation. The condition of
the wretched victims of vandalism could only be
seen from the air. The British troops were requisi-
tioned and the whole area was handed over to
Military control, not before much damage had been
done. The situation came under control by the end
of January 1932 and it was found that a large
area of the district had been reduced to ashes and
devastated. It was a long time afterwards that re-
construction plans were drawn up and carried out to
restore normal conditions in unfortunate Mirpur.
Disturbances reappeared in the Kashmir Pro-
vince in the beginning of 1932. Having delivered a
speech in the Khanqah Mualla protesting against the
deportation of a colleague from Kashmir, Mr. S. M.
Abdullah was arrested on the 19th of January under
the provisions of Notification No. 19-L which had
been promulgated a couple of days earlier. There
was unrest again all over the province. Hartals were
observed and processions taken out in the big towns
as usual. Hundreds of people were arrested and sent
to prison. A t Baramulla, Sopore and Uri troops had
t o open fire and several people were killed and many
 THE MASS MOVEMENT 165
injured. Thanks t o severe cold winter months calm
was soon restored.
This brings us t o the close of the first period of
the Kashmir movement which was characterised by
spontaneous action on the part of the masses.
The upper classes and the vested interests among
the Muslims were anxious to use the movement t o
gain their own ends, which sidetracked it and arrest-
ed its growth on healthier lines. They introduced
~ommunalisminto it and made the movement of the
masses look like a Muslim uprising against a Hindu
State. Many of those who had been thrown up by
the movement as its leaders were happily nearer the
masses than t o the upper classes. But they were in-
experienced and hardly able to guess the true signi-
ficance of their gigantic historic mission. Had the
leadxship been seasoned, far-sighted, liberal, and
wise, the movement wouId undoubtedly have taken
a different turn. By the middle of 1932 the Kashmir
movement definitely came under the complete con-
trol of the upper classes of the Muslims, and the
masses gradually withdrew from it. I shall discuss
its evolution presently.
Before I close this chapter I must say a word
about those who were a t the helm of affairs during
this critical period of history of the State. I have
already mentioned the cliques that had been formed
in the officialdom, and the puerile behaviour of the
Rajputs who wanted t o form a Dogra oligarchy.
With this dangerous outlook of those a t the top it
was but natural that the subordinate service should
suffer and become most inefficient. Replying to the
166 INSIDE KASHMIR
question as t o how far the authorities responsible for
the preservation of law and order had acted with
intelligence and foresight, the Dalal Committee
wrote : " Both were absent and the officers exhibit-
ed lack of intelligence, efficiency, foresight and
executive capacity. Everybody wanted to concen-
trate the powers in himself and mutual trust was
entirely absent. The Inspector-General of Police
did not behave as the Executive Head of the Police
but merely as an underling of the Police Minister. , 9

The Government, manned as it was by inefficient

men, could not cope with the situatiorl and the
whole administrative machinery went out of joint
during the days of the disturbances all over the
State.
Mr. Middleton arrived at the following conclu-
sion :-
" A very noticeable reason for complete breakdown of
the administration in Jammu City a t this time of crisis is the
anxiety of all officials, high and low, to avoid responsibility ;
whenever faced with a position demanding decisive action such
officials went off t o get orders from higher authorities ; this
failing was so universal as t o suggest that officials had not
been trained t o accept responsibility in the ordinary course of
their duties and that their initiative had been suppressed by
distrust on the part of their Superior Officers."
How could public servants prove efficient when
they were selected not for their merit and love of
public duty but because they belonged to a certain
fortunate class of people ?
 CHAPTER VI
Grievances and Demande
In his Royal Proclamation granting general
amnesty t o all political prisoners and abrogating
emergency measures, His Highness repeated on
5th October, 1931, his assurance that " if any section
of my subjects desires t o submit any reasonable
requests they will receive my sympathetic con-
sideration. " This part of the proclamation was
well received by the progressive sections of the
people. Memorials were drafted immediately by
the representatives of the Muslims. Hindus of all
shades of opinion. Sikhs. Rajputs and Kashmiri
Pandits, in which various grievances, particular to
individual communities as also those they had as
citizens of the State, were laid down.
W e need not go into the memorials of non-
Muslims as, owing to the reactions produced by the
aggressive communal mentality of the Muslims and
the terrible consequences of the riots the memory of
which was quite fresh then, they had subordinated
the national rights to the demand of protection of
168 INSIDE KASHMIR

life and property by a good and strong Government.

In fact the Sikhs frankly declared that " they were
not particular about the inauguration of the Legisla-.
tive Council." They wanted " thirty-three per cent
in services, a Minister in the Cabinet and one-third
of the posts from highest to the lowest in the
Army.',
The Kashmiri Pandits admitted that recently
they had not been so vocal on political reform, but
the reason was that the Musalrnans had presented
their claims on communal grounds and for corn-
munal ends. " The Kashmiri Pandits are as anxious
as any other community for the introduction of con-
stitutional Government, but they are equally anxious
that the body politic should not be corrupted by the
canker of communalism." They wanted " fair field
and no favour in the matter of grant of services ; the
doors of military services should be thrown open to
them and employment should be provided for their
educated unemployed, as it is the duty of the State
to provide a living wage for every adult male
willing t o work."
The memorial of the Rajputs believed in brevity
and was more a sermon on resolute Government
than a request. It complained of His Highness* acts
of omission and commission as Rajputs viewed them,
and expected that he would " take steps t o prevent
the recurrence of the contingency. * *
The Muslims' memorial was an elaborate docu-
ment. In it the representatives of the commun-
1b
ity told His Highness that no single man with-
out the help and co-operation of others could
 GRIEVANCES AND DEMANDS 169
look after the welfare of a vast territory like
Jammu and Kashmir and the people could not
enjoy peace and prosperity unless they were
afforded suitable opportunity to influence and
criticise the work of the executive responsible for the
observance of such laws." So it was necessary that
" an immediate assurance be given to the people t o
the effect that in future they would be treated in
accordance with some definite constitution and a de-
claration may be immediately made that your High-
ness' Government will be based on constitutional
principles." An attempt was made in this memorial
even to visualise this constitution and according to it
" every citizen of the State should be eligible
for election to the Assembly. Seventy per cent
members should be elected, Ministers should be
responsible to the Ruler, but if seventy per cent of
the members of the Legislature pass a resolution to
the effect that they have no confidence in a certain
Minister, that Minister should be forthwith relieved
of his duty." Of course the Muslims wanted the
strength of their population to be reflected in the
numerical strength of the Assembly as well as the
Ministry. The memorialists demanded a declaration
b6
of fundamental rights which would guarantee per-
f ~ religious
t freedom, freedom of assemblage..
freedom of sperch, freedom of press, and equality of
rights and treatment for all State subjects in all
respects." In the matter of recruitment to services
6a
the Muslims demanded that seventy per cent of
these should be given t o them in all grades, and
the basis of recruitment should be the minimum
 INSIDE KASHMIR
qualifications."
Another demand of the Muslims was that " the
people of Kashmir should be granted the right of
possessing arms like their fellow subjects of the
Jammu Province." T o improve the backwardness
in education, the memorialists requested that
Mr. Sharp's recommendations referred to earlier in
this book should be adopted immediately. There
were some other minor demands regarding zemin-
dars, military, customs and labour.
It is interesting t o note that in this memorial,
for the first time in the history of Dogra rule, a
demand was publicly made that " a fixed percentage
of the total income of the State should be set apart
.as privy purse for the Maharaja Bahadur and his
family. * *
A close study of these memorials brings out one
undeniable truth in broad outline that the outsiders
had by this time begun to exploit the communal
tendencies of. the different sections of the Kashmir
public in their own interests. It was thus that the
Sikh representatives demanded that " the condition
of being a State subject should be waived in the
case of Sikh recruitment in the Army. In the matter
of recruitment to Civil Departments all domiciled
Sikhs should be eligible for appointment with the
hereditary State subjects." The Muslims said that
"if Muslim subjects of the State are not available to
fill the posts, recruitment should be made from the
Muslims outside the State." A majority of the
Hindus also favoured this view in regard to their
own community and made such a demand. Perhaps
 GRIEVANCES AND DEMANDS 171
it was in view of this attitude that the Dalal Com-
mittee had recommended that while it was good to
reserve appointments for State subjects it was not
bb
right that the policy of reserving them for heredi-
tary State subjects should be continued." Happily
the State subjects realised their mistake in making
such demands before it was too late, and no change
was made in the definition of the State subject.
His Highness gave replies t o all these memorials
as the occasion demanded and assured the people
tbrough the memorialists that " a Commission would
be appointed for thrashing out these questions in
detail, which would consist .of official and non-offi-
cia1 members representing all communities concern-
ed and would be presided over by an officer belong-
ing to none of them."
The Commission was accordingly appointed
under orders of His Highness the Maharaja Bahadur,
dated the 12th of November, 1931. I t consisted of
four non-official members presided over by a Euro-
pean officer, Mr. (now Sir) B. J. Glancy, of the
Foreign and Political Department of Government of
India, whose services were lent t o the Jammu and
Kashmir State by the Government of India a t His
Highness* request. The four non-official members
were made up of Kh. G. A. Ashai, one Muslim, and
Pandit Prem Nath Bazaz, one Hindu, from the
Kashmir province, and Ch. Ghulam Abbas. one Mus-
lim, and Lok Nath Sharma, one Hindu, from the
Jammu province. each nominated by their respective
communities. The function of the Commission was
to enquire into and report on the various complaints
172 INSIDE KASHMIR

of a religious or a general nature already sub-

mitted to His Highness' Government and also such
complaints as might be directly laid before the
Commission.
In the month of December 1931 the Hindu
community of Jammu decided to recall their mem-
ber from the Commission, the reason assigned being
that the Commission found itself unable t o exclude
from the scope of its enquiry questions relating to
the Hindu Law of inheritance. The Commission
accordingly. with the approval of His Highness'
Government, continued its sittings with three non-
official members only (two Muslims and one Hindu)
instead of four as originally constituted.
The report of the Grievances Enquiry Commis-
sion is a document of great importance, as it estab-
lished beyond doubt that real grievances existed
which needed redress. The main recommendations
of the Commission were readily accepted by His
Highness. According to these all religious buildings
of the Muslims in possession of the Government
were restored to them, the Hindu Law of inherit-
ance was allowed t o remain, as it was found by the
Commission that no religious grievance of the Mus-
lims could be admitted on this account.
It was recommended that the educational deve-
lopment should be strenuously taken in hand espe-
cially in regard to primary schools. An increase in
the number of Muslim teachers and the appointment
of a special officer for supervising and promoting
Muslim education was also recommended. In the
matter of distribution of Government services the
 GRIEVANCES AND DEMANDS
following recommendations were made :-
( a ) Minimum qualifications should not be pitched un-
necessarily high.
(b) All vacancies should be effectively advertised and
similar action should be taken as regards . a11 scholarships
intended to provide equipment in Government services.
(c) Effeotive measures sliould be taken t o provide a
system of appointment a n d a ~nacllinery for supervising
that system in such a way as t o prevent the,due interests of
any community from being neglected.
Dealing with land problem the Commissioners
observed :
" Proprietary rights should be granted in all respects
t o all lands of which the ownership is retained by t h e
State and right of occupancy is enjoyed by t h e private
persons. The grant of proprietary rights would be greatly
appreciated and would make for increased contentment
and stability."
The poor peasant and his immediate problems
also were not totally ignored. Said the Commission :-
*' Kahcharai (Grazing Tax) should be forthwith suspend-
ed in certain specified areas, and action should be taken
t o see that the demand does not press too heavily on
other portions of the State. All possible care should be
taken to see t h a t the existing rights of the agriculturists
are not in any way impaired by privileges conferred on
other classes. T h e benefit of concessions granted t o t h e
agriculturists at the time of Raj Tilak ceremony (His
Highness' accession) should be fully secured t o them.
Strenuous endeavours should be made t o put an end to
all authorised exactions. Decentralisation of power is de-
sirable in many directions in order t h a t Ministers and
Heads of Departments may have time t o supervise more
effectively the officers under their control."
As regards begar, which was still practised by
174 INSIDE KASHMIR
officials, the Commission recommended :-
" His Highness ' order$ in respect t o Ker-i-Sarkar
(Labour requisitioned for State purpoeeu) ehould be strict-
ly enforced and payment should be rnade a t proper rates
for all services rendered."
And lastly about unemployment and industrial-
isation the Commissioners said :-
" The promotion of industries should receive the
earliest attention of the State authorities. Industrial de-
velopments are a t the present time of the utmost impor-
tance as it is highly desirable to provide an outlet for
employment ."
The recommendations of this Commission satis-
fied the Muslims t o a large extent. Kashmiri Pandits,
however, felt aggrieved over the minimum qualifica-
tion test for recruitment to services. They corn-
plained that " nowhere in the world and a t no stage
of human history have able applicants for offices
been told that though possessed of higher abilities
than other competitors in the field, they cannot be
appointed, because they are the members of the
minority community. The general practice is and
has been the opposite." They disowned me who re-
presented them on the commission and started
what was popularly known as " Roti agitation " as
protest against the recommendations of the Commis-
sion. More than one hundred people were arrested.
But after a fortnight the leaders gave an undertaking
to submit their grievances to the Government in a
constitutional way, and the matter came t o an end.
The outcome of this agitation, it may be observ-
ed incidentally, changed the leadership of the Yuvak
Sabha and consequently of the Kashmiri Pandit
 GRIEVANCES AND DEMANDS 175
Community. The group of young men who had
mostly independently done excellent work during
the Maharaj Gunj riots not only in collecting and
sifting and presenting evidence for the Riots Enquiry
Committee but, what was more praiseworthy, in
visiting the affected parts of .the city and distribut-
ing relief and keeping up the morale of the minority,
definitely came to an end. This leadership was ne-,
cessarily immature and idealistic but, to a large
degree, nationalistic in ambition. It was followed
now by a leadership, pronouncedly communal in out--
look and aim. But there was another difference.
The former Yuvak Sabha leadership was guided and
helped by a group of State servants which,
among others, included Pandits Mahesh Chandra
Raina, Tota Koul Jalali, Shankar La1 Koul, Profes-
sors Jia La1 Koul, and K.K. Bhan, who were members
of the Kashmiri Pandits* Uplift Association, a body
approved and sanctioned by the Government,
which State servants could join as members and
office-bearers. The new leaders were independent
of such guidance and advice ; it was more indepen-
dent but way-ward too, and perhaps more egoistic
and less con structive.
A t the termination of the labours of this Corn-
missjon, Mr. B. J. Glancy submitted a report to His
Highness' Government as t o " how the then exist-
ing regulations with regard to matters such as the
establishment of societies and associations and the
free expression of opinion either in public meet-
ings or in the press should be modified as t o bring
the State legislation into conformity with the law
176 INSIDE KASHMIR
prevailing in British India." Regulations were sub-
sequently drafted on the basis of these recommenda-
tions and passed into law. I shall discuss these
laws next while dealing with the constitutional
advance that the people of the State enjoy a t pre-
sent and the freedom of the press that is allowed t o
them.
 CHAPTER VII
From Communalism to Nationalism
Communalism was unknown in Kashmir till 1931.
Even when the Pathans and Sikhs ruled the country
and maltreated its people more or less on religious
grounds, the masses had nothing but brotherly love
for one another. As a matter of fact it was the sup-
port of Muslim peasants of Kashmir that made i t
possible for a Pandit to escape from the clutches of
the Pathan Ruler and then approach Ranjit Singh for
help of the Sikhs t o free the valley. If there was
any communalism, it existed among the upper classes ;
the general mass of people were entirely free from i t
Racially, culturally and linguistically the Hindus
and Muslims living in Kashmir are practically one.
Barring a few exceptions, the overwhelming majority
of the Muslims of Kashmir comes from the same
Aryan stock as the Pandits ; the same blood flows in
their veins. Only their religions differ. It is not,
therefore, surprising that when fanaticism does not
possess them they like t o live amicably and peace-
fully with each other.
178 INSIDE KASHMIR

The movement of 1931 was a spontaneous mass

uprising. I t had political and economic causes
behind it. Disappointed in every manner and find-
ing no other way of escape from the tyrannies of life,
the masses stood up against the extant order which
was maintained by the undemocratic and wooden
Government of the time. They wanted a revolu-
tionary change and were prepared to sacrifice every-
thing they possessed, even their very lives, to bring
it about. But they were inexperienced and had
no well-tried leader t o guide them. Therefore they
fell into the hands of the upper classes who had a
better knowledge of things and their own interests,
and who knew how t o use for their own ends this
colossal energy that had been unloosened by the mass
uprising. India is a country that is, in certain respects,
still passing through the middle ages. People are
religion-ridden. It was not therefore difficult for
the Muslim bourgeoisie to give the movement a
religious colouring and myke the Muslim masses
believe that they had suffeied because the unbelie-
vers were the rulers of the State and dominated in
every walk of life. The purpose underlying this
move of the Muslim upper classes was to utilise the
forces of the masses against the superiority of the
Hindu bourgeoisie which, we have seen, had been
established to a great extent under the Dogra rule
and was still in the process of its consolidation.
But the upper class Muslims were timorous
and cowardly. They had big vested interests in the
country; they would not like to come into direct
clash with the constituted authority and stake every-
 COMMUNALISM TO NATIONALISM 179
thing they had. Some of them had played the game
in 1924, lost it, and suffered for a long time. No
one dared to repeat the experiment. All of them
were doubtful about the results. Naturally, there-
fore, young men with little stake in the country and
belonging t o the class of petty bourgeoisie came
forward to lead the movement. They had great
sympathies with the masses though, not being of
them, they did not and could not know their hard-
ships and miseries. Besides, these young men were
themselves inexperienced and raw. They could be
influenced in any way and (as we shall see presently)
they were led astray for a long time by the upper
classes of the Muslims and became responsible for
turning a national mass movement into a communal
and sectional struggle. But it must be recognised
that, at the outset, that is, before July 1931, some
Muslim leaders were influenced more by the dis-
tressing economic and social backwardness of the
masses than by any other considerations. They had
therefore little of communalism in them. A s . a
matter of fact there are dozenS of speeches on record
which were delivered by these Muslim leaders before
the disturbance of 1931, in which persistent appeals
were made by them t o the Hindus to join the
common struggle for the emancipation of their
motherland, in which they were asked to fight for
the achievement of fundamental rights and civil
liberties, in which exhortations were made to them
not to tolerate this undemocratic and irresponsible
rule which was grinding every section of the people
living in the State. It was in the interests of the
180 INSIDE KASHMIR
authorities and the Government t o suppress this side
of the issue as far as they could, in order that the
real causes underlying the movement might remain
hidden. After they had been able t o find out the
cause in the communal clash of 13th July, 1931, it
was their great endeavour, first, t o turn it into a
thorough communal movement and, then, mercilessly
t o suppress it. Yet a t times they could not help
observing that in the beginning the movement was
not directed against the Hindus but against the
Government. " It appears t o me," wrote Mr.
Middleton, " that the Mussalman allegation regard-
ing the non-communal nature of their agitation was
substantially correct in the earlier stages thereof."
The 13th of July 1931 proved a day of surprises
for all. The world was surprised t o find the
slumbering Kashmiri awakened all a t once. The
Hindus were terrified t o see Muslims coming into
their own. " I think we agree that nobody anticipat-
ed that Kashmiri mob would behave in the way it
did ; consequently no disturbances were anticipated,"
admitted Mr. Wakefield, the Minister for Law and
Order, before the Srinagar Riots Enquiry Commit-
tee. T h e chicken-hearted Muslim bourgeoisie did
not believe that the might of the Muslim masses
was so great. W h e n they realised it after all, they
lost no time in turning the wheel of the movement
towards their own interests. They realised that it
was no longer dangerous t o identify themselves
with the movement.
The 13th of July proved the towering success
of the movement as the masses asserted themselves
 COMMUNALISM TO NATIONALISM 181

on this day. But it also changed the basic nature of

the fight as from then onwards the movement was
influenced more by the upper classes of the Muslims.
and the masses gradually left the ranks till it became
completely a bourgeoisie movement in the State.
The middle and upper classes of the Muslims
instinctively realised that if the opportunity was t o
be utilised against the Hindu Government and the
upper classes of the Hindus, the movement must
assume entirely a communal shape. The leadership
must become thoroughly religious. For this purpose
it was necessary that the leadership must change.
Those believing in the upliftment of the masses and
their cause must go t o the background and only
those men should take the command and the charge
of the situation who shall have no hesitation in
taking behests from the upper classes and carry them
out to their liking. There was another possibility t o
achieve this end. The then existing leaders of the
movement could change their attitude and, forgetting
their sympathies with the masses, accept this ideology.
In that case there was no necessity of changing the
leadership. The old leadership could continue with
the approval of the upper classes of the Muslims.
Evidently some of the ten representatives of the
Muslims could be purchased more easily than others.
For good reasons Mir Waiz Usuf Shah valunteered
himself to serve as the henchman of the vested
interests. H e was successful in enticing away a few
leaders of the movement and a number of wokers
to his side. But the rank and file of the movement
remained with Mr. S. M. Abdullah who became
182 INSIDE KASHMIR
the acknowledged leader of the masses from that
time. The other Mir Waiz as also the remaining
representatives came under his banner.
At the close of the year 1931 this division
became clear and pronounced. The Kashmir Gov-
ernment encouraged the separation and significantly
enough supported Mir WaizUsuf Shah, who was ulti-
mately granted a jagir for his loyal tendencies. Thus
began that internal dissension in the Muslim politics
of Kashmir which resulted in dangerous party fac-
tions, and which persists t o this day. For a time
the struggle between these two parties was based
on the class interests of the Muslims, the upper
classes fighting against the lower classes with Usuf
Shah and Abdullah as their respective mouthpieces,
and both struggling for supremacy in the affairs of
the State. But soon the Abdullahites were influenced
by the upper class ideology which they gradually
owned. They forsook their historical role and
abandoned the masses. Naturally the masses also in
their turn abandoned them. The differences be-
tween Usuf Shahis and Abdullahites, however, per-
sisted ; but thereafter they became personal ; and the
propaganda which was carried on by either party in
this connection was of a filthy nature and conducted
on a very low level. It was nothing more than a
rivalry to become popular among the middle and
the upper classes of the Muslims. The masses had
entirely gone out of the picture and certainly out of
their vision.
Already a t the time when the Glancy recom-
mendations were published, the upper classes of the
 COMMUNALISM TO NATIONALISM 183
Muslims had completely assumed the command of
the movement. That much is evident from the
recommendations themselves.
The Government was forced to order the inquiry
under pressure of mass uprising. But the demands
were formulated and pressed by the upper classes
before the Commission, with the result that no strong
and substantial recommendation was made to
ameliorate the distressing
1.
condition of the peasantry.
Nothing was done to save them from the wretched
poverty in which they were eking out a miserable
existence. Yet the recommendations were greatly
welcomed and appreciated by the Muslim leaders in
the name of the community as a whole.
During the summer of 1932, soon after the
Glancy Report was published, the Muslim leaders
felt that to safeguard the interests of the Mussalmans
-which by now were no more than the interests of
the upper and middle classes-the establishment of
some organisation was necessary. The All Jammu
and Kashmir Muslim Conference was therefore
founded. Its first session was held a t Srinagar on
the 15th. 16th and 17th October, 1932. when thou-
sands of Muslims attended it. Obviously both
Usuf Shahis and Abdullahites had by this time
reconciled themselves with the upper class ideology.
Although the Conference was primarily a function
of the Abdullah party. Mir Waiz Usuf Shah willingly
participated in its deliberations. The Mir Waiz did
not, however, take any share in the subsequent
sessions of the Conference as the personal differences
had become more acute with the passage of time.
184 INSIDE KASHMIR
The All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Con-
ference remained in existence till June 1938. It
held six annual sessions in all. The first, second,
fifth and sixth Sessions which were held a t Srinagar,
Mirpore, Poonch and Jammu respectively. were
presided over by Mr. S. M. Abdullah. The third
Session was held a t Sopore under the presidency of
Mian Ahmad Yar, while the fourth Session was held
at Srinagar with Chaudhri Ghulam ~ b b a sin the
chair.
The history of the Muslim Conference is nothing
but the record of the struggle of the middle and
the upper classes of Muslims during the period
1932-38 for the achievement of their rights. By
clever manaeuvring these people had been able to
achieve substantial gains in the shape of Glancy
recommendations. They wanted to preserve them
as best they could. They desired t o see that these
recommendations were carried out, especially the,
ones that benefited them most. A large number of
the resolutions of the Conference and the major
portions of the Presidential Addresses are devoted
to the grievance that the recommendation of the
Glancy Commission about distribution of State
services among various communities was not im-.
partially carried out. As a matter of fact in the
spring of 1933 there was a commotion in Muslim
political circles in Srinagar over this issue. The
Prime Minister and the Home Minister had to come
from Jammu to pacify the Muslims. There was
again a serious clash between the Muslims and the
authorities in the month of January 1934. when an
 COMMUNALISM TO NATIONALISM 185
ultimatum was given t o the Government by the
Young Men's Muslim Association, started that very.
year, to accept their demands, chief among which was
immediate removal of important non-Muslim offi-
cials from Srinagar. O n January 28,1934, the Govern-
ment promulgated the regulation 19-L. and exiled
seven leaders under its provisions. The agitation
spread to the villages. Hundreds of people were arres-
ted and heavy fines were imposed on them. In some.
cases private property was auctioned to pay the fines.
At Pulwama and Bijbehara, mobs went out of control.
on 2nd February and 6th February respectively a n d
fire had to be opened at both places. Ten people
were killed a t the former village and three a t t h e
latter, and dozens were injured as a result of these
firings. Muslims in Bijbehara were so terrified that
most of them left the village to escape official re-
pression. And yet, painfully enough, all this was.
done by the young Muslim leaders t o obtain more
jobs for the upper and middle classes of the Muslims.
in Government employment! A t this stage the I

Working Committee of the Muslim Conference met

on 10th February a t Sialkot, outside the State terri-
tories, in order that the exiled leaders might be able-
to take part, to consider the political situation which
had developed. The Committee suspended the
Constitution of the Conference and appointed
Ch. Ghulam Abbas as Dictator with the purpose of
either getting the grievances of Muslims redressed
by correspondence with the Government or by
launching a movement of Civil Disobedience. Mr.
Abbas sent a memorial to the Prime Minister.
186 INSIDE KASHMIR
Col. E. J. D. Colvin, in which he complained that the
Government had not fully implemented the recom-
mendations of the Glancy Commission, and demanded
t h a t it should d o so immediately. T h e Prime Minis-
t e r wanted t o discuss the whole matter personally
with Mr. Abbas, but refused t o commit himself in
advance. Mr. Abbas, rather overconfident of the
mass support t o his reckless programme, unwisely
and abruptly broke the negotiations and started his
movement. There was great disappointment in store
for him and the Muslims of his way of thinking. He
was arrested and sentenced t o one year's imprison-
ment. A few of his colleagues were treated in the
same manner, when they held demonstrations subse-
quently in the streets of Jammu for some days as a
protest against the attitude of the Government.
T h e Muslims as a whole remained calm and the
masses cold. T h e movement fizzled out within a
couple of weeks.
T h e failure of the campaign made the Muslims
think. T h e leadership now realised their mistake in
having alienated the mass support. Some of them
-felt that they had identified themselves too much
with the upper class interests. There were three
main reasons that fostered this conviction.
Firstly, as we have seen from the very beginning,
t h e Muslims realised that in political matters non-
Muslim interests were not altogether distinct from
the Muslim interests. Fundamentally they were simi-
lar. The unfortunate communal clashes on the 13th
July a t Srinagar and during November and December
of 1931 a t Mirpore made it difficult for them t o
 COMMUNALISM TO NATIONALISM 187
think clearly for some time. But from the Presi-
dential Address of the first Muslim Conference we
find that the idea had not been completely abandoned.
In this document it is recorded that " the Kashmir
movement is not communal but has come into
existence to get the grievances of all classes of people
redressed. W e assure our Hindu and Sikh brothers
that we are prepared t o help them in the same
manner as we do the Mussalmans. Our country
cannot progress until we learn to live amicably with
one another. That is possible only when we respect
our mutual rights." Such sentiments were expressed
from time td time by a few, (though very few) re-
sponsible leaders of the Muslim Conference. Not
oIJy this. In March 1933, the Working Committeee
of the Muslim Conference constituted a sub-com-
mittee to find out ways and means of uniting Hindus
and Muslims. This Committee could not function,
but it indicates that the idea of a joint action was
present in certain minds in the Conference.
Secondly, when the Glancy recommendatioss
began to have effect, a large number of Muslims
were appointed to Government posts in all ranks
and grades. Some of the Muslim educated young
men got responsible and decent jobs in the State
services. Some who were already in service were
raised to higher grades out of their turn and over
the heads of their non-Muslim colleagues. Muslim
masses had high hopes in the Muslim employees but
were greatly disappointed. They had been told
throughout by their leaders that the Government
servants ill-treated the people because they were
188 INSIDE KASHMIR
Hindus and the masses were Muslim. So when the
Muslim servants were sufficiently recruited in many
departments, better treatment was expected by
them. This did not happen. O n the other hand
many Muslim officials proved more corrupt and
unscrupulous and less sympathetic. The masses
everywhere complained against them. Imagine
the bewilderment of a Muslim leader when
Muslim peasants in a village demanded the reversion
of a transferred Hindu official in place of a hated
Muslim. And this happened not a t one place and a t
one time, but on several occasions and a t many
places. This state of affairs made honest, thought-
ful and sincere leaders revise their policy and
programme. Some of the prominent ones publicly
condemned the Muslim employees and admitted
that there was no difference between the Hindu
officials and Muslim officials. They belonged to
the same class and were equally selfish.
Differences, however, arose over this point
among the Muslim leaders themselves. Some of
them, who had been fully absorbed by the middle
classes and could not see the histotic role of the
movement, considered the condemnation of the
Muslim officials as unwise and undiplomatic. Others
who wanted to help the masses went forward. They
were determined to expose the Muslim vested
interests as they had exposed the Hindu vested
interests before.
Thirdly, in April 1934 the Kashmir Government
announced the constitution of the Legislative
Assembly which was granted t o the people of
 COMMUNALISM TO NATIONALISM 189
Kashmir. The first Assembl J was held in the autumn
of that year a t Srinagar. The Royal Proclamation
of His Highness which was delivered while in-
augurating the first historic Assembly, raised high
hopes in the people. But soon after it became
evident that the Assembly was powerless. The
Government played one party against the other,
Hindus against the Muslims, nominated members
against the elected members. Even when they
failed in this in some important public matters and
all the heterogenous elements united in demanding
a certain concession, the Government could turn it
down. The vehement protests of the representatives
of the people would come to nothing.
Muslim leaders realised that these partial
reforms could not help the people to come to their
own. W h a t was needed was the establishment of a
system of Government responsible t o the people.
Evidently this could not be possible without the co-
operation of the non-Muslim classes, at any rate,
the progressive sections among them. T o achieve
this end, therefore, they began to direct their
thought and energy.
Moreover, the mass revolt of the Muslims and
the energy and power underlying it had opened the
eyes of the Hindus. From the very beginning of the
movement a few of them had been of opinion
that the Government should treat the Muslims more
humanely and less harshly and that they should be
granted their legitimate rights. But the communal
clashes had befogged the vision of the non-Muslims
as a whole. When, however, the hluslim leadership
190 INSIDE KASHMIR
began to develop the movement on a broader basis in
the beginning of 1934, liberal Hindus were not
wanting t o come forward and express their consent
to join the ranks. In the Legislative Assembly more
often than not many elected non-Muslim members
voted with the Muslim Conference Party when the
national interests were a t stake or something bene-
ficial for the whole of the country was demanded.
As a matter of fact one of the elected Sikh members
of the Legislature. S. Budh Singh. proved more
radical than the Conference Party members where
the interests of the masses were concerned. He put
the party in an embarrassing position when he
resigned over the issue of grazing tax in which the
Government had acted in a perfidious manner.
Almost all the members of the party had t o resign
subsequently to save their face and prove their
bona fides before the masses ! Astonishment de-
scended upon an unexpectant outside world when it
read in the newspapers in autumn 1936 that the
entire block of the elected members with the soli-
tary exception of one Hindu member walked out of
the Kashmir Assembly as a protest against the un-
sympathetic attitude which was persistently main-
tained by the Government towards the public
demands. This step was not taken a t the spur of
the moment but was a deliberate and premeditated
move as these walkouts continued for a number of
days and all these representatives of the public
refused t o take part in the discussions on the next
year's budget when it was introduced in the Assem-
bly by the Finance Member. Commenting on this
 COMMUNALISM TO NATIONALISM 191
the Tribune of Lahore wrote :-
"From the events that have happened in the Aeeembly
during the last few days it is evident that there is a general
awakening in the State and that the people can no longer be
atisfied with the toy legialature, though it may be given the
grand eloquent name of Praje Sabha."
On 8th May, 1936,the Muslim Conference Party
observed a Responsible Government Day throughout.
the length and breadth of the State. An appeal had
been made by the President of the Conference t o
non-Muslims t o participate in the function. This.
did not go in vain. For at many places, notably
Srinagar. Poonch and Jammu, presidents of the public
meetings held in this connection as also the principal
speakers at them were either Hindus or Sikhs.
Such action on the part of the Muslims and
ready response from the side of the progressive
Hindus and Sikhs paved the way for establishment
of a joint party. Simultaneously Muslim leaders
realised that their policy and programme must be in
conformity with that of the Indian Nationalcongress.
and not any communal organisation in British India.
The publication of a correspondence between
Mahatma Gandhi. Pt. Jawahar La1 Nehru and myself
about Kashmir politics on the 19th of August..
1936. confirmed this belief. Nationalist thought was
born.
Certain forces began t o move rapidly in Kashmir
after this. It is not very much known that a few
patriotic persons made an attempt as far back as
1933 to lay the foundation of the Kashmir National
Conference. The first provisional committee was..
192 INSIDE KASHMIR
in fact, formed on August 7, 1933, under the
presidentship of Syed Ahmad Shah Gilani, a
Christian. Its Secretary was Pandit Radhey Nath
Kaul. I was also a member of this body. But the
attempt proved abortive. A party of young men
with considerable influence came into existence in
1936 in the form of Kashmir Youth League which
believed. in the equality of all people in the State
and held that there was no distinction between
young men or young women on the basis of the
religious beliefs they professed. The objects of the
League were (a) to organise young men and young
women for the service of the country, (b) t o fight by
all legitimate means for the realisation of responsible
Government in the State, ( c ) t o work for the
economic, social and cultural uplift of the people. A
Mazdur and Kisan Sabha with the aim of organising
t h e labourers and workers was formed in August
1937 in Srinagar. T h e Congress Committees also
came into existence both in Srinagar and a t Jammu,
O n November 7, 1936, the first Conference of the
Students was held in Kashmir. It held its second
annual session in the autum of 1937 under the
presidentship of Dr. Ashraf, Secretary of the
All-India Congress Committee. These organisations
did not make any headway and could not develop
on a broad basis. But the nationalist thought
received wide publicity and more and more people
came under its sway.
In his address delivered to the sixth annual
session of the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Con-
ference on the 26th of March, 1938, a t Jammu, the
 COMMUNALISM TO NATIONALISM
President said :-
"Like us the large majority of Hindus and Sikhs in the
State have immensely suffered at the hands of irresponeible
Government. They are also steeped in deep ignorance, have to
pay large taxes and are in debt and starving. Establishment of
responsible Government is as much a necessity for them an for
us. Sooner or later these people are bound to join our ranks.
No amount of propaganda can keep them away from.us."
Again :-
"The main problem therefore now before us is to organiee
joint action and a united front against the forces that stand in
our way in the achievement of our goal. This will require
rechristening of our organisation as a non-communal political
body and introducing certain amendments in its constitution
and its rules."
He added :-
"I reiterate today what I have said so often. Firstly we
must end communalism by ceasing t o think in terms of Muslims
and non-Muslims when discussing our . political problems.
Secondly there must be universal suffrage on the basis of joint
electorates. Without these two democracy is lifeless."
Mark an admission :-
"You complain that the Hindus belonging t o the vested
interests are reactionary and stand in the way of our progress.
But have we not had t h e same experience in the case of
capitalist Muslims also? It is significant as well as hopeful
that in spite of many difficulties in their way some non-
Muslims have co-operated with us though their number is very
small. Their sincerity and moral courage make us feel their
strength. We must therefore open our doors t o all such Hindus
and Sikhs who, like ourselves, believe in the freedom of their
country from the shackles of an irresponsible rule."
A resolution was formally moved in this session
of the Muslim Conference proposing a change in the
 INSIDE KASHMIR

name and the constitution of the Conference. Un-

fortunately certain constitutional objections of a
technical nature stood in the' way and the matter had
t o be postponed.
O n the 28th of June, 1938, the Working Com-
mittee of the Muslim Conference met a t Srinagar
and after a heated discussion for about 52 hours
passed the following resolution :-
" Whereas in the opinion of t h e Working Committee t h e
time has now come when all the progressive forces in t h e
country sllould be rallied under one banner t o fight for t h e
achievement .of responsible Government t h e Working Com-
mittee recommends t o t h e General Council t h a t in t h e
forthcoming annual session of the Conference t h e name and
constitution of the organisation be so altered and amended that
all such people who desire t o participate in this political
struggle may easily become members of t h e Conference
irrespective of their caste, creed or religion."

The Government did not look with equanimity on

these happenings. It appears they felt uneasy a t this
new trend of affairs in the politics of the State. As
usual the Muslim Conference Party observed 5th
August, 1938 as Responsible Government Day,
when largely attended public meetings were held all
over the State and a resolution was adopted
" repudiating the existing system of irresponsible
Government and expressing full faith in the
establishment of complete Responsible Government
which alone could cure the ills of the people."
bb
Appeals were made to all patriotic persons to
muster under the banner of freedom and
prepare for the coming struggle for victory
 COMMUNALISM TO NATIONALISM 195
which alone could usher in complete political,
economic and social emancipation." As before
many non-Muslims participated in the observance
of the Day.
During the month of August 1938 there were
many unfortunate incidents which brought the
Government and the leaders into a conflict. Soon
after the Responsible Government Day was observed
on August 5, the Government set into motion its
machinery of repression. Some of the prominent
workers were warned not to carry on their political
activities or deliver speeches in public which were
calcuIated to promote disaffection against the
Government.
By the end of August it became evident thHt
a conflict was inevitable. Neither the leaders of the
Muslim Conference nor the patriotic Hindus who
were prepared to make sacrifices for, the cause of
Responsible Government wanted t o conduct this
fight on communal lines. Everyone was anxious t o
make it a purely political issue. Owing t o the non-
existence of a non-communal organisation, the
leaders had not bargained for a struggle which
came in spite of themselves. But now that it was
almost certain they wanted taacquaint the country
and ahe Government with their intentions and their
minimum demands. A manifesto was therefore
published on the 29th of August under the signatures
of twelve prominent Hindu, Muslim and Sikh
1% INSIDE KASHMIR
leaders of a national bent of mind.*
The signatories to this manifesto declared that
the movement was nation-wide and not confined
t o any particular community or section of the
public and that " all classes of people had begun
participating in it with the fullest consciousness
of the issues it involves. " The ultimate goal of
the movement according to these leaders was to
bring about complete change in the social and
political outlook of the people and to achieve
complete responsible Government under the
aegis of His Highness the Maharaja Bahadur. Im-
mediately the signatories aimed a t securing the
elementary and basic rights of citizenship.
The following observations made in the pream-
ble of the manifesto are worthy of note :-
" Our movement has a gigantic urge behind it. It is the
urge of hunger and starvation which propels it onwards in
even most adverse circumstances.
'' The ever-growing menace of unemployment amongst
our educated young men and also among the illiterate masses
in the country, the incidence of numerous taxes, the burden of
*The names of the signatories are :
1. Sh. Mohammad Abdullah.
2. M. M . Sayeed.
3. G. M. Sadiq.
4. Mian Ahmad Yar.
5. M. A. Beg.
6. Pt. Kashyap Bandhu.
7. Pt. Prem Nath Bazaz.
8. S. Budh Singh.
9. Pt. Jia La1 Kilam,
10. Ghulam Mohammad Bakshi.
11. Pt. Sham La1 Saraf.
12. Dr. Shamboo Nath Peshin.
 COMMUNALISM TO NATIONALISM 197
exhorbitant revenue, t h c appalling waste of human life due to
went of adequate modern medical assistance, the misemble
plight of uncared for thousands of labourers outside t h e State
boundaries, and, in face of all this, the patronage t h a t is being
extended in the shape of subsidies and other amenities t o out-
olide capitalists, as also t t ~ ctop-heavy administration t h a t daily
becomes heavier,-point to only one direction t h a t tile present
conditions can never be better as long as a change is not made
in the basic principles underlying t h e present system of Gov-
ernment.
" Our cause is both righteous, reasonable and just. We
want to be the makers of our own destinies and we want t o
shape t h e ends of things according to our choice."
These patriotic and nationalistic sentiments
from those who had taken a full share in communal
struggles for more than half a dozen years are
significant. They show the remarkable change that
had taken place in the minds of the people of Kash-
mir, at any rate, a good many of them. The
struggle that followed was unique and unparalleled in
the political history of Kashmir. Hindus fought
side by side with the Muslims. It was a politi-
cal campaign in the right sense of the term. There
was no religious basis or compromise or pact about
it. The Kashmir Mobement had come out of the
mud of communalism and was shining in all its brilli-
ance on the high pedestal of nationalism.
We need not go into the details of this
fight. The Government was fully prepared to
meet the situation with its humane ordinance
19-L and other laws, such as the Seditious
Meetings Act of 1914. The policy of severest
repression was inaugurated. Hundreds of satyagrahis
were arrested. Although among those who were put
198 INSIDE KASHMIR
behind the prison bars were such respected people
as municipal commissioners, lawyers, journalists,
doctors, leading business men and college students,
yet the Government called them goondas in their
press communiques.
Having arrested the foremost leaders, the Govern-
ment found that the movement had spread to other
parts of the valley. They extended their Ordinance
law and by ruthless repression in the shape of
heavy fines and long terms of imprisonment, which
followed summary trials, brought the situation
*
b
under control."
 CHAPTER VIII
The Problem of State Services
W e have noticed that in the recent politics of
the State by far the most important problem has
been the distribution of Government services among
different communities living in the country. This is
the result of the uneven development of these
communities. But it must be recognised that the
policy of the Government in this respect was,
before 1932, anything but impartial and just.
Obviously the problem of the State services
does not affect the masses. Even an equitable
distribution of these services, if that were made by
the Government, would not help the people to
better their economic condition. Muslim leaders
always demanded a share in the services in the
name of their community. But it was found that
when a sufficient number of Muslims was recruited,
the Muslim masses did not suffer less, but in
some cases even more terribly at the hands of Muslim
officials than they had done before at the hands
of non-Muslims. What the masses really need is
200 INSIDE KASHMIR
that society be reconstructed on such principles
that they too are treated as human beings and
allowed to live like them. They want some fair
solution of their economic problems. Whether
their co-religionists get a fair share in Government
services or not does not concern them. It is only
the middle and the upper classes among the Muslims
who put their own demands in the mouth of the
masses and tell the world that these are the
demands of the community. A t any rate, that is
what happened in Kashmir.
There are two kinds of Government services.
First. recruitment in the Army and second,
employment in the Civil Departments of the State.
The people of Kashmir are debarred from entering
the Army. They are considered a non-martial race,
unfit to serve in the State forces. The descendants
of the great conquerer, Lalitaditya, unworthy to be
of any i s e in the Army! This is neither the time
nor the place to discuss the subject at length
except as it touches the problem of employment in
Government services. It is true that during the
Pathan rule the martial spirit of the Kashmiris
received a vital blow and thenceforward slowly
deadened, but the honour of emasculating them, de-
claring them unfit, and closing the doors of the Army
on them was left to the Dogra Rajputs. Never before
in the history of Kashmir was such a course
adopted by an alien ruler during the period of his
domination. This the Dogras seem to have learnt
from the British Army Policy in India. Whatever
the present Government may say, the fact cannot
 T H E PROBLEM OF STATE SERVICES 201
be denied that this attitude is born of utter distrust
of the people of Kashmir, which the Dogra rulers
have entertained. They are constantly afraid of the
superiority of the Kashmiris.
Kashmiris have quite naturally and rightly
resented this treatment. Representations were
repeatedly made to the Government to remove this.
ban, but t o no purpose. The Glancy Commission
admitted that claims had been received from almost
every community about representation in the
military services, but they considered the disturbed.
conditions then present a difficulty in the way of a
change in the class composition of the State forces.
They were of opinion that the question should
be carefully examined as soon as circumstancesl
permit. It need hardly be said that the question was
never reopened although normal times have returned,
long since. It does not suit the politics of the
Dogras and they do not like that their brethren of
the Kashmir Province should get a chance to enter-
what is now a close preserve for them. It must be
remembered in this connection that the annual
expenditure on the Army as estimated for the year
1997-98 is Rs. 62,25.000.
With the whole army open t o them and a
preferential treatment in the higher civil posts, i t i s
not surprising that the educated Dogras of Jammu.
in general and the Rajputs in particular do not feel
any pangs of unemployment. As a matter of fact
the value of a Rajput graduate is ten times more
than that of a Kashmiri Pandit. No complaint of
unemployment among the educated Dogras was
expressed before any of the three official Commis-
sions which were appointed by the Government to
investigate the causes of the political and communal
disturbances in the State. I n fact, such a problem
does not exist for them.
Thus, so far as the army is concerned. Let us
now see the condition of the Civil Departments.
During the reign of Maharaja Partap Singh the
civil administration was reorganised and most of
she departments were established on modern lines.
This necessitated the importation of educated and
trained officials from outside to man the offices and
boss the departments. Within a few years* time a
large number of Punjabis occupied almost all high
positions in the Civil Departments. They in turn
brought with them large numbers of less educated
relations, friends and acquaintances and appointed
them on higher jobs of clerks in all the offices of the
State. Thus the indigenous pzople were gradually
pushed out and the whole administration was
dominated by outsiders. The brunt had t o be
mainly borne by the people of Kashmir. Their
plight was really pitiable. They had been debarred
from military services and were ousted from the
civil administration. T h e Muslims did not realise
this situation for two reasons. Educationally they
were very backward. They also knew that i t was
a non-Muslim Government and they could expect
little justice from it. But the case was different with
the Kashmiri Pandits. They had been conspicuous
i n the civil administration from times immemorial.
A s clerks they had outshone all others. Even the
 THE PROBLEM OF STATE SERVICES 203
Mughal and the Pathan rulers had to acknowledge
their superiority in keeping accounts. Kashmiri
Pandits were neither illiterate nor could they be
considered political pariahs in a Hindu Raj. There-
fore they bitterly resented this new order of things
and kept on voicing their grievances.
W e have already mentioned a letter of the
Government of India which was sent to the Kashmir
Administration in 1889 instructing them that in the
matter of State services the mulkies should be given
preference over outsiders. This command of the
Imperial Government would have helped the
Kashmiri Pandits. But the circular did not prove of
much value as it was not easy t o turn out the
outsiders once they had occupied the positions of
vantage in all offices and departments of the
Kashmir Government.
Facilities for receiving higher education were
provided to the people of Kashmir in the first
decade of the present century. Kashmiri Pandits
were the first to take advantage of these facilities.
It did not take them many years to get themselves
fully qualified for higher posts in the offices and
several other departments of the State. But the
jobs were already occupied. A ceaseless fight
ensued. It was a struggle conducted by the
educated Hindu young men of Kashmir against the
outsiders who had usurped the civil administration
of the State during the days when people of
Kashmir were backward in education. The struggle
began in about 1910 A.D. It took the form of a
deep-seated hatred against the Punjabis. It ended
204 INSIDE KASHMIR
in 1927 A.D. only when a law defining the term
at
State subject" was passed, t o the entire satisfac-
tion of the people living in the country.
The Muslims did not, however, remain
unconcerned and totaIly unaffected all this whiIe.
If the great majority among them did not take
kindly t o modern education, a small fraction of them
belonging t o the richer, upper and middle classes
were educated by the end of the second decade.
They were not treated well. As we saw, Mr. Sharp's
recommendations were deliberately and mischievous-
ly shelved by the Punjabi Hindu officials t o deprive
the Muslims from advancing in the sphere of
education. When in spite of this dreadful opposi-
tion some of them had equipped themselves with
the necessary qualifications, they were positively
discouraged. W e have discussed the reasons in the
earlier part of this book which contributed to make
the Kashmir movement communal in outlook.
This attitude of the Hindu officials was certainly
one of the main factors.
For the first time, in the Indian struggle for
Independence, masses took a prominent part in the
non-co-operation movement of 1922. Although the
States' people did not take any part in this campaign.
it did not leave the Kashmir Muslims unaffected.
They saw what numbers could achieve. Times had
changed. The religion of the ruler alone could not
be a deciding factor in the politics of a country.
The will of the subject race was making its influence
increasingly felt. So thought the Muslims. With
them the question of getting an adequate share in
 THE PROBLEM OF STATE SERVICES 205
the Government services is not merely a question
of more jobs for their young men. It is no doubt
true that with the individual entrants into service
it is only a matter of their employment on suitable
posts. But to the community at large it is the
problem of a voice in the Civil Administration.
" Mohmmedans have a legitimate grievance and
they allege that the Hindus have a preponderating
voice in the Government of the State, " observed
the Dalal Committee, and Mr. Wakefield admitted
before the Committee that " there was always this
difficulty in dealing with Mohammedan agitation,
that there was a substantial substratum of truth in
this campaign regarding insufficiency of appoint-
ments in the State service."
On account of their most inadequate representa-
tion in Government departments Muslims had to
suffer in various ways. In the Education Depart-
ment the Muslims felt that the Hindu teachers and
officials would not take as much interest in the
spread of education among them as was necessary.
In the Medical Department Muslim patients did not
receive as much care as the Hindus. In the offices
and courts Muslim clients were shabbily treated
while the cases of Hindus were expeditiously decid-
ed. This happened almost everywhere even before
1920. When, however, the canker of communalism
made its way into Indian politics, these distinctions
became marked. The change prompted the Muslims
to express the grievance more vociferously than
before. In 1924 they became almost impatient with
the Kashmir Government a n d , as we have seen, some
206 INSIDE KASHMIR

of the leading Muslims approached His Excellency

Lord Reading the Viceroy of India when he was on
a visit t o Kashmir.
But there was a difficulty. In order that the
Muslims might be adequately represented in Govern-
ment Service a sufficient number of educated young
men must be forthcoming ; but then there was a great
paucity of educated Muslims. Whenever, therefore.
a voice was raised on behalf of the Muslims, the
usual reply given was that they were not fully
qualified to be in charge of responsible posts. In a
speech which he delivered in S. P. College hall in the
summer of 1923, while presiding over a Prize
Distribution function, His Highness Maharaja Partap
Singh said that it was not possible for him to
appoint illiterate Muslims to higher posts in the
administration. The grievance became more acute
when Mohammedans found that they had no ability
t o satisfy their natural desire for a voice in the
Government of the State.
The conditions were changing rapidly. By the
end of the twenties many Muslims had qualified
themselves not only in the local institutions but
outside the State in British Indian Universities.
They demanded their share in the administration.
But the Hindus who were in full occupation of
all departments of the State manoeuvred to keep
them a t arm's length. Their class consciousness
forbade Hindus from easily allowing Muslims to
have their legitimate share in these services. It was
a power in their hands; they wanted to transfer it t o
their next generation, t o their sons, to their kith and
 THE PROBLEM OF STATE SERVICES 237'
kin. W h o were the Muslims to demand i t ? Nowhere
in this world has power been given up easily and
without a struggle by any class. The Hindus
were no exception to this rule. They wanted t o
retain their power as long as they could. Strangely
enough, even Kashmiri Pandits who had quite
recently faced the outsiders and got the definition of
"State Subject" passed to open the door of the
higher services for themselves were also a party to
making the Muslims remain where they were. Now
they were more vociferous than the rest of the
Hindus in giving reasons why the Muslims could not
get the share they demanded. " Hindu officials
deliberately discouraged the employment of Muslims
and endeavoured to keep them in ignorance of any
vacancies that would occur in the Government
Departments, so that these vacancies could be
surreptitiously filled by jobbery and nepotism," com-.
plained the Muslims before the Glancy Commission.
One of the reasons advanced by the Hindus.
against the Muslims was that they did not stand the
tests. The Hindus took the advantage of education
earlier and are therefore highly educated. They
insist on appointments being given according to
merit, meaning thereby that out of the applicants
only that candidate who possesses the highest quali-
fications should be appointed t o a job, irrespective
of the fact whether or not such qualifications
are absolutely necessary for the discharge of
the duties of the post. They know that if this
rule is strictly adhered to, not many posts will go to
the Muslims. In certain cases, they will not get a
single job in many departments. According to t h e
 INSIDE KASHMIR

Hindus all appointments in public services should be

made independent of communal considerations.
This appears t o be sound advice and based on
principles of nationalism. But it was solely prompted
by the worst type of communalism. The Hindu
Government of Kashmir followed it almost till 1931.
It was therefore not surprising that when merit alone
was the criterion, out of 12 foreign scholarships
for higher studies only one could be given to
a Muslim in 1929 by the Committee presided
over by Sir Albion Banerji. Mr. Wakefield who
had once the temerity of inviting applications from
Muslims alone for a number of posts in Srinagar
Municipality, had to face a terrible cpposition from
the Hindu public. so much so that he was obliged to
withdraw the orders under commands of His
Highness !
Besides, it has been satisfactorily proved that in
certain departments of the State unqualified non-
Muslims had been taken in employment by the
Hindu officials while Muslims of equal, if not of
higher merit, were available.
The policy of appointing only the hereditary
State subjects did not help the Muslims. It was
beneficial t o Hindus alone. As soon as a vacancy
occurred, State Hindus claimed it and got it on the
basis of superior merit. For Muslims, therefore, no
alternative was left but t o demand a share on a
strictly communal basis. There were two shades of
opinion in this respect. The moderates asked for a
fair share which was undefined and vague. They
would not demand any alteration in the definition of
 THE PROBLEM OF STATE SERVICES 209
the " State Subject" as they were sagacious enough
to see that sooner or later this was bound to help
them also. But the extremists wanted that they
should get their share in public services in propor-
tion t o their population. They knew that even if
the Government was prepared to consider their
demand, there were not many educated young men
among them t o fill these jobs. So they also
demanded that the orders relating to the recruitment
of the " State Subjects" should be abrogated in
their case and Muslims imported from outside to fill
the quota.
This claim of the extremists was illogical and
entirely unfounded. In the opinion of the Srinagar
Riot Enquiry Committee there was no substance in
this claim and even Maulvi Abdullah, a leading
light of the ~ u s l i m sin 1931, admitted its unten-
ability. As has rightly been pointed out by the
bb
Cornmittre, an overwhelmingly large proportion
of the 'Mohammedan population is supported by
agriculture and those are not men who would
educate their children to seek services in Govern-
ment employment. A comparison should really be
made between the proportional population of the
two communities engaged in service, literary
profession, industries and commerce, who alone
have the inclination and ability to educate their
sons .........Counting of heads cannot therefore be a
proper method of approach in arriving a t a settlement
of a proportion of Mohammedan employment in
State Service, which would be aimed a t by the
Government."
210 INSIDE KASHMIR

One of the reasons why this extremist view-

point came into existence was the most selfish
attitude of the Hindus in this behalf. I t would be
wrong t o absolve them of their share of responsi-
bility in the matter. Had they relaxed their attitude
a bit and voluntarily agreed to allow a portion of
the public services to Muslims a t the very outset,
perhaps the history of Kashmir would have been
something entirely different from what it actually
has been. The more the Hindus insisted on merit and
merit alone remaining the criterion of a candidate's
fitness for being taken in pubIic service, the more
did the adherents of the Muslim camp turn to the
extremist side, so that at last, on the eve of the 1931
disturbances, an overwhelming majority of the
Muslims had veered to this viewpoint.
The Srinagar Riot Enquiry Committee realised
this fact, and while making their recommendations
for the procuration of communal peace, they said
6&
that in their opinion definite instructions may
be issued to the Civil Service Recruiting Board to
aim a t employment of a particular specified propor-
tion of Mohammedan State subjects of whatever
class, so far as they were available." In order to
make this recommendation effective, the Corn-
&&
missioners definitely opined that if in a particular
office the number of Mohammedan employees is
small and the post is such as could be satisfactorily
filled by a person who has passed the Matriculation
examination, a Mohammedan with that qualification
should be preferred even where a Hindu graduate
offered himself for the post."
 THE PROBLEM OF STATE SERVICES 211
Ordinarily these recommendations should have
satisfied the Muslims and gladdened their heart.
It was a success of their viewpoint and a recognition
of the righteousness of their claim. But they had
boycotted the Commission and committed them-
selves publicly t o have nothing t o do with their
recommendations. They, therefore, repudiated i t
and actually went to the length of burning a copy
on a funeral pyre in Jammu. Of course t h e Hindus
too condemned it for having recommended that t h e
criterion of merit should be ignored in favour of
Muslim recruitment in the public services of the
State.
The matter was finally dealt with and decided
by the Grievances Enquiry Commission popularly
known as the Glancy Commission. T h e Muslims
were fully represented on this Commission. T h e
Commission took a statesmanlike view of all the
grievances of the Muslims and comprehensively
discussed them in their report. Chapter IV of the
report has been solely devoted t o the subject of
66
Employment in State Services." At the very
LL
outset the Commissioners admit that there is no
denying the fact that in the matter of State employ-
ment Muslims who form the great majority of the
population are inadequately represented. T h e same
applies t o certain minor communities."
After weighing the arguments advanced from
both sides, the Commissioners came t o the conclusion
that i t was necessary that, a t any rate for some time
t o come, minimum qualifications for employment in
State Service should be fixed and they should not
212 INSIDE KASHMIR
be pitched unnecessarily high. It was not suggested
that "there should be different standards for
different communities." Such an arrangement, in
the opinion of the Commission, " could only result
in retarding the development of the community
which had the misfortune t o be so favoured." But
the Commissioners frankly admitted that "merit and
competition alone could not be the criterion."
Here is what they say :
"In course of time pure competition may come to regulate
all appointments. But in the present state of affaire the
standard should not be more exacting than efficiency demands ;
and those who possess qualifications in excess of that standard
should not be held to deserve appointment as a matter of
right."
T h e object of the proposals made by the Glancy
Commission was t o afford t o every community a fair
chance of rzpresentation. Regarding the Muslim
claim that because their ratio in the matter of
population is 78 per cent they should be given
a corresponding reservation in the Government
appointments, the Commissioners almost reite-
rated what the Srinagar Riot Enquiry Committee
had observed : " It must be remembered that a
vast number of Muslims find their hereditary
occupation in agriculture and it is reasonable to
suppose that the great majority of agriculturists will
~ o n t i n u et o prefer that occupation t o any other."
T h e Commissioners added : " While no community
should be allowed t o acquire a stranglehold on State
employment, it must be recognised t h a t a t present
certain communities are far in zdvance of others in
the matter of education."
 THE PROBLEM OF STATE SERVICES 213
The recommendations of the Glancy Commission
were well received by the Muslims who were amply
satisfied with them and expressed this satisfaction
in hundreds of meetings all over the country.
But the Hindus were sorely disappointed, partly
because the educated classes among them saw that
they could no more get a large share in the services
as they used to get because of their higher merit, but
mainly owing to the fact that the Muslim majority
had after all asserted itself even under Hindu rule.
Immediately o n the publication of the Glancy
Report, Kashmiri Pandits started an agitation
unknown in the annals of the community. They
repudiated the recommendations, disowned Pandit
Prem Nath Bazaz, the member who sat with the
Commission on their behalf, and declared that they
would not rest till the recommendations were
modified. A satyagraha was started in Srinagar.
Young boys of tender age went to Government
offices shouting slogans. More than a hundred
volunteers were arrested. But the agitation ended
after a few days' demonstrations, when all the
persons imprisoned were released on giving an
undertaking that they would not resort to unconsti-
tutional methods to get their grievance redressed.
The Government also gave them an assurance that
the grievances and the difficulties of the community
would be favourably considered.
The Glancy proposals have been carried out into
effect during the last nine years. The recommenda-
tions contained in the report are advisedly and
rightly vague, and so apt t o be interpreted by short-
214 INSIDE KASHMIR
sighted, dishonest and communal-minded officials of
the Government in a way suitable to their purpose.
It must, however, be frankly recognised that
educated Muslims have, on the whole and in spite of
some Hindu officials who were communal-minded,
immensely benefited by these recommendations.
If anything, some of the best qualified, efficient and
senior Hindu employees have suffered. For such
sufferers there will be the deepest sympathy of every
impartial man. But in the broader interests of the
country and the future of the State this was bound
t o be. Politicians and statesmen who have the
responsibility of s t a r i n g the state barge through
turbulent waters in a stormy weather, have a t times
reluctantly t o agree t o methods they do not like.
" T h a t we should forget all communal differences
and should take into public services only people
who are the best from the point of view of merit, is
certainly a better principle ; but I am afraid that we
cannot attain this ideal until we reach a stage when
all the communities in the State will look upon each
other as brethren ; when one community will not
think that its cause is jeopardised by a member of
another community holding a particular office.
T h a t being so, Government have t o take up only
what you might consider as a n attitude of prosaic
statesmanship, and I am afraid that from that
standpoint we can neither accept t h e population
ideal nor the pure merit ideal," said the Prime
Minister of Kashmir, Dewan Bahadur (now Sir)
N. Gopalaswami Ayyengar, in the State Assembly
bb
on April 10, 1938. Considerations of practical.
 THE PROBLEM OF STATE SERVICES 215
though prosaic. statesmanship require that we
should take note of the feelings of different com-
munities concerned and try so to order our policy
in regard to recruitment to the various services as to
satisfy the legitimate aspirations of the different
communities. I agree that what Government are
doing now is not wholly perfect or ideal and that it
is a compromise which I think no responsible person
can overlook and e h i c h is necessary for instilling
into the minds of the different communities a feeling
of contentment: and after all the Government are
looking after the equitable representation of all
communities." The Prime Minister added : " It is
unfortunate from an ideal point of view that people
should try to insist on getting members of their own
particular community on particular jobs. There is
absolutely no justification for this demand. People,
however, do have the notion that if they have a
certain post filled by a member of their own
community, their interests will be better safeguarded.
S o long as we are divided into communities. looking
suspiciously on each other, and the Government has
to be responsible for making these appointments, we
shall do so after taking iqto consideration all these
relevant factors. W e shall continue our present
policy whatever criticisms are levelled against it."
Undoubtedly this is the sanest course to be
followed, and every right-thinking patriot should
support the policy of the present Government laid
down by the Prime Minister in this behalf. But the
extremist Muslims continue to fret and fume. They
feel that as many Muslims are not taken into
216 INSIDE KASHMIR
Government services a s they had expected. An
increasingly large number of young men belonging
t o the community are coming out every year from
the high schools and the colieges. T h e days have
long passed when there was a paucity of educated
Muslinls in the country. Nor has, in spite of the
best efforts of the Government. the proportion of
Hindus employed in the State suddenly and strikingly
gone very much down. T h e Muslims are impatient
and sometimes make astounding proposals that in
certain departments the recruitment of non-Muslim
communities should be stopped, or non-Muslim
employees above a certain age should be prematurely
retired. They forget that, as was observed by the
Glancy Commission, " it is obviously impossible to
revolutionise the State machinery all a t once."
T h e problem of adequate representation in
Government services is still a live problem. It is
being vastly discussed on the public platform, in the
press and inside the legislature. At times appoint-
ment of an individual on a certain post raises such
a heated controversy that the entire atmosphere of
the country is vitiated. Whole pages of the
newspapers are devoted t o these topics. Entire
political organisations are commandeered t o play the
game. T h e Muslim Conference, the then biggzst
political party of the State, devoted the major por-
tion of its existence in challenging the Government
rightly t o interpret and promptly t o carry out the
recommendations of the Glancy Commission in
this particular behalf.
Kashmir politics a t present is solely the concern
 THE PROBLEM OF STATE SERVICES 217'
of the educated middle classes. They are vocal ;,
they are vociferous. It suits them t o demand their
own rights and express their own grievances in the
name of the masses. T h e masses never joined t h e
Kashmir movement except for a brief period in 1931
when they were hypnotised by religious slogans
and sentiments, and when they had great hopes that
something might be done t o ameliorate their
distressing economic lot. Realising by experience
that the middle and upper classes were selfish, they
abandoned them long ago. The fight for loaves a n d
fishes of office is, therefore, entirely conducted by
the educated middle classes. T h e Hindus have a
large share in public services, and the Muslims want
t o obtain their legitimate part of it-that is the
present political movement of Kashmir. T h e country.
as a whole and the masses especially have nothing.
to do with it.
But from this i t must not be inferred, as the,
communal Hindu politicians and the publicists would:
make us believe, that this struggle is not a part of
that big revolutionary fight which sooner or later
the mass of people living in this country are bound
t o start without consideration of caste or creedd
against the extant social and political order. the^
problem of employment in State services will conti-
nue t o attract attention so long as all communities.
are not adequately represented in them, but it will
wane in importance with the passage of time ; and as
soon as the middle classes of the Muslims obtain
their due share, a great hurdle in the path of the
freedom movement will have been removed.
.218 INSIDE KASHMIR

Hindu-Muslim unity will then become a practical

possibility and the stage will be fully set for great
democratic changes in the counitry. There are
some shrewd observers, however, who with great
far-sightedness, force and sincerity say that once
the communal advantages are entrenched in the
State Service, it is difficult t o dislodge the upper
and the middle classes either from the positions they
have gained or from the vicious mentality they have
formed. Perhaps they are right. But it must be
observed that the unity that will come after the
Muslim middle classes have obtained their due
share of services will not be the unity of pacts
between communities or the chosen representatives
from their middle classks. It will be a unity
brought about by the force of fundamental social and
economic facts, in spite of the middle classes who,
their representation secured, can no longer set up
misleading slogans of " non-Muslim stranglehold on
Government Services." It is from this point of view
t h a t the present uneven development of different
communities and under-representation of some of
them in public services are great stumbling blocks in
the way of our progress. Obviously, the Hindus
can play an important role in setting matters in
order if they are patriotic and generous enough t o
.do so. But, believe i t or not, some of them claiming
t o spread nationalistic ideas in the country d o so t o
shelve the recommendatio~~s of the Glancy Corn-
mission about employment in the State Services !
 CHAPTER IX

Kashmir Today
What is the condition of the people of Kashmir
to-day ? A volume by itself can be written on this
subject, and it is rather difficult task to compress the
whole information about it in a single chapter like
this. The constitutional advance that the people
have been granted and the freedom in expressing
their opinion either in the press or on the platform,
as also the civil liberty that they are allowed, I shall
discuss separately in two chapters below. In this
chapter I propose to mention the more important
facts and figures to convey an idea of the prevailing
conditions in the State.
The total population of Kashmir State according
to the census of 1931 is 36,46,243.* This may be
divided according to religions as follows :-
Muslims =28,17,636, Hindus = 7,36,222, Sikhs =
50,662, Buddhists = 38,724, Christians = 2,263, Jains =
597, others= 139.
'According t o the census of 1941, the total population is
40,21,658. Details of this census are not available at the time of
writing this book.
220 INSIDE KASHMIR

The population of Jammu Province is 17,88,441.

(Mohammedans = 10,91,021, Hindus = 6,68,138, Sikhs
= 29,282), that of the Kashmir Province 15.69,218
(Hindus = 69,296, Mohammedans= 14,78,287, Sikhs =
21,190) and that of the Frontier Illaqas 2,88,584
(Hindus = 1,680, Mohammedans = 2,48,328, Buddhists
= 38,212) .'
According to the latest official figures the reve-
nue of the State is Rs. 2,77,18,000. The following
are the principal heads from which it is derived :-
1. Land Revenue ... Rs. 64,32,000
2. Customs ... Rs. 62,26,000
3. Forests ... Rs. 60,07,000
4. Excise ... Rs. 3,32,000
5. Grazing Fees . . . Rs. 5,49,008
6. Stamps . . Rs. 6,53,000
7. Income Tax ... Rs. 2,88,000
8. Property in British India . .. Rs. 98,000
9. Interest .. . Rs. 3,44,000
10. Administration of Justice ... Rs. 1,83,000
11. Jails ... Rs. 61,000
12. Police . . . Rs. 37,000
13. Minor Departments ... Rs. 78;000
14. Education ... Rs. 72,000
15. Medical .. . Rs. 5,000
16. Industrial Administration ... Rs. 37,000
17. Agriculture, Horticulture,
Veterinary, Panchayat and
Rural Uplift ... Rs. 67,000
18. Roads and Buildings ... Rs. 13,64,000
19. Sericulture ... Rs. 23,50,000
20. Electrical Department . .. Rs. 5,33,000
*I have n o t given the population of those followig other
religions being insignificant.
 KASHMIR TO-DAY 221
21. Telegrams and Telephones Rs. 1.02.000
22. Irrigation ... Rs. 5,73,000
23. Railways ... Rs. 75,000
24. Army ... Rs. 1.25.000
25. Stationery and Printing ... Rs. 1,45,000
26. Miscellaneous ... Rs. 1,99,000
27. Industrial Schemes ... Rs. 8,20,000
I t will be seen that items 1.2, 4,5,6,7,10,11,12,14,
15,17,18and 22 are recovered directly as taxes, rents,
revenue, fees and fines from the people; while on
close examination of details, a small portion of other
items also consists of taxes collected from them in
one shape or another. I t will also be seen that
barring income tax (item 7) which falls on people
who have larger incomes, the revenue mainly comes
from the poorer classes. There would be nothing
objectionable in this if this amount or the main part
of it were spent on the betterment of those from
whom i t is realised. But the tale of expenditure is
a very disappointing one.
The first charge on these revenues is the expen-
diture on the Army. Ordinarily it is about
Rs. 50,00,000 but owing to the present European W a r
it has gone up to Rs. 62,23,000. One of the Prime
Ministers of a European country once seriously pro-
posed, while submitting his budget to the Parliament
a couple of years back, that the Government need
not keep any defence forces as they had not suffi-
cient funds t o run the armament race, and that it
was impossible to keep pace with advanced neigh-
bours in this direction. T o keep an insufficient
army meant nothing and was absurd in the modern
222 INSIDE KASHMIH
international conditions. This country, it may be
mentioned, was spending crores of rupees annually
on its armaments and the army. The wise Prime
Minister suggested that this amount might be spent
on industrialisation and other nation-building works
that would materially benefit the people. But
Kashmir must have its army. Perhaps the authori-
ties are helpless as British Imperialism would not
allow the State t o remain without its defence force.
But the Dogras also have to maintain their imperial-
ism. They have t o keep non-Dogras under subju-
gation. They do not trust them and must keep
them down with the threat of an army. The main-
tenance of the army also guarantees lucrative posts
and a vast field for the Dogra young men in general
and the fortunate Rajputs in particular. The
Kashmiri who pays his part of the expenditure is
banned; he cannot enter the military and share
these spoils.
Next in importance to the Defence Budget is
the privy purse and the expenditure on the Depart-
ments maintained for His Highness. It is rather
difficult to estimate the actual amount spent out of the
revenue in this behalf; as it is a reserved subject
and cannot be discussed on the floor of the Assembly.
No details are given about a major part of it in the
budget and some of the items that are actually spent
for His Highness and the ruling family are so mixed
up with other items that it is not possible to find out
the exact figures. His Highness can, for instance,
import goods into the State territories without pay-
ing any customs duty on the same. A t the time of
 KASHMIR TO-DAY 223
importation the duty is charged and included as
revenue but is refunded subsequently. I n t h e Budget
this amount is shown as Rs. 3,10,000 for 1996-97 and
Rs. 1,50,000 for 1997-98. But this includes other,.
though minor, refunds as well. Similarly some other
items of doubtful nature have t o be left out.
Recently the civil list of the Maharaja has been
fixed and brought down t o " reasonable " propor-
tions. H e now gets only 5 per cent of the revenue.
The Administration Report of the Government says,
" His Highness' Civil List has always been separate
from the Civil Budget of the Government, and in
the current year's Budget the Civil List is calculat-
ed a t 5 per cent of the revenue, net figures only being
taken for Commercial Departments." I t comes t o
Rs. 13,50,000.
As I said above, Maharaja Hari Singh is the son
of Raja Amar Singh, brother of the late Maharaja
Partap Singh. Raja Amar Singh had been granted
a considerable part of the State territories as his
jagirs, the revenue of which, according t o the back-
ward political conditions then present, was consider-
ed by him as his private income. W h e n the present
His Highness ascended the gaddi he continued to
enjoy the income of these jagirs which amounted t o
several lakhs. It appeared objectionable t o the
British Government after some time that a Ruler of
a State should keep a part of his dominions as his
private jagirs. They advised him t o amalgamate the
jagirs with the State. This His Highness was pleased
t o do after he was allowed t o get adequate compen-
sation. It will be seen that these jagirs were not
224 INSIDE KASHMIR

held by Raja Amar Singh by any treaty, sanad or

.patta from the British Government or any other
Government which existed before 1846. They were
created and granted by the Dogra Government.
Now His Highness receives only Rs. 8,50,000 annually
as compensation for the jagirs in addition to the
5%of the revenue just mentioned.
There are various members of the ruling family
such as the Dowager Maharanis, Maharani and the
Heir-apparent. The allowances granted to them
annually aggregate Rs. 4,38,000.
And lastly, the amount spent on the State
Departments which exist for His Highness and the
Ruling Family : ordinarily it is about Rs. 13,00,000
but the Maharaja may under special circum-
stances and if he so desire, spend any amount. The
Finance Minister is then informed and he must
arrange the funds. These Departments are called
Military Secretary's Departments and their detailed
Budget Estimates are printed though not supplied to
.the Assembly, for whom it is a reserved subject. It
would be interesting to discuss these details, but I
.am afraid it will occupy unwarranted space. The
total amount that His Highness and his family
appropriate out of the revenues of the State is thus
about Rs. 41,00,000, which is roughly speaking
16 per cent of the total income. It is significant
t o compare the figures of the present Civil List with
those that obtained at the time of the late Maharaja's
death. W e know that Maharaja Partap Singh was
drawing Rs. 30.000 per month in the beginning of
his reign when the Government of India objected to
 KASHMIR TODAY 225

his " squandering wealth on personal expense."

During the whole course of his life he never appro-
priated for himself more than Rs. 1.00.000per month.
The total amount fixed as privy purse was about
18 lakhs. In fairness let me put down that a t the
time of his death the revenue of the State was only
Rs. 2,17,50,000. It must, however, be noted that the
major portion of the privy purse of Maharaja
Partap Singh used t o be spent in the State, while the
same is not true of the fabulous amount of
Rs. 41,00,000 now reserved as Civil List. One may
admire His Highness for having curtailed his expen-
diture recently, but one would yet like to know
what good parents spent such huge portions of the
family income on themselves, while the children
move about famished and naked? I leave i t now t o
the reader t o form his own opinion about the state-
ment that His Highness is drawing only 5 per cent
of Revenue made in the Administration Report of
the Kashmir Government.
Next in importance comes the expenditure on
the Administration of the Government. A very
large amount which has been differently calculated
by different authorities is spent on it. Some have
even gone to the extent of asserting that more than
a crore of rupees is spent annually on the adminis-
tration of the different departments of the State.
This opinion may be an extreme one, but it is un-
deniable that top-heaviness has become an incurable
disease of the Kashmir Administration. Time and
again political parties, both moderate and extremist,
have complained of this, but to no purpose. The
 226 INSIDE KASHMIR
disease has become only more deep-rooted with the
passage of time. Salaries, especially of the higher
gfficials, have always shown a tendency towards
rise, and new posts are being created every now and
then by the officials of the State t o provide for their
favoured ones. If figures of the present-day ex-
penditure are compared with those of twenty years
ago, the difference is remarkable.
The Prime Minister of Kashmir gets Rs. 4,0001-
per month; the other four Ministers receive
Rs. 2,500/- per month each. Many Heads of Depart-
ments get Rs. 1,5001- per month each and the Pro-
vincial Heads Rs. 1,000,'- per month each. There is
a battalion of Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries and
Assistant Secretaries t o the Government whose pays
range from Rs. 2001- to Rs. 6001- per month each.
They are under a Chief Secretary who gets Rs. 1,5001-
per month. Officers have got Assistants and Per-
sonal Assistants, and in all fairness the pay of an
official should be counted as not only what he gets ;
but there should be added t o it what his Personal
Assistant gets. In this way a large amount of money,
far more than a poor country like Kashmir can afford
t o pay on its administration, is spent on these fat-
salaried officers. All the Ministers with the excep-
tion of one are non-State subjects. So are most of
the Heads of Departments. The Directors of Medical
Services, Education, Industries ; the Chief Conserva-
tor of Forests ; the Inspectors-General of Police and
Customs ; the Chief Engineers of Public Works and
Electrical Depart men ts; and the Account an +General,
none of whom gets less than Rs. 1,500/-per month,
 KASHMIR TODAY 227
are non-state Subjects. Not that qualified sons of
the soil are not available ; but these are prize posts
and are in the gift of the Head of the Government.
In order that the reader may be able to form a
correct opinion about these salaries, I would draw
his attention t o the following* :
" Hitler takes n o salary from the State : rather
he donates it to a fund which supports workmen who
have suffered from labour accidents.
" Mussolini's official salary is 8,000 lire per
month (about £135)."
" Mr. de Valera reduced his salary from E2,500
to £1.500 a year on taking office. He has no private
means ; no expensive hobbies."
" Stalin's salary is about 1,000 roubles per month,
the equivalent of which in Russia in 1939 was
about £401-. He is completely uninterested in
money."
There is no country in Europe which is so small
in size and population and so undeveloped and back-
ward as Kashmir, and we cannot therefore appro-
priately compare the salaries of the officials of our
country with officials of any European State. W e
may, however, convey t o the reader an idea of the
top-heavy Administration of Kashmir by saying that
in Bulgaria, which is a Monarchy and not a Socialist
Government, " a Cabinet Minister gets Z40/- a
month; the Rector of Sofia gets £171- and an ordi-
nary Professor S16. Judges range from £261- to £101-
a month ; a General gets £15/-, a High School teacher
'Inside Europe by John Gunther. pages 8,244,368and 537.
228 INSIDE KASHMIR
£7 a month, and there is no baksheesh-bribery-in
Bulgaria."'
Very little is thus left for the nation-building
and beneficent departments out of the total reve-
nues of the State after these big slices are cut off for
the Defence, the Civil List and the Administration.
What, in fact, is spent on the people out of the whole
revenue is as follows :--
I. Medical ... Rs. 9,33,000
2. Education ... Rs. 24,66,000
3. Agriculture ... Rs. 1,48,000
4. Veterinary ... Rs. 1,59,000
5. Co-operative Department .. . Rs. 1,32,000
6. Panchayats ... Rs. 2,15,000
7. Industries ... Rs. 1,37,000
8. Roads and Buildings ... Rs. 17,32,000
9. Irrigation ... Rs. 2,08,000
This totals Rs. 61,20,000 out of a total revenue
of Rs. 2,77,00,000.
Besides, there are three Commercial Departments
which may be said to benefit the public in one way
or another. They are : (1) Sericulture-Rs. 13,43,000,
(2) Electrical Department-Rs. 2,86,000 and (3) Tele-
graphs-Rs. 1,70,000. A t its proper place I shall show
how little of this amount is really spent on the poor
masses living in the countryside.
Kashmir is an agricultural country. Ninety per
cent of the population live in the villages and earn
their livelihood by tilling the soil. The total area of
the whole State is more than 84 thousand square
---- -.
.--- -- .
-

' I n s i d e Europe. page 475.

 KASHMIR TODAY 229
miles, but most of it is not fit for cultivation and is
comprised of barren mountainous tracts. Especially
is this the case in the Frontier Zllaqas. The total area
of land as measured by the Settlement Department
including the area under forests, is 49'89 lakhs of
acres in Jammu, 17'78 in Kashmir, and only 2'68 in
the Frontier. Out of this the cultivated area is only
11-32lakhs of acres in Jammu, 9'49 in Kashmir, and
0'77 in Frontier. And this land is not in the hands
of the tillers of the soil. A large part of it is occupied
by the city dwellers, absentee landlords, and others
who employ labour either temporarily or permanently
as tenants-at-will. So the fruits of the soil and the
produce of the land do not solely go to the tiller, but
are in part shared by the landlord. As a result of the
Glancy Recommendations the Proprietary rights of
land were granted to the people of Kashmir in 1933.
But no effective land alienation law was simultane-
ously promulgated to save the class of peasant pro-
prietors from falling a prey to the greedy and rapacious
capitalist class, with the result that the lands are being
alienated rapidly. In one year the lands alienated by
gifts, mortgages and sales aggregated to 46,673 and
12,643, acres in Jammu and Kashmir Provinces res-
pectively. Had there been not a ban forbidding sale
of more than 25 per cent of the total land of each
individual holder, the results would have been much
more disastrous. Still it is feared that already a large
portion has been alienated by the poorer class of
peasantry in order t o pay off their debts of the rents
and taxes of the Government from year to year.
This has naturally aggravated the agrarian problem
230 INSIDE KASHMIR
of the State. There is a great pressure on land, and
the tillers of the soil have become economically
poorer than they were before 1931.
Then there are jagirs. Out of the total land
revenue more than 12 per cent is assigned for muafis
and jagirs. A n area of 2.91.689 acres in Kashmir.
3,62,276 in Jammu and 46.145 in Frontier is assigned.
Out of this 48.303 acres in Kashmir. 78,056 in Jammu
and 4.553 in Frontier are under the hereditary
jagirdars in perpetuity and the remainder has been
assigned for lifetime or during the pleasure of the
Government t o persons for their loyal services.
Two jagirdars, both Rajputs. enjoy some auto-
nomy in their illaqas. One is the Raja of Poonch
and the other that of Chenani. They are like
States within the State. They maintain their own
administrations-the worse for their people as they
are burdened with still heavier taxes. Poonch is a
big jagir, bigger than many Indian States. Its area is
1,627 square miles ; population 4.21.939 ;' and its
annual revenue Rs. 9.84.357. The Raja of Poonch
used to appropriate as much as 40 per cent of the
revenue of the jagir. His Vizier receives Rs. 1,2001-
per month as his pay. Recently the Raja died and
has left behind a minor, which has necessitated the
appointment of an Administrator on a monthly salary
of Rs. 2,500/- per month. The whole system of
Poonch administration is rotten and scandalous.
There is hardly any justice, and people are a t the
mercy of the officials. The Government was under
the dual control of the Raja and the Maharaja. who
'This is according t o the census of 1941.
 KASHMIR TODAY
were unhappily a t loggerheads with each other, and
the people suffered. Some of the public workers of
the jagir demand that Poonch should be taken under
their direct supervision by the Government of India
and the control of Maharaja and his Government
should be withdrawn. I t is highly doubtful whether
the finances of the jagir can allow the fulfilment of
this desire.
Chenani is a tiny jagir totally unfit t o run its
own administration, as after defraying the big share
of the Raja from the revenue little is left for the pay
of the officials. A school and a dispensary are
desiderata in the jagir.
Jagirdars used to collect their revenue in kind
till 1930. This system had given birth to many
abuses. A hue and cry was raised everywhere in
the jagirs against the system. Curiously enough a
Committee comprising only of the jagirdars and not
the representatives of the people of the jagirs was
formed t o inquire into the matter and make recom-
mendations to the Government to put matters right.
Look a t the supreme sacrifice of the jagirdars!
They agreed to collect the revenue in cash, but on
the condition that they should be granted more jagi~s
to compensate them for the loss that they would
sustain by the change. His Highness admired this
self-abnegation on the part of the jagirdars and most
of the Khalsa land, which ought to have gone t o the
peasants, was handed over to the jagirdars l What
was highly objectionable in this connection was that
large tracts of fertile land in Kashmir were granted
as fresh jagirs to some Rajputs of Jammu.
232 INSIDE KASHMIR
I shuddered when I heard the condition of
the people living in the jagirs. The depredations of
the jagirdars are monstrous. There is no law but
the will of the jagirdars in these parts of the State. I
was told that people may not marry even their
daughters against the wishes of the iagirdars. If the
country is to progress, these jagirs one and all should
be abolished root and branch.
People of the State have to pay many direct and
indirect taxes. Some of them are really obnoxious.
Customs duty is one of them. In many cases the
duty levied is more than 50 per cent of the actual
cost of the goods. Nothing, except books, has
escaped the greedy eye of the authorities and all
merchandise when it comes into the State territories
or goes out is subjected t o duty. This hampers brisk
trade and creates heart-burning. Imagine the same
article being sold a t less than 25 or 30 per cent of its
price a little beyond the boundaries of the State and
our fellow-countrymen, who have not good fortune
to belong t o the State. enjoying it a t that price.
No one voluntarily or willingly pays this duty, and
as long as one can by an;- means escape its payment
he does not hesitate t o resort t o it. Here again
poor people are easily and unavoidably caught for
disobedience of law and punished, while the Govern-
ment officials and influential people go scotfree. I
have seen big officials and the Secretaries of the
Government passing the Customs posts with cart-
loads of goods without paying a single penny. Their
courteous smiles do the job. On the other hand.
perhaps a t the very moment, a poor Kashmiri pea-
 KASHMIR TODAY 233
sant is hauled up, searched from head to foot,
humiliated and subjected t o all kinds of indignities
and made t o pay duty on a few rupees worth of
goods bought with the money he earned by labour
during several months of the winter outside the
State. A resolution was carried in the AssembIy and
accepted by the Government that the goods of
these labourers valuing up to Rs. 25 should be ex-
empted from the duty. The orders were passed and
the conditions have improved, though very slowly.
And why have the customs duties become neces-
sary ? Certainly, as shown above. not for the wel-
fare and the progress of the country and its people,
not for the nation-building activities of the State.
but for the most top-heavy administration in
the world.
I have noted the decline of the Kashmir indus-
tries in the chapter " Early Dogra Rule." They did
not revive but went on declining till the year 1928,
when in the summer of that year the All-India
Spinners' Association turned their attention towards
it. Kashmir deals in commodities, chief among
them being Woodwork. Woollens and Fruits.
Forests are the monopoly of the Government. The
Spinners' Association revived the woollen industry
and organised it. Happily no intention of exploita-
tion was behind the back of this move and the
industry made rapid progress within a few years'
period. Below I give figures showing the work
that the Association has done during the last twelve
234 INSIDE KASHMIR
years :-
Total production from 1928 to
March 1941 ... ... Rs. 21,28,605
Wages distributed . .. ... Rs. 17,83,749
Number of villages in which work
was done ... .. 138
Salary paid ... .. Rs. 1,14,763
The Kashmir Shawl Industry has seen resurrec-
tion. Thanks to Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian
NationalMovement which has brought in its wake a
demand for swadeshi goods. other woollen products
such as Gabbas, Namdas and Pattoos are also being
sold in larger quantities. During this long period
Kashmir Government looked with disfavour upon
the activities of the Association, partly because of
strained relations between the Congress and the
:British Government in the early thirties, and partly
their own prejudice. Last year, however, a loan of
Rs. 1,00,000, not without a small interest of 2 per
cent, has been granted t o the concern. It is evident
that if the Association had not come t o the rescue
of the Kashmir artisan, the industry would have
been long since extinct from the land of its birth.
In this connection I should like t o mention that
i t was a t the fall of the cottage industries in the
reign of Dogras that the peasants from the country-
side, finding themselves quite idle during the winter
months and forced by the economic necessity, began
to make seasonal exodus t o the plains. The facilities
of communications have been an encouragement in
this respect. During famines in Pathan and Sikh
times, and of course much earlier too, Kashmiris,
 KASHMIR TODAY 235
including Muslims, came away from Kashmir and
settled in the Punjab. notably a t Rawalpindi, Sialkot
and Amritsar and even Ludhiana and Jullundut,
But the exodus was never so regularly seasonal as
now. At the beginning of the present century this
had become a regular practice, and now about a
lakh-no exact figures are available though-of these
labourers are making a move towards the plains a t
the first approach of winter. Some of them go as
far as Calcutta and work as wage-earners. They d o
not receive human treatment everywhere. T h e
Kashmir Government never cared to know any-
thing about them but interests itself only in demand-
ing from them their hard earned pennies by way of
Customs duty, rent, tax, revenue and cess.
The total imports of merchandise for one
year 1995-96 (latest figures available) were valued
a t Rs. 2,46,35,104, while the value of the total
exports for the same year was Rs. 1,67,43,785. This
is enough t o show what a big drain there is on the
resources of the country impoverishing its people
day by day. T h e chief articles of import are cotton
manufacture and tea, valued a t Rs. 68,18,536 and
Rs. 30,46,421 respectively. Strange as it may seem,
wool, woollens, oils, vegetables and fruits (of which
Kashmir could be the biggest supplier) are also
imported in n o small quantity. For the year
1995-96 woollens were imported for Rs. 9,60,423, oils
for Rs. 17,14,640. and fruits and vegetables for
Rs. 3,91,264 !
There is nothing surprising in the backwardness
of the State in the sphere of Industries aud Com-
236 INSIDE KASHMIR
merce. The Government believe that it is none of
their duty to improve matters. It is interesting to
read what they say in their Administration Report :
"Although the bank rate w w fairly low throughout the
year under report and the general conditions of Industrial
finance were eusier than usual, there was a peculiar hesitation
on the pert of the people of the State to come forward with
constructive sclremeu of i~~dustrialiuation."*

So it is the people who must come forward with

the schemes! The Government on their part are
prepared to collect taxes and revenue ! " The
promo tion of industries should receive the earnest
attention of the State authorities.. ....Industrial De-
velopments are a t the present time of the utmost
importance, as it is highly desirable t o provide an
outlet for unemployment," recommended the Glancy
Commission in 1932. After a period of more than 8
years the Government responsible for carrying out
the recommendations complains that the people do
not come forward with constructive schemes of
industrialisation !
Out of the total population of 36,%,243 only
1.23.885. i.e., 3'4 per cent or 34 out of a thousand are
literate according to the census figures of 1931. Only
9.078 women are literate, that is 5 per thousand.?
The Government spends Rs. 24.66.000 or hardly
9 per cent on the education of the whole mass of
people. This is not even half of what is expended
on the Military and is less than what is spent on the
*Administration Report. page 147.
tAccording m the census of 1941 the percentage of
literates IS 6'6. The number of women literates is 42,151.
 KASHMIR TODAY 237

Ruling Family. Let us now find out in what manner

this amount is spent.
There are 8420 villages and 38 towns in the
whole State. The total population of the males is
17,39,720.There are two arts colleges. 129 secondary
schools and 943 primary schools conducted by the
State for them. One must visit some of these primary
schools to know how literacy is imparted to children.
Most of these institutions have a single teacher who
is made to work as teacher, chowkidar, and peon in
one. H e gets the shockingly low salary of Rs. 20 or so
per month. The children of all the five classes are
huddled together in one room, and the teacher is
hardly able to keep them silent. But he has to show
progress, and he does show it on paper. Most of the
boys leave the school before they complete their full
course, and those whose parents have the patience to
keep them on come out with the "diploma " only t o
lapse to illiteracy again after a few years. More than
50 per cent of the scholars whom the Government
mentions as literate sons of the soil in their records
are thus really no less ignorant of education than are
their fellow-countrymen who never visited any
school. The whole system of primary education
needs a drastic change, and if the Government were
not running after shadows rather than realities,
this waste of money and energy should have
stopped.
As regards secondary education. it is confined
to the cities and the towns. Poor villagers can
derive little advantage from it. There are no good
boarding houses provided with these secondary
238 INSIDE KASHMIR
schools. However desirous village boys might be to
prosecute their studies, they have to deny them-
selves that privilege for want of facilities to live in a
66
town for the period. How many a gem of purest
ray serene ", thus be embedded in the obscurity of a
distant village, do not shine as they could if they
found opportunities t o do so. Day in and day out
applications are sent by the villagers from all parts
of the State to the Director, telegrams t o the Edu-
cation Minister, and complaints t o the press that
they want secondary schools a t their places, but the
usual reply given by the authorities is that there are
no funds for the purpose.
The condition of higher education is still
worse. There is only one arts college in Srinagar,
a city with a population of 1,77,459. This college
can hardly accommodate 500 students. Imagine
what its condition must be when there are more
than 1,500 students on its rolls. This is the only arts
college in the Provinces of Kashmir and Frontier as
the Prince of Wales College is the only one in the
Jammu Province. It may, however, be mentioned
that the Jammu college is better in respect of
accommodation, grounds, and the proportion of staff
t o students.
The population of women is 15,19,139. There is
no college for them and there are three girls high
schools in the whole State. There are 40 girl
middle schools and 173 primary schools. Only
15,942 scholars are at school.
And lastly about Technical Education. There are
8 technical schools in the whole State, in which
 KASHMIR TODAY
357 students in all are receiving training in different
arts and crafts. Comment is unnecessary.
Following the Congress Governments in British
India, the Kashmir Government has introduced an
educational system based on the Wardha Scheme of
education. Efforts are also being made to spread
Adult Education in the country. This experiment
has been going on for the last two years with n o
tangible results. It is believed in certain quarters
that this was done to silence the criticism in nation-
alist circles outside the State against the reactionary
methods of the Government in dealing with the
Political movement. That may or may not be
correct, but this much appears true that a system of
education which has been designed to be run under
a responsible form of Government cannot possibly
work in a country where the machinery of adminis-
tration is ante-diluvian and inelastic. It must,
however, be recognised that the attempt is a laud-
able one and all impartial and unprejudiced people
would wait t o know the results.*
* Speaking about the introduction of Basic Educatiorl in
Kashmir Pandit Jawahar La1 Nehru wrote recently :-
" While Kashmir appeared so static and unchanging one
change pleased me greatly. This was the introduction of Basic
Education in the State Schools. I visited some of these schools
and saw the happy children with bright and intelligent faces a t
work and a t play. It is for this generation t h a t we struggle a n d
build and it is well t h a t some a t least among chem are learning
rightly the business of life, and developing in their early years,
an integrated personality, adaptable minds and hands. I hope
t h a t Basic Education will spread throughout Kashmir and bring
into its fold every little boy and girl."
240 INSIDE KASHMIR
The story of medical aid rendered by the Gov-
ernment is a painful reading. With the introduction
of allopathic system of medicine, the indigenous
schools of vaids and hakims have almost ended.
These easily available and cheap native physi-
cians were the custodians of the nation's health.
The Government never helped, encouraged or
supervised their work, with the result that gradually
their ranks thinned, and now there are innumerable
villages where there are no hakirns and vaids. On
the other hand, the Government's own system is in-
complete, as it is not prepared to spend as much as
is necessary for its proper upkeep and maintenance.
There are only two big hospitals in the two premier
cities of the State. Even as they are, these hospitals
cannot claim to have an up-to-date arrangement
for patients in every respect. Among his Raj Tilak
boons the Maharaja announced in 1925 the inten-
tion of building first class up-to-date hospitals
in Srinagar and Jammu ior the treatment of patients
of all classes. The work of building these hospitals
was begun only last year-sixteen long years
after.
There are 95 Government dispensaries in the
whole State. They are mostly located in the towns.
O n an average one dispensary serves an area of 834
square miles and a population of 38,358 persons. The
chief item of expenditure in the budget of the dis-
pensary is the pay of the doctor and his compoun-
der who are of little use t o the large area as a whole
as they cannot be expected to visit the patients far
in the countryside. The quantity of the medicines
 KASHMIR TODAY 241
and drugs kept a t the dispensaries is so ridiculously
small that it is nearly exhausted during the first two
or three months of the year. Besides, the medicines
are from the very outset reserved for and distributed
among the Government officers and influential
people by the doctors and other subordinates of
the department. It is not surprising that there is
absolute lack of faith among the masses in the
,efficiency of allopathic treatment in these circum-
stances.
There are two Zenana Hospitals in the Jammu
Province and only one in the Kashmir Province,
and none in the Frontier districts.
There is an appalling waste of human life for
want of medical aid. A large number of women die
owing to labour pain, child-birth and other prevent-
able diseases. If proper medical assistance were
forthcoming, this would not be the case. Recently,
the Government: has, under pressure of public
(opinion, begun t o revive the old system of vads and
hakims by giving them some stipends. But the aid
given is very meagre-only about Rs. 25,000 a year.
There are no good roads connecting villages
with one another. There are only 990 miles (512
metalled) of motorable roads in the whole State,
which include the two largest hill roads of Banihal
and Jhelum valley. Roads may sometimes be con-
structed not for the utility of the public but for the
convenience of some august personages.
As if the taxes, rents and revenues were not
enough to break the backbone of the masses,
the officialdom is corrupt, and there is hardly any
 INSIDE KASHMIR
department of the Government where greasing of
the palm is not necessary before any work can be
got done. The payments of bribes have become so
regular and methodical that it does not take long for
bb
a man in the villages to learn the rates" for
different officials a t different times. In this year of
grace 1941 the masses of Kashmir believe that bribes
are not illegal, but among the officials* rights ! It is
not that low-paid petty officials alone are the
criminals in this respect ; even high officials drawing
fat salaries are known to be in the habit of extort-
ing money. A Commission of Enquiry was appoint-
ed by the Government under the presidentship of
the Chief Justice t o make enquiries into the matter.
For two years the Commission groped in the dark,
hearing evidence from persons most of whom had
only sentimental sympathies with the peasants, but
could not know much about the ferocious ways and
inhuman methods by which the bribes were extort-
ed. When, after all, the Commission did make
certain recommendations last year to weed out the
corrupt officials, the Government turned down most
of them. That was the only way a bureaucracy
could deal with the business. It believes in
lifeless papers and not in living beings. The papers
that come t o the Government never admit that
any official is corrupt. The charge of bribery is
only punishable when it is proved. Not five out
of a thousand cases do reach the law courts, and
those that reach them a t all are dismissed for want
of satisfactory evidence. Of course the Presiding
Officer of a court can never be so indecent as t o
 KASHMIR TODAY 243

believe the word of a poor peasant against a civilised

colleague of another department. Perhaps he
knows from personal experience that to err is
human. If bribery is to be weeded out, the one
thing that the Government can do is to issue strict
orders that official papers must be speedily disposed
of. Deterrent punishments should be inflicted for
any disobedience of these orders.
A sou1Iess bureaucracy sucks the blood of the
masses. But there is one hope of redemption for the
people of an Indian State-the personality of the
Prince. The personal touch of the Maharaja with
the people and sometimes dramatic action taken
to relieve a poor man of his miseries or from
the hands of a merciless official, would not allow the
Government machinery to become so dull and
unsympathetic. It is said of Gulab Singh that he
had some qualities which mitigated the effects of his
administration.
" He was always accessible and was patient and ready t o listen
to complaints. He was much given t o looking into details so
that the smallest thing might be brought before him and have
his consideration. With the customary offering of a rupee as a
nazur any one could get his ear; even in a crowd one could catch
his eye by holding out a rupee and crying out " Maha7aj-Arz
Hai " that is, Maharaj, a petition ! He would pounce down like a
hawk on the money and having appropriated i t would patiently
hear out the petitioner. Once a man after this fashion making a
complaint, when the Maharaja was taking the rupee, closed his
hand on it and said, " No, first hear what I have t o say."
Even this did not go beyond Gulab Singh's patience ; he waited
till the fellow had told histale and opened his hand ; then taking
the money he gave orders about the case. "+
* Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Page 14.
 INSIDE KASHMIR
Accessibility could go no further. From his
personal observations Frederic Drew wrote the
following about Maharaja Ranbir Singh: it is
interesting ; it is graphic :
" It is when the Maharaja is sitting in the public Durbar,
holding open court for the hearing of petitions, that the Mandi
has its liveliest appearance. For the morning Durhar he will
take his seat, a t nine or ten o'olock, beneath one of the arches
of the arcade, on the cusllion which here serves for the throne,
accompanied by his eldest son, and surrounded by his Rlinistcrs.
and with, maybe, from fifty t o s hundred other courtiers and
attendants seated round against the wall, a t distance according
t o their degree.
Thus seated, then, and supported, the Maharaja. looks out
down on the petitioners who stand in the square, which is some
feet lower than the room, each coming in succession, according
as their petitions, previously written on stamped paper and
given in, are called on, stands in front with hands closed,
in the attitude of supplication, while the prayer is read out.
The subjects of the petitions are wonderfully varied;
perhaps an employee will ask leave t o return to his home, or to
take his mother's ashes t o the Ganges ; next, maybe, a
criminal is brought t o receive final sentence ; then a poor
woman, with face veiled, will come to complain of some
grievance or other ; or a dispute about a broken contract of
marriage will have t o be decided. These are all listened
t o patiently enough, and on t h e simpler cases the
decision is given a t once and written on the petition. The
civil and criminal cases have usually been previously
inquired into by judicial officers, in the courts of first instance
and perhaps have even been adjudicated on by the Appeal
Court of Jammu or of Srinagar, but it is open t o suitors and
complainants t o t r y their fortune with the Maharaja himself.
The Maharaja does his best to get a t the t r u t h ; will examine
and sharply cross-examine the witnesses. It frequently ends
in his referring the matter t o the magistrate for investigation ;
 KASHMIR TODAY 245
in which case it will be again brought before him for final
*
decision. "
Maharaja Partap Singh maintained these tradi-
tions. H e took keen interest in the affairs of his
people whether they were of a public or private
nature. Being deeply religious, he was wont to haunt
the abodes of fakirs and sadhus, no matter to what
faith they belonged. And here he came in contact
with all sorts of people as he always and frequently
made surprise visits t o these places. H e was
accessible in his Durbar, and, like his father, would
allow anyone t o make any complaint t o him when
his officials were present. He had a retentive and
keen memory, and it is said that he knew and re-
membered in every detail thousands of people and
their relations with one another. No one worth
knowing in his territories was unknown to him.
When his officials failed to conciliate some influential
party or individual, a friendly remark, even though
accompanied with an admonition, would end the
matter amicably.
But now the less said about it the better. People
of Kashmir have to pay the staggering amount of
41 laktls of rupees t o a Maharaja about whom all
that they know is what they occasionally read in
press and, unhappily, it is nothing more than that he
has gone for a week t o Bombay to watch his horses
taking part in the races. His present Highness
is accessible only in the constitutional and bureau-
cratic way. through petitions and proper channel.
This has a remarkable advantage too. Not a single
* Page 26.
2% INSIDE KASHMIR
case has come to notice where the Maharaja
Bahadur's judgment has been influenced by any
official, however high placed, or however close to
him. This advantage, it is keenly and universally
felt, could be combined with personal accessibility to
the mutual good of both the ruler and the ruled.
 CHAPTER X

The Muslims
According t o the census of 1931, out of the
total population of 36,46,943 in the State, Muslims
are 28J7.636. They are spread all over the country.
In Kashmir Province they are 14.78,287 out of a total
of 15.69.218 ; in the Jammu Province 10.91.021 out of
17,88,441, and in the Frontier Districts of Gilgit
and Ladakh they are 2.48.328 out of a total popula-
tion of 2.88.584. From these figures it will be seen
that they form a little over 77 per cent of the total
population ; in the Kashmir Province they form an
overwhelming majority, as many as 92 per cent. and
in the Jammu Province they are 61 per cent. But
most of the Muslim publicists, oddly enough,
even accepting these figures as correct, insist that
they form 80 per cent of the population, and in
Kashmir proper they will never admit that their
percentage is less than 97 in any way.
Barring a few families who came to the country
either with Muslim invaders or as independent
adventurers and then settled here permanently, all.
248 INSIDE KASHMIR

the Muslims are converts from Hinduism and are

the original indigenous inhabitants of the country.
During the Muslim rule for about five centuries, the
Hindus of Kashmir had to suffer far greater
hardships than the Muslims. The lower classes of
Hindus therefore considered it more convenient
t o embrace Islam and live a less miserable life. In
the villages mass conversions took place. The
people changed their religion, but could not change
their blood. The Muslims belong to the same stock
and race of people as do the Hindus. One who
misses this point while dealing with Kashmir affairs,
misses the essential thing and is apt to draw wrong
conclusions about the past and prove a poor prophet
for the future. For instance, great surprise has been
expressed a t the fact that when communal frenzy
was a t its height in September 1931 and the civil
administration had virtually abdicated in favour of
the disorderly mob, who were armed with all kinds
of crude weapons, not a hair of any Hindu was
touched. In the countryside thousands of Pandit
families live unmolested though they are surrounded
entirely by Muslims and, in certain cases, a solitary
Hindu house is situated in a dense Muslim popula-
tion spreading over an area of many miles. It is on
record and has been admitted in a published report
by the Sanatana Dharama Young Men's Association,
the representative organisation of the Kashmiri
Pandits, that on the 13th July many Muslims gave
shelter t o Hindu men and women a t the time when
mad frenzy was ruling in the streets and their lives
were in great danger of being wantonly taken.
 THE MUSLIMS 249

These refugees were treated like friends and

brothers and allowed to go when the wave of
fanaticism passed away. These good Muslims
escorted the women to their homes. This happened
not in Srinagar alone but all over t h e country, and
i t explains why in spite of the bitter experiences
of 1931, Pandits continue t o live in the remotest
corners of Kashmir. T h e truth is that change of,
religion has not largely affected the ties of blood.
and the Muslims of Kashmir continue t o have an
affinity of race with their Hindu compatriots. They
are equally descendants of the old Aryans who first
settled in the valley in pre-historic days.
Muslims ruled over Kashmir for five centuries.
It was not the rule of the Muslims of Kashmir. Had
it been so, the history of Kashmir would have been
written differently. There would have been n o
regrets over the past. T h e rulers were aliens and
chiefly interested in their own glory. Unfortunately
most of them cared much more for their own
happiness than for the welfare of their subjects. A
few courtiers and noblemen, mostly Muslims, shared
in this luxury and enjoyment. The Muslim masses
also suffered and, except during the prosperous days
of half a dozen kings. like Zain-ul-Abidin, their
economic condition was not enviable.
But the wheel of fortune turned, as turn i t must.
The Muslim rule ended and the Sikhs came in.
They proved n o better for the masses than their
predecessors. Their rule was, however. short-lived.
They were followed by the Dogras. The Dogra
rule was established and consolidated under t h e
250 INSIDE KASHMIR
fostering care of British Imperialism. I t is safe and
secure from all external aggressions. The British
Government is prepared t o help it even against any
internal disorder. Speaking generally and from
t h e bourgeois point of view, the Dogra rule has been
a Hindu Raj. Muslims have not been treated fairly,
by which I mean as fairly as the Hindus. Firstly, be-
cause, contrary t o all professions of treating all classes
equally, it must be candidly admitted that Muslims
were dealt with harshly in certain respects only
because they were Muslims. T h e law prohibiting
cow slaughter, which I shall presently deal with, is
there t o support this statement. Maharaja Partap
Singh abolished a tax which the Muslims had t o pay
o n every marriage ceremony. I have noted the
attitude of the Hindu officials who dominated each
and every department of the State under the Dogras
before 1931. Secondly, Muslims also suffer as
most of them belong t o the lowest strata of society.
The great majority of the masses in the State are
Muslim.
In the countryside the Muslim is synonymous
with the hewer of wood and drawer of water. All
sorts of dirty and menial work is t o be done by him.
A Hindu is respectable in the eyes of the society,
a n d the Muslim, because he is a Muslim, is looked
down upon as belonging t o a n inferior class. Of
course, there are, throughout the country, a good
many well-to-do Muslims possessing money, power
a n d influence. But man for man even they can
hardly claim equal rank and recognition with the
Hindus of the same class.
 THE MUSLIMS
The Muslims are very backward in education.
According to the last census 1'6 per cent of them
are literate. The literacy among the males is 2'9
per cent, while among the females it is 1'6 per
thousand. In the villages, illiteracy of the Muslim
masses is colossal. In hundreds of villages not a
single Muslim male or female knows even how to
write his or her name or count two dozen sheep.
For this shocking illiteracy Muslim mullahs must
share their part of responsibility. These religious
preachers do not like that Muslims should come
out of the blind world of ignorance and be able to
distinguish between right and wrong. They know
that the moment Muslims are educated the days
of exploitation by the mullahs wiIl end. A t present
and for centuries in the past these unscrupulous
guardians of religion and divinity have been fleecing
the masses side by side with the officials of the
Government, and they are reluctant to give up this
lucrative business. The main blame, however, for
this state of backwardness falls on the shoulders of
the Dogra rule. The Dogras have held the country
for about a century with absolutely no fear of
foreign aggression or internal disorder. The record
of progress as i t is should put any conscientious man
in charge of the welfare of four million people to
shame. When under pressure of public opinion so
late as 1916, Maharaja Partap Singh was forced
to invite Mr. Sharp, the Educational Commissioner
with the Government of India, who recommended
several ways and means to spread education among
the Muslim masses, his report was, as said above,
252 INSIDE KASHMIR

placed in an obscure corner of n forgotten almirah

and for a decade nothing could be known about it.
Mr. Sharp had recommellded an immediate increase
in the number of schools so as t o provide primary
education in all villages with a population of 500 or
over. This has not been done even in the year
of grace 1941.
T h e poverty of the Muslim masses is appalling.
Dressed in rags which can hardly hide his body
and barefooted, a Muslim peasant presents the
appearance rather of a starving beggar than of
one who fills the coffers of the State. He works
laboriously in the field during the six months
of the summer t o pay the State its revenues and
taxes, the officials their rasum and the money-lender
his interest. Most of them are landless labourers
working as serfs of the absentee landlords. They
hardly earn. as their share of the produce, enough
for more than three months. For the rest they
must earn by other means. During the six months
they are unemployed and must go outside the
boundaries of the State t o work as labourers in big
towns and cities of British India. Their lot, as such,
is no good, and many of them die every year,
unknown, unwept and unsung outside their homes.
T h e disgraceful environments and unkind surround-
ings in which so many of, them die have been
a slur alike on the people and the Government of
the country t o which they belong.
Almost the whole brunt of the official corruption
has been borne by the Muslim masses. The Police,
the Revenue Department, the Forest Officials,
 THE MUSLIMS 353
and even the employees of the Co-operative
Societies, have their palms oiled by exaction of the
usual rasum. Nobody feeIs any sympathy with this
distressing picture of poverty. The channels of
human kindness and mercy have run dry. T o loot
the peasant is no sin ; society does not disapprove
of it.
The list of the earthly possessions of a peasant
is very brief. Besides the rags he wears, he owns
a small house, a few earthen vessels, a wooden box,
a couple of mats and, of coure, a large debt.
In most cases they have no bedding to sleep in.
During winter, when nights are severely cold
in the valley of Kashmir, they sleep on hay spread on
the floor in a part of a room occupied by cattle.
which is generally warm.
Rural indebtedness is staggering. The Govern-
ment never took the trouble of making any inquiry
in this behalf. Incomplete and haphazard non-
official enquiries show that more than seventy
per cent of the people living in the villages are under
debt. In numerous cases the produce of the land is
pawned long before it is visible in the fields. Once
a debt has been contracted it is never " fully" paid
back. Too ignorant to understand accounts, the
Muslim peasants are fleeced by the Hindu sahukars
and Muslim Wad-dars and Khojas in ways shocking
t o fair minds. The debtor goes on paying some-
thing every year in icash and kind, and yet the
debt of a trifling sum of 30 or 40 rupees is not paid
"in full" during a lifetime. Consequently. the
father leaves the debt to his son, and in this way the
254 INSIDE KASHMIR

family remains perpetually under debt. The entire

class of peasants are virtual serfs of the money-
lenders.
Mention must, however, be thankfully made of
a piece of debt legislation called the Agriculturist
Relief Regulation. This Regulation was passed
when such laws were not fashionable even in
British India, not to speak of Indian States; and
His present Highness was himself the prime mover
of this good piece of legislation. H e wanted it and
he had it promulgated in an incredibly short time.
There has also been another creditable piece of
legislation under which the courts during the time
of Mr. B. J. Glancy's tenure of office as Minister in
Kashmir, relieved the Kashmir agriculturist debtors
of about Rs. 17 lakhs distributed by decree in
small instalments of, say, Rs. 30 over a number of
years, easing in this way, their burden of debt.
All rural debt had to be referred to the special
" Shali Benches " within a limited time, after which
it was void.
One can go on writing about Kashmir Muslims.
The condition of non-Muslim peasantry in the
Jammu Province is no better. Perhaps the condi-
tion of the Harijans is even worse. Why then
have I dealt with this subject under this head?
It must be remembered that the population of
the Muslims is so overwhelmingly large that when-
ever one speaks of the masses one thinks of the
Muslims. At any rate this is undoubtedly the case
in the Kashmir Province. A t the mere mention of
the Kashmir word groost, that is, the peasant, the
 THE MUSLIMS 255
picture of the Muslim labourer on the land with his
dirty tattered shirt, an apology for trousers, and a
worn-out skull cap, presents itself. The vast
majority of the Muslims of the State live in the
Kashmir Province. W e have seen that their
. percentage in this province is nearly 93. T h e
leaders of the community have been conscious of
this fact. The attitude of the Muslim political
workers of the Kashmir Province has . therefore
always proved a determining factor in State politics.
In fact important changes have always been initiated
by them and started in their own area.
In a country which is so backward and religion-
ridden as Kashmir, the Mir Waiz (literally High
Preacher) should have been the natural leader of
the people. And so he is. In Kashmir the heads of
two different families have been claiming this title.
The Mir Waiz of the Jama Masjid and the Mir Waiz
of Khanaqah-i-Mualla. They are rivals and, but for
very brief period of about six months in 1931, have
always remained irreconcilables. Besides giving
religious sermons in different mosques, they have
taken interest in the social welfare of the Muslims
and their politics. They are running two deno-
minational High Schools on comparatively modern
lines. These are the only private institutions of
any sort run by public spirited Muslims in Srinagar.
But the outlook of the Mir Waizes is circumscribed
and limited. Essentially they are upper class men
and look upon all public affairs from that point of
view. Their sole income is derived from exploiting
the religious sentiments of the lower class Muslims.
256 INSIDE KASHMIR
T h e role of preachers and guardianship of Islam has
well served them in their gentle acts of exploitation.
Muslim masses have regarded them as supermen,
beings far removed from the ordinary run of
mankind. They were almost worshipped Iike demi-
gods and the very clods they walked over were
kissed. I have seen ignorant Muslims attending
their sermons and weeping bitterly over they knew
not what.
Handsome gifts, donations and subscriptions
were received by the Mir Waizes from the Muslims
who believed that such offerings would lead them
,direct t o heaven after death. It is evident that
these conditions could continue only so long as the
Muslims remained ignorant and backward. So any
movement purporting t o revolutionise the mentality
of the masses was always vehementally opposed by
them. T o dub such a movement as anti-Islamic has
been their cheap. and for a long time successful.
trick. W h e n under changing conditions and pressure
of public opinion, they were obliged t o start modern
.schools. no classes for physical sciences were
introduced. Such knowledge was considered satanic
a n d unholy for the minds of followers of Islam.
True t o their class interests, they have fought the
Government n the name of the community to get
more and more privileges for themselves, but when
t h e masses rose in revolt against the extant social
and political order, they became reactionaries and
obscurantists and sided with the Government to
crush the popular uprising. Both of them signed
-the memorial which was presented t o Lord Reading
 THE MUSLIMS 257
in 1924 but both recanted before the official
Enquiry Commission.
Not realising the full significance and the
implications of the struggle that was coming, both
the Mir Waizes joined the mass movement of 1931.
For the moment they could not believe that a
movement of the Muslims could be possible without
them. But soon afterwards when the base of the
movement broadened and the leadership passed into
t h e hands of other men they were disillusioned.
Old idols were demolished and new gods began to
be worshipped by the Muslims, and they felt jealous.
They were frightened and believed or were made
t o believe that the leadership had slipped out of
their hands owing t o their own folly in having
encouraged the mass revolt. They wanted to
retrace. The Mir Waiz of the Jama Masjid, till
then the more popular of the two, was the first to
take the reactionary step. Slowly but surely and
steadily he went to the Government side and they
welcomed him. H e and his followers were encourag-
ed in many ways. They were granted immunity
from the provisions of any emergency regulations
applied against the Muslims. In a notorious case
when punitive tax was levied upon the Muslim
residents of Maisuma in Srinagar Usuf Shahi
Mussulmans were exempted. Of course the Mir
Waiz would always hotly protest against any
remarks of pro-Government leanings ascribed to
him. In 1936 he presented on behalf of the public
an address of welcome to His Highness on his return
from Europe. H e was granted a jugir by the
258 INSIDE KASHMIR
Ruler in an open Durbar as a reward. As his last
bid for power Usuf Shah tried to raise a storm in
June 1937 over a speech of a Hindu leader, alleging
that by comparing the cow to the prophet the
Hindu leader had been guilty of abusing the Prophet.
Defying the orders of the Government he started and
headed a procession which became violent. The
police fired a t the mob and two men were killed
and many wounded. Usuf Shah was arrested and
released on bail on furnishing a bond promising to
behave. H e has now lost all his influence and is a
spent-up force; but i t will not be surprising if with
the help of the Government and the reactionary
non-Muslim classes he revives his leadrship any day
in the future. Short-sightedness of the nationalist
Muslim leaders alone can give rise to such an
occasion.
But Usuf Shah with his party is a historical force
in Kashmir politics. Apparently personal rivalry
with the leaders of the Conference Party made
him play the part he did. But a deeper meaning lies
hidden in all his activities. H e represents the anti-
revolution and is the mouthpiece of all reaction
and obscurantism. It has fallen to his lot to oppose
all that the leaders of the Kashmir movement have
done t o carry the people on their forward march.
When the movement was conducted on communal
lines, he came forward as the champion of the cause
of nationalism, condemned the Conference leaders
as Qadianis and worst types of communalists, sided
with Ahrars, invited Hindus t o join him and started
a progressive party known as the Azad Conference.
 THE MUSLIMS 2!59
When nationalism entered the portals of the Mus-
lim Conference and the leaders broad-based the
movement, the Mir Waiz became frankly and
avowedly communal in outlook, repudiated all his
previous slogans and declarations and charged his
rivals with having proved traitors t o the Muslim
community. Significantly enough, on both the
occasions, he pressed religion into service to prove
the veracity of his assertions.
A t present Mir Waiz Usuf Shah is accepted as
the destined leader of all the Muslim reactionaries.
H e failed to send even one of his candidates from
any constituency t o the State Assembly. But the
Government props him up. From time t o time per-
sons belonging to his party have been nominated as
members of the legislature. Muslims belonging to
the upper classes and afraid of the social and the
political revolution that the Kashmir movement
stands for, have looked to the Mir Waiz for
guidance and leadership. A t every time of change
and crisis, he and his party are bound t o side with the
Government and crush the Muslim masses in every
possible way.
The other Mir Waiz, of Khanqah-i-Mualla, re-
mained with the movement for a longer time, not so
much because he did not realise the declining power
of his influence as because the old rivalry had revived.
The Mir Waiz of the Jama Masjid being in the opposi-
tion, this Mir Waiz supported the movement. This
support was purchased by the leaders of the move-
ment at a great cost. In order to gratify him, the
movement gradually degenerated into a personal
260 INSIDE KASHMIR
fight between Mir Waiz Usuf Shah on the one side
and the leaders of the movement on the other. For
four years, more or less, Muslim politics became a
battle-field of politicians in which muck-raking and
mud-slinging were the chief weapons. But when
wise counsels prevailed and better days returned, the
non-religious politicians belonging to middle classes
refused to play this filthy game any more. From
1935 all activities were directed towards achieve-
ment of Responsible Government, Consequently
the Mir Waiz of Khanqah-i-Mualla began to look
small, and went slowly into the background, dwin-
dling into insignificance. H e and his few followers
managed to leave the ranks of the fighters. Like
his rival he also thenceforth played the role of a
reactionary, though in his own way. If the two Mir
Waizes ever join hands now, it will be t o oppose the
forward movement.
The party strife among the Muslims which was
a t its height in 1933 and continued right into the
middle of the year 1935, was unedifying for the
leaders of the popular movement. Their attention
was wholly absorbed in the factious fights. Vulgar
speeches and mean attacks were made by both the
parties against each other. The large masses had
already left the movement in 1932, but whatever
part of them still clung to it, were thoroughly
disgusted with this puerile behaviour of the leaders
in these personal rivalries and abandoned the
ranks. In 1933 the differences became so acute that
the Government intervened in order to maintain
law and order. O n 30th January, 1933, a serious
 THE MUSLIMS
scuffle took place in the Naqshband Shah's Mosque
where many people were injured. The police
arrested two men. Efforts were made by the Senior
Superintendent of Police t o bring the parties t o
some mutual understanding, and a sort of pact was
entered into by the respective leaders to cease
hostilities. But it did not halt, and no permanent
good relations could be established. O n 6th April,
the Id day, a terrible fracas took place in the Idgah
ground which was followed by skirmishes between
the adherents of the two Mir Waizes all over the
city. Nothing was left for the Government but t o
take some drastic action. They asked both the Mir
Waizes to furnish bonds of good behaviour under
Article 107, Indian Penal Code. Mir Waiz Usuf
Shah refused to do so and was arrested on the 27th
of April and imprisoned for one year. Subsequently,
however, he gave the required undertaking and was
released on 3rd May. But again the old process of
inflammatory speeches in public meetings against
each other was repeated. O n 17th May a volunteer
of the Muslim Conference Party died of the wounds
he had received iu a scuffle. His dead body was
carried in a big procession to the burial ground,
where exciting speeches were delivered. On 31st
May the Government arrested four leaders of the
Muslim Conference Party, and three of the Mir
Waiz Usuf Shah's party. As a result there were
disturbances all over the country, but they were
easily controlled by the Government. The people
had become sick of the dangerous rivalry of the
leaders and were unwilling to take any part in these
262 INSIDE KASHMIR
petty civil wars. In order t o prove their love for the
community and gain upper hand in politics, both the
parties became thoroughly communal in outlook and
created a dangerous political atmosphere in Kashmir
during 1933 and 1935. Petty problems of communal
nature were given great importance. Not infre-
quently disputes were raised with Hindus over
small patches of land. During this period no less
than fifty cases of disputed lands became the battle-
grounds between the communities, and riots threa-
tened. The rivalry between the Muslim parties lost
its fierceness as more and more people began to lose
interest in these personal quarrels, till a t last it died
down by the end of 1935 in its fierce personal form.
But the Muslim Conference Party did not have
smooth sailing. Having settled with the Mir
Waizes and given both of them a quietus by the end
of 1936, they wanted t o set their own house in order.
The fight that the party was conducting was essen-
tially political and economic ; but the organisation
was- run on religious and communal basis. It was
not therefore surprising that those sections of
Muslims who wanted to exploit the Conference for
their religious propaganda became disillusioned and
disappointed. Such, for instance, were the Ahmadis*
Consequently these people also became antagonistic
and left the Conference ranks.
Then there were many men who abandoned the
Conference on personal grounds. But I do not want
to make any mention of them.
Lastly there exists the provincial ~rejudice
between the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir. They
 THE MUSLIMS 263
differ in race, language and culture. Ordinarily
when the atmosphere is not surcharged with any
communal bitterness, these differences become quite
visible. The Muslims of the two provinces do not
like each other and they frankly express it. In the
matter of recruitment in services, Kashmir Muslims
frequently complain that their co-religionists of the
Jammu province have appropriated the lion's share.
This may or may not be so ; but one thing is true
that Dogra Muslims are recruited in the Army, the
doors of which are banged on the Muslims of
Kashmir. And that creates a great heart-burning.
The great crisis in the Muslim Conference came
when early in 1939 the name and the constitution of
the organisation was changed so as to accommodate
those non-Muslims who sincerely believed in the
cause of the freedom of motherland and were
prepared to fight for the establishment of Re-
sponsible Government under the banner of the
Conference. The Muslim Conference was re-
christened as National Conference and many Hindus
and Sikhs joined it. Evidently this was a far-reaching
change pregnant with great possibilities of develop-
ing a political consciousness in the masses. But if
Mir Waiz and his followers represent the upper
class force in the Kashmir politics, the present-day
Muslim leaders of the Conference Party represent
the - middle classes and petty bourgeoisie. Most of
them were frightened by the change and did not like
it. They were afraid of the non-Muslims and
suspected them, and their suspicions were not
en tirely baseless.
264 INSIDE KASHMIR
For the Muslim masses have not much to do
with the Kashmir movement a t present. It is
entirely a middle class movement. Now it must be
recognised that the middle classes of the Hindus are
in a better position, educationally and politically.
than the middle classes of the Muslims. They have
in certain respects the support of the Government.
When therefore the doors of the Muslim Confer-
ence, that is the middle class Muslim movement,
were thrown open to the non-Muslim middle classes
as well, the short-sighted and communal-minded
Muslim leaders cherished great doubts about their
future. At the present stage of development the
interests of the Muslim middle class and the Hindu
middle class clash with each other. If the movement
is t o remain what it is, not to develop on a broader
base, then it was certainly ill-started as it largely
proved to be. There being no mass pressure from
below, these Muslim leaders could think of the
movement in terms of a fight of the middle classes
against the Government for such petty issues as the
loaves and fishes of office. In this they knew that
the middle classes of the non-Muslims were on the
side of the Government rather than with the
Muslims. Not only that. The Hindu middle classes
are enjoying privileges and powers which the Mus-
lims do not have. In certain cases the Hindus do so
a t the expense of the Muslims. The question of
State services which I have already discussed is one
of such matters. So long as the Kashmir movement
represents exclusively the middle classes and fights
for their rights, it is difficult t o enlist the sympathies
 THE MUSLIMS 265
of most Hindus as they will not voluntarily like
t o surrender their vested interests for the better-
ment of the middle class Muslims. And the present-
day Muslim leaders of the movement desire nothing
else than this. They do not like their movement to
spread and widen so as t o bring the masses in it.
They lack in foresight and vision. They are the
creatures of the middle class and fight for their
welfare. In this they ultimately come into clash
with the middle classes of non-Muslims. Yet they
seek their co-operation ! Obviously they are muddle-
headed and are crying for the moon.
But there were a few, very few, Muslim leaders
who did not think so narrowly. They had a broader
vision and deeper insight. They did not think only
of the present; they thought of the future as well.
They realised that the movement was primarily for
the uplift of the masses and not for the upper or
middle classes. The problems of the middle classes,
they rightly thought, might appear big a t the
moment; but they were destined to go into the
background in the near future. They must take
time by the forelock and prepare the country for
great changes. Fortunately the most influential
leader of the Muslim Conference. S. M. Abdullah.
during those days sided with this small minority of
the patriotic Muslim statesmen. By sheer dint of his
popularity and personal canvassing they carried the
day, and the Muslim Conference was converted into
the National Conference. National cause had for
the moment triumphed ; but for the moment only, a s
we shall see later.
,266 INSIDE KASHMIR

The change brought about a disruption in the

Muslim politics. One by one a large number of
workers abandoned the Conference, joined the
-communal forces and opposed nationalism. The
Muslim press, though not very influential, became
antagonistic and inimical. Those who stood the
.ground firmly, including Mr. Abdullah himself, did
not remain unaffected by these desertions. They
feel confused and perplexed ; and, as a result, there
is a mess in the politics of the Muslims of the State.
Mussulrnans of the State are very backward.
Their leaders have failed to bring a broad-minded-
ness and wise statesmanship t o bear on the national
problems of their motherland. Matters of trivial
nature, though not quite small when considered by
themselves, yet certainly of no consequence when
compared with bigger problems confronting the
masses, absorb their sole thought and misiead them.
Neighbourhood of the Punjab and the pernicious
influence of the communal and reactionary politics
of that province is not a littlc t o blame for this.
Though it is of utmost importance and in their own
interest that they should avoid any friction with
non-Muslim sister communities and make their best
endeavours t o win their goodwill by inspiring con-
fidence in them in order that nation-wide movement
may be launched to achieve Responsible Government
in the State, yet often the Muslim leaders come
down from the high plane of nationalism to a low
sphere where petty communal issues are discussed
and a gulf of estrangement is created between them
and the non-Muslims. Unfortunately they are not
 THE MUSLIMS 267

clever and intelligent enough t o put the opponents

in the wrong, which the latter are usually doing with
respect to them. I have seen Hindus, especially some
Kashmiri Pandit leaders, presenting their most
communal demands in such a manner as t o deceive
the best of nationalists for the moment. Muslims
feel this keenly and, instead of learning the art of
diplomacy, their bitterness becomes more acute.
This drives them towards communalism which
ultimately harms them, t o the great relief of the
non-Muslim communal leaders. These conditions
will prevail so long as the present leadership among
the Muslims is what it is and does not learn
statesmanship and diplomacy, or does not change,
yielding place to a new leadership. I hope I shall
not be misunderstood. I do not wish that they
should become adepts in playing vile tricks. But
they should not spoil their case by foolish acts born
of thoughtlessness.
In this connection I think it would be better to
mention the three problems which are undoubtedly
of some importance and have engaged the attention
of the Muslim leaders from time to time. First,
the question of the distribution of the Government
Services, which has already been discussed. Secondly,
there is the Cow Slaughter Law, according to which
any one (always a Muslim) has to undergo an
imprisonment for the offence of killing or injuring a
cow or abetting in it. This law is barbarous, and the
entire Muslim male population of a village may be
tortured by the police when making enquiries and
investigations of a case of this nature. Strangely
268 INSIDE KASHMIR
enough, Hindus do not themselves treat cows
quite cordially and affectionately, but they hold that
the animal being sacred in their eyes, their religious
susceptibilities are wounded by molestation of the
cow. There is no doubt that they have very old
sentiments about this animal. The matter is,
therefore, very delicate, and Muslim leaders with
any sense of statesmanship would deal with it cau-
tiously. They would bide their time. But woeful
short-sightedness, no less than childish impatience
on their part, makes them forget often the main
problem of Responsible Government, and take up
this question only to endanger public peace and
commuual unity by antagonising the Hindus.
When in his Presidential Address to the fifth
annual session of the Muslim Conference Mr. S. M.
Abdullah raised this question in 1937, I advised him
not t o do so. I opined that the question of amend-
ment of the Cow Slaughter Law paled into insignifi-
cance in the face of bigger issues which were
really important. The Muslim Conference Party,
which was the largest and the only progres-
sive political party in the State, should not there-
fore have raised this controversial religious matter.
It was unstatesmanlike on their part to do so.
S. M. Abdullah raised the controversy, with the
results I had foreseen. As a reaction t o the
demand of the Muslims there was an agitation in the
Jammu province, where Hindus and Sikhs live in
larger numbers, against a judgment of the High Court
in a cow slaughter case. They committed deliberate
contempt of court and defied laws of the State by
 THE MUSLIMS 269
resorting to satyagraha in August 1937. Many of
them were arrested and imprisoned. It was con-
tended by the Sikhs and Hindus that this was deli-
berate misinterpretation of the clear provisions of
the law by a High Court presided over by a Muslim
judge, not particularly noted for his legal acumen.
Cow slaughter is an offence by itself under the
Penal Law of the State. So long as the law stands,
the High Court cannot legally get round it by
entertaining mitigating circumstances unwarranted
by the law of the land ; for instance, the plea that the
offence was committed in the dark and there could
have been no intention of offending the religious
susceptibilities of the Hindu neighbours. So far as
the law of the land goes, the case of the Sikhs and
Hindus was unimpeachable, and the judgment had to
be modified to this extent. One may of course
sincerely dislike the law.
While dealing with this problem it must be re-
cognised by Hindus that no religious sentiment can
live during the modern times which has to be
protected by such stringent regulation as the Cow
Slaughter Law which is in force in the State. I
believe that Hindu Dharma has enough inherent
strength to withstand even the buffets of adverse
circumstances, and it does not need the support of
such severe laws. Cow protection cannot be repug-
nant to followers of any religion, if it is not imposed
harshly. W e cannot ignore facts and grim realities.
Kashmir is predominantly Mussulman and a law, if it
is to work smoothly and remain on the Statute
Book, must command the willing consent of at least
270 INSIDE KASHMIR
the saner section in that majority. I am fully con-
scious of the fact that the sentiment in this case is
so deep-rooted that no Hindu with any grain of
religious fervour left in him can tolerate slaughter of
cows without feeling immense mental pain. But the
sentence of ten years' rigorous imprisonment for the
offence, irrespective of the fact whether the crime
was committed with the intention of wounding the
religious susceptibilities of Hindu neighbours or not,
is certainly very harsh. Is it not unjust that the
Hindus who do not keep their own cows quite nice-
ly should escape the provisions of this law altogether
and yet demand that the law should remain as string-
ent as it is ?
But the path of the far-seeing Muslim leader and
wise statesman is clear. Let us listen to what
Pandit Jawahar La1 Nehru wrote t o me on 23rd
October, 1937, on the subject :
" Whatever the rights and wrongs of this particular issue
might be, it is perfectly clear that it is a very secondary issue
compared to the major political and economic issue before the
State. It is a sign of political backward~essof the Mussulmans
and the Hindus in the State t o lay so much stress on this secon-
dary issue. Prima facie, it seems t o me obvious that a punish-
ment of ten years is monstrous. I t is also obvious t h a t the cattle
problem is essentially an economic problem and must be
tackled as such. I suppose the present law laying down this
tremendous punishment for cow slaughter wlll have to be chang-
ed as i t is absurd in the modern world. Nevertheless the
raising of such issues a t this stage diverts attention from the
major issues and is therefore not be commended. It seems to
me a great pity that t h e movement in Kashmir to gain addi-
tional freedom has a definite communal tinge. I wish it gave
up this communal garb and stood for firm nationalist colours."
 THE MUSLIMS 271.
The third problem of the law of inheritance is*
not so important. It is a law which affects the civil
liberties of all people more than the Muslims. No>
apostate from one religion to another is allowed to
inherit ancestral property. As Islam is a proselytis-
ing religion and as very few Muslims adopt Hindu-
ism. Mussulmans have made it a grievance of their
own. The finding of the Grievances Enquiry
Commission in this behalf was as follows :
" I t must be remembered t h a t the question at issue before
the Com~nissionis not whether the law in British India or else-
where is in theory the most ideal. The function of the Commission
is t o decide whether a definite grievance exists, and, if so, to
make recommendations for its redress. The issue may therefore
be stated as follows. Have the Muslims of Jamnlu and Icashmir
any legitimate grievance in the fact that the State law relating
t o the consequences of apostasy is based upon the religious laws
o? Hinduism and Islam ? To this question i t would appear t h a t
there can be one answer. The answer is in the negative."

Broadly speaking there are two forces working.

at present among Muslims. There are the National-
ists who stand for political change and progress
without any considerations of caste or creed, and are
desirous of securing equality in every walk of life
for all. Theirs is the National Conference about
which I shall have t o say a good deal in a subsequent
chapter. There are the Muslim communalists. It
is a heterogenous mass composed of all those parties.
and personalities who have Ieft the movement
from its very inception for political differences
or on personal grounds. They include Usuf Shahis,.
the Ahmadis, the followers of Mir Waiz
Khanqah-i-Mualla, the middle class communal
 INSIDE KASHMIR
leaders of different shades of opinion, and the per-
sonal enemies of the Conference workers. At
present these people are struggling t o solidify them-
selves. In spite of their best efforts they were not
able t o bold an open session which was announced
a t Kotli. Though all of them have declared their
resolve to oppose the " pernicious doctrine " of
Nationalism and support the party which is brought
i n t o existence to represent Muslims on communal
lines, it appears difficult that these diverse elements
with [different ideologies will coalesce. Obviously
the interests of the various parties now in opposition
to the national thought lie in different directions.
A communal movement among the Muslims, if it is to
be successful, will be entirely a middle class move-
ment and divested of the mass support it cannot
remain very radical in outlook. It will ultimately
rest on the goodwill and support that it gets from the
Government. For the moment communalists appear
t o be more radical. They vehemently oppose the
Hindus and the Government alike, and in this they
c a n beat the nationalist Muslim leaders.
Oddly enough, the Usuf Shahis, the communal
Muslims and the Nationalists, none of whom can
honestly claim to represent the Muslim masses truly.
all speak in their name and on their behalf and
pretend t o be influenced by them. It is highly
significant that Muslims of Kashmir, in spite of
their overwhelming majority, have demanded
separate electorates, in all kinds of elections !
The leaders of the Kashmir movement have paid
n o attention t o the social upliftment of the MU-
 THE MUSLIMS 273
lims. Not a single national school or a college has
been started t o educate young men on healthier
lines. Three denominational high schools started
before theyear 1931exist to impart education to boys,
which is in no way better than that obtaining in
Government Schools. One of these High Schools at
Anantnag is under direct supervision of a well-
known Conference leader, M. A. Beg. I can see no
necessity of running these schools if the products do
not have the patriotic spirit and love for freedom t o
form the vanguard of the forces for progress.
Nothing has been done to help the people in
the countryside to break through the degrading
customs of wasteful expenditure on weddings and
.other social celebrations. No effort is made to
teach the masses the laws of hygiene and sanitation.
Cleanliness is unknown among the poorer classes of
the Muslims, yet no public worker considers it his
duty to work among them to make them clean. No
thought has been bestowed on the emancipation of
women, whose condition in Kashmir cries for an
immediate change. The idea of social reform has
never entered the brain of the Muslim leaders.
During six months of the year the entire peasant
population is out of employment, yet no Muslim
leader considers it a part of his duty to formulate a
programme for them and utilise their time for any
constructive work. As a matter of fact this side of
the movement has been entirely ignored. Muslim
leaders only know to deliver speeches, and they are
a t their best when there is a stir. When conditions
are normal, they find themselves unemployed and
274 INSIDE KASHMIR

time hangs heavy on them. This is one of the

reasons why the movement came to a stop as soon as
the exciting times were over.
Muslim patriots, lovers of freedom and fighters
for the independence of their motherland, do not
take any pride in the past glory of their country. To
a Muslim the history of Kashmir begins from the day
the rule of the valley was taken over by the alien
Muslim kings. In view of the fact that almost all the
Muslims of Kashmir are descendants of the old
Hindu inhabitants, this is rather surprising. To tell
the truth, most of the Muslims feel embarrassed
when they are reminded of this fact. They would
like t o obliterate the part of their history which re-
lates t o the period when they were Hindus and had
not yet embraced Islam. A Kashmir Mussalman
knows nothing about such eminent historical figures
of his country as Lalitaditya or Avantivarman,
Vinayaditya or Queen Dida. H e has no know-
ledge of the philosophical and literary treasures
that have been left behind by great writers and
geniuses mentioned in chapter I, some of whom can
easily compare with the classical authors of interna-
tional fame. A n educated Kashmir Muslim knows
the history of Arabia and the countries which accept-
ed Islam, he can even tell you about the rise and fall
of some such non-Muslim empires as Iran with
beaming eyes and a glow on his face. H e feels
proud of all these heroic exploits of the Muslim
kings with whom he has nothing in common except
the faith which his forefathers accepted long after
the kings were dead and gone. H e even feels pride
 THE MUSLIMS
in non-Muslim heroes of Muslim countries in the
pre-Islamic times. But the history of his own heroes
is unknown t o him. H e considers it unnecessary t o
learn anything about them. This attitude of mind
born of religious bigotism vitiates his sense of
patriotism. Muslims must become admirers of their
past and take legitimate pride in the g r e a t y s s of
their ancestors and ancient institutions of their
country before they can claim to own the land
which they inherited from them. This does not
mean that they should give up their religion or the
study of the history of Islam. No one can deny the
debt Kashmir owes t o Islam. Fanatics among
Hindus may say anything they like, but it is undeni-
able that the services rendered by the new faith a t
the time when Hinduism had become bankrupt in
Kashmir and had lost its moral stamina, were inesti-
mable. If the soul of the people was not lost, it
was not a little due to the moral regeneration
brought about by this new virile faith. So what is
needed is that blind love of religionshould not make
the Muslims prejudiced to the extent of forgetting
the glorious past of their motherland. The Muslim
of Kashmir needs a leader to teach him such a
lesson. For the present it is a sad irony that while
the patriots of Persia should make efforts to revive
the Pahalvi art and literature, which belongs to a
period when Islam was unknown in that country,
the Muslims of Kashmir would like to thrust Persian
script not only on the Muslims but on the unwilling
Hindus also.
An average Mussalman is an unsophisticated
276 INSIDE KASHMIR
human being. Long oppression and maltreatment
have killed all sense of self-respect in him. There
are two traits of his character which every well-
6b
wisher of a Hatoo" must point out. His almost
inveterate habit of lying and want of personal clean-
liness. H e has developed his lying into the art of,
what is known in Kashmiri, as "damb." This connotes
a peculiar kind of prevarication and specious
arguments in justification of his lies, when he is
found out. But he is extremely grateful for any small
good turn done to him. H e is hard working and
capable of rendering great sacrifices. He has been
much abused by the officials of the Government and
the mullahs of Islam. These exploiters have now
new allies in the communal leaders. The Kashmir
Muslim is not a bigot at heart. Ordinarily he loves
his Hindu neighbour. B u t he is very backward.
His backwardness has disappointed many a patriot ;
for unscrupulous people have not been wanting
among Muslim leaders who have taken an undue
advantage of this backwardness and killed his urge
for great political and social changes which was
born largely of economic need. If tbe present
ideological confusion in Kashmir politics, especially
among Muslim leaders, is cleared and efforts are
made t o rally the masses under the standard of
freedom, I have no doubt in my mind that the
Kashmir Muslims are sure t o give a good and
honourable account of themselves.
 CHAPTER XI
The Minorities
The problem of minorities in Kashmir is a diffi-
cult one, more difficult than i t is in British India
where the majority community is Hindu, and the
principal minority is Muslim, but the rulers are
Christians. So long as India remains religion-ridden
this difference in the respective faiths of the rulers
on the one side and all the ruled on the other is a
great sentimental advantdge to the fighters for free-
dom of India. This is not so in the case of Kashmir
or Hyderabad. While the vast majority of the
people of the State is Muslim as in Kashmir or
Hindu as in Hyderabad, the Hindu or Muslim mino-
rity has a unity of religion with the ruler of the land.
Religious sentiment, therefore, plays an important
part in the politics of the State. The Muslims
believe that the Hindus as a class cannot wish ill of
a monarchical system of Government which is
headed by one of their co-religionists. Non-Muslim
public workers possessing transparent patriotism
and sincerity have been maligned and dubbed as
278 INSIDE KASHMIR
supporters of the irresponsible Government only
because they profess the same religion as the
Maharaja. The fire of their love for Responsible
Government has often been extinguished by the
water of suspicious whisperings in the Muslim camp.
O n the other hand, the Hindus, by and large, have
always suspected even some of the best Muslim
patriots t o be no more than intriguers hatching up
designs t o end the Hindu Raj. Whole audiences
composed of thousands of people have been mis-
directed by slogans " Remember Pathan Raj ";
famished Hindu masses have been quietened and
quietened successfully many a time with a sermon
that it is better t o live in starvation under Hindu
Absolutism than to work for bringing about Respon-
sible Government which will be dominated by
Muslims. Of course there is little of logic in all
this O n either side it is the narrow-minded middle
class politician who speaks. The masses when they
awaken will neither care for the one nor for the
other. They will reconstruct the society according
t o their own needs and as will suit them best. The
future Government of the people will be dominated
by them and the considerations of caste and creed
will come to an end. But a t the moment the stage
is entirely occupied by the bourgeoisie and so the
problem of the religious minorities exists and must
receive our attention.
But religion alone does not enter into the politics
of the minorities. As in the case of the Muslims,
provincial bias and racial animosity play a prominent
part in the affairs of the Hindus. The uneven
 THE MINORITIES 279
development of the different classes and the educa-
t ~ o n a l backwardness of some of them are factors
which must be considered. Then the favoured
position of the Rajputs very much complicates the
matter. In order to be able t o understand the
present-day Kashmir politics and have a full grasp
of the problem of minorities, it is necessary that the
internal politics of all these sections of the people of
the State is studied in some detail.
(1) Kashmiri Pandits
"Long before the Mussulmans of Kashmir had become
politically conscious, it was Kashmiri Pandits who fought for
modernism in administration. It was they who first raised the
cry of Kashmir for Kashrniris. It was they who first demanded
a legislature, a free press and a free platform. They cannot
today go back on their nationalism and repudiate these and
other essentials of good Government."
(Kashmiri Pandits' memorial submitted lo His Highness
the Maharaja Bahadur in September 1931.)
In a population of 36 lakhs of people a
minority composed of 52,697 souls does not
ordinarily matter very much. In normal circum-
stances the attitude of 1'5 per cent of the people
does not seriously affect the politics of a country.
Yet it must be admitted that Kashmiri Pandits who
form such a microscopic minority figure promi-
nently and loom large in the affairs of the
Kashmir State. " They are a problem who remain
seriously t o be tackled," said Sir Albion Banerji
in 1929, and they continue t o be that serious problem
even now.
Kashmiri Pandits are the most highly educated
260 INSIDE KASHMIR
community in the State. No one who had to say
something about Kashmir has missed them. They
have been regarded as intelligent and clever. In a
letter Sir B. J. Glancy wrote t o me that he consider-
ed them as the most intelligent community in the
whole of India. They are handsome, clean and
decent. The.ir frugality is proverbial and they can
do with a penny where another man will require
three. But they can spend in order t o maintain a
certain good form. They lack the bania ways
and are not as good a t laying by for future use. A
well-to-do Kashmiri Pandit enjoys good food and
entertaining company. They have a very developed
class consciousness and while individually they will
bitterly complain against one another. at the time of
crisis. imaginary or real. they will. to the surprise of
all, unite like one man. They have displayed wonder-
ful compactness in the past. All other commun'ities,
Muslims including. have felt jealous of this trait of
character and have vainly tried to divide them.
Kashmiri Pandits have a glorious past. They
take unbounded and legitimate pride in the Kashmir
that was. T o them the religious places of their
motherland are more sacred than the holy shrines
of the outside Hindu world. A Pandit adores his
native Ganges, his own Prayag, and worships his own
ancestral gods. The history of the heroes of
ancient Kashmir sends a thrill of joy through his
whole being and he is never weary of extolling the
greatness of Shaivism, the school of philosophy which
was born in his own land. Kashmiri Pandits are the
regpositories of the old culture of this country.
 THE MINORITIES 281
Sharda, the local script of Sanskrit language, is still
used by the Pandits and their horoscopes are stilb
written in it. Whatever may be his present attitude
towards Kashmir politics, a Pandit is intensely
devoted to the land of his birth. Under economic
stress he may leave his native land to earn his living.
elsewhere, but he will never cease t o be a Kashmiri
Pandit, never cease to love his land of birth, as the
land of his forefathers. His ties with the country of
his forefathers do not take root so much in
religion as they do in patriotism. A Kashmiri Pandit
is equally proud of the greatness of Zain-ul-Abidin
and Akbar. H e tries to forget the hardships that he
had to undergo during the Muslim and Mughal rule.
But he has nothing but hatred for the Pathan rule
and relates the barbarities and the atrocities of that
period with utter disgust.
Till three decades ago Kashmiri Pandits read
Persian a s court language and had come to love it.
An old Kashmiri Pandit reads the Persian poetry of
the native poets with great relish. H e is an ardent
admirer of Ghani and Munshi Bhavani Das Kachru.
With modern education this has changed t o a great
extent.
Political persecution through many centuries has.
made Kashmiri Pandits cunning, crafty and garrulous.
They are never weary of debatingover a subject and,
like Goldsmith's village schoolmaster, even though
vanquished they will argue still. You can never
subdue them by arguments, at any rate. where their
interests are concerned. Unhappily some of them
can be mischievous and can harm their opponents.
282 INSIDE KASHMIR
A Kashmiri Pandit can be clever a t intrigue and
diplomacy ; and many Kashmiri Pandits have risen
t o high posts in British India on account of their
ready wit and tact.
Kashmiri Pandits are great organisers. Offices
.-ofthe Govern'ment and big business firms have been
p u t on a sound footing and well established by
Pandit 'subordinates. Given the assurance of a
monthly salary, high or low, a Kashmiri Pandit will
work like a bee and produce wonderful results,
-surprising even for the owner of the concern. But
he needs supervision. Centuries of slavery have
.deprived him of initiative and made him satisfied
with the lot where safety is recompense enough for
-freedom n o t unoften attended with risks and adven-
tures, and where petty corruption is profitable. It is
:seldom that a business partnership between Kashmiri
Pandits succeeds ; and there have been cases when
they have been disloyal or dishonest.
Economically Pandits are neither starving nor
surfeiting. Barring a few jagirdars and big land-
lords, almost all of them belong t o the middle class.
I have never heard of a Pandit dying of starvation
.or want of proper clothing. There are undoubtedly
.some destitute widows or orphans who are living
miserable lives, but the community does not entirely
ignore them. Either individual philanthropists or
aome communal organisations feel i t their duty to
support them. But the most potent influence for
good in this respect is the joint family system and a
peculiar sense of family self-respect and pride.
T h e main sources of income of the communit~
 THE MINORITIES 283
are Government service, business, or lands. The
best brains of the Pandits are absorbed in the offices
of the Government, stagnating for want of good use ;
rotting for want of opportunity to develop. As
there are n o other avenues outside Government
service as secure as this, Pandits hesitate to leave
these ranks. The great aspiration of a Pandit
young man is to secure a Government job. From
his very birth he is trained for " Service." Mothers
bless their sons, purohits their jajmans and all elders
their young folk, that they may get jobs and promo-
tions. And the job usually aspired to is a clerkship in
a n office. I have yet t o know a Kashmiri Pandit who
would voluntarily give up a Government job, how-
ever low, to serve his country. This is a slur on his
patriotism.
This service mentality is very old among the
Pandits. As clerks and accountants, they have
served the country throughout ages. The Emperor
Aurangzeb, not a willing admirer of Hindu superiority
in any walk of life, once bitterly complained that his
accounts would not be in a muddle, only if he could
get hold of a Kashmiri Pandit Accountant. During the
Pathan and Sikh times Pandits carried on creditably
the work in the offices. They learnt the court langu-
age with a promptitude a11 their own andeven became
scholars in the languages of their foreign rulers.
W h e n during the period of Dogras, English became
the common language of correspondence through-
out India and it began to be introduced in the
Government offices in Kashmir, they were the first
to learn it. Having done so they had t o wage a
284 INSIDE KASHMIR
determined struggle against non-State subjects who
were in occupation Qf the offices. But the Dogra
rulers never encouraged them. on the contrary they
stopped their growth beyond a limit. " A confession
of the policy followed by the Government with
regard to Kashmiri Pandits is contained in a note
recorded several years ago by the then Superinten-
dent of Game Preservation Department on the case
of a Kashmiri Pandit : that the candidate was most
suitable but that he was a Pandit and that was his
disqualification." thus said the spokesman of Kashmiri
Pandits in his memorial to the Grievances Enquiry
Commission. " ~ a d h m i r iPandits who are a highly
educated community and represent the intellectual
class are, in a sense, depressed, because they get no
opportunity of rising either in Government Service
or in any other field of useful activity such as indus-
try or commerce ; with the result that they are also
discontented and present a problem which requires
to be seriously tackled." said Sir Albion Banerji in
his famous interview in March 1929. They have,
therefore. mostly remained a community of clerks.
Pandits are middle class men. Government
Service has been and continues t o be an economic
6b
problem for them. Kashmiri Pandits have no love
for the petty clerkship and even for Government
service. For our sister communities it may be a
matter of political ambition, a matter of voice in the
Government. but with us it is a question of to be or
not to be. It is our acute economic distress that
makes us cling to the Government posts." so said the
spokesman in his memorial just mentioned. The
 THE MINORITIES 285
vocal and vociferous among Pandits are employed in
Government jobs. As soon as they find that some
other section of the people are attempting to dis-
place them from their present position in the office,
they raise a terrific howl and until the danger goes
out of sight they do not cease their propaganda, which
takes manifold forms. The advantageous position
in the offices even as lower grade clerks, does give
them some political power. They are fully informed
about official activities and, in certain cases, even
well-guarded secrets. Then again the case of a
Pandit is expeditiously disposed of and dealt with in
an office where they are in a majority than that of a
non-Pandit who has not unoften to face many incon-
veniences a t the hands of clerks. The history
of Pandits, nay, the history of the State itself, to a
large extent, might have been quite different from
what i t is, if they had not held this dominant posi-
tion in the offices of the Government. But, as it is,
the Pandits have become an eye-sore to the educated
classes belonging to the other communities living in
the State. They have, every now and then, bitterly
complained against their preponderance. This bitter-
ness becomes acute when the educated young men
of all other communities realise that they cannot
easily and successfully compete with young men of
the Pandit community.
A large number of educated Pandits is unem-
ployed. It was definitely proved before the Dalal
Committee that the number of unemployed Pandits
'

is five times as large as educated Mohammedans

who may be employed in Government Service.
286 INSIDE KASHMIR
Pandits therefore insist that while making appoint-
ments to Government jobs superior merit alone
should count. The Pandits say : " Our community
cannot grudge other people entering State service
in large numbers, provided they are not admitted
through the back door of favouritism and do not
claim immunity from open competition ." They
conveniently forget that if this principle is strictly
followed, little chance will be left for the members
of other communities to enter Government Services.
Of course, from a purely national point of view,
their contention is highly sound and quite correct.
But in India no political problem can be satisfactorily
solved if different communal viewpoints are not
taken into consideration. Pandits themselves, for
instance, would be the last to accept unadulterated
nationalism in the matter of representation to legis-
lature and municipalities of the State. Under the
present conditions when the atmosphere is surcharg-
ed with communalism, there is not a ghost of a
chance for the Pandits t o get even one seat either in
the legislature or any municipal or town area
committee if the system of communal representa-
tion is done away with. From the day a demand has
been made by the nationalists that joint electorates
with adult suffrage should be introduced, the de-
mand of Pandit Nationalism in services has been
exposed. The Pandit leaders have expressed them-
selves against any system of joint electorates. From
these facts it is quite obvious that the Pandit point
of view in the matter of Services is not based on
the professed claim of nationalism but is in reality
 THE MINORITIES 287
communalism masquerading as nationalism.
But one fact which has been lost in the welter
of controversies about the services must be men-
tioned in passing and in fairness to them. There i s
a widespread but entirely groundless belief in official
as well as non-official circles that Pandits have
monopolised the Government services or, at any
rate, they are there in larger numbers than they are
entitled to. There is no doubt that their own tact-
lessness and foolish activities have been in no little
measure responsible for the spread of this belief.
Strangely enough, the majority of Pandits themselves
are under this impression. But the truth is other-
wise.
I have already recognised that Pandits do hold
a dominant position in the offices of the Government.
But offices are not the only place where Government
has to offer jobs. If the position of the Pandits with
regard t o Government Services is to be decided, it
will be reasonable and just that the services are
considered as a whole and not only a part of them.
Now, the Pandits are not taken into Military ser-
vices. The doors of His Highness' Army have been
banged upon them. Thus out of about 23 thousand
odd posts in the gift of the State they can have
absolutely no share in more than seven thousand.
According to Sir Albion Banerji they get no chance
of rising in Government Service. After making
relevant enquiries in this behalf, the Glancy Corn-
mission wrote :
"Kashmiri Pandits complain that out of 763 gazetted
appointments in the State their community holds only 74
388 INSIDE KASHMIR
including 17 Pandit olliccrs i~nport.edfrom British lndia or
,eleewhcre. Though this representation compares favourably
with the case of Kashrnir Muslirrls whose nurnber of gazetted
-appointments is reported to be only ten, it is certairzlg ,not a high
,proportton." (Italics aline)
The Commissioners added :
" It is claimed t h a t , ttlthough
scl~olarshipshave been
110

specifically reserved for Ktlsll~lliriPtindits, over fifty per cent

of their numbers are literate-a far higher percentage than that
obtaining in any other conimunity: that ministerial work is
their hereditary occupation and that they have no other
means of subsistence readily available. There i s certainly force
i n this cotatention." (Italics mine).

The actual figures oi Pandits in the non-gazet-

tedgrades of the civil departments were not collected
.by the Glancy Commission, but they have been non-
officially estimated. During the hey-day of their
glory the Pandits did not hold more than 15 per cent
of these jobs. Considering what the Glancy Com-
mission admitted about the helpless position of the
Pandits, this again is not a high proportion, certainly
n o t a proportion that should make them a target of
constant attack from all sides. The literacy figures
of the male population of every community in the
.State must count in this respect: 63 per cent of
Kashmiri Pandit males are literate as against 15 per
cent of other Hindus, 8 per cent of Buddhists, 3 per
cent of Muslims, 21 per cent of Sikhs, 11 per cent of
Rajputs, 3.5 per cent of Kashmiri Muslims, and 1.4
per cent of the Meghs. " Thus it will be seen that,
far from enjoying any monopoly or position of ad-
vantage in Government Service, Pandits have never
received what was their due by dint of merit."
 THE MINORITIES 289

But the Pandit leadership is not a little t o

blame for the ill-feeling which has been created i n
non-Pandit quarters against them. As I said above.
the best minds and brains of Pandits are in Govern-
ment Service. They are the silently vocal sections
in the community. Others engaged in different
pursuits such as commerce and land have little say
in the political affairs of the country. Pandit
Government officials immensely influence the
leadership of the Pandits. The Pandit masses. (if I
may take the liberty of calling other Pandits by
that name) must and do sacrifice their own interests
t o safeguard the interests of these official Pandits.
Pandits have a representative organisation
called the Sanatana Dharama Young Men's Associa-
tion. It was founded in 1925 for religious purposes
but became actively engaged in politics from 1931.
At present the President of this body is Pandit Shiv
Narayan Fotedar, a gentleman who is thoroughly
official-ridden and cannot see the interests of his
community beyond the appointment of unemployed
young m2n on petty Government jobs or the promo-
tions and transfers of those who are already in these
Services. The Association runs a daily journal, the
Martand, which faithfully carries out the policy
of the President. It is a paradox that such a highly
educated and intelligent community as Kashmiri
Pandits should allow a paper to circulate in their
name which is incorrect in language, circumscribed
in outlook, and narrow-minded. By preaching a
hymn of hate during the whole course of its exis-
tence. the Martand has done more harm than
290 INSIDE KASHMIR
good to the cause of the Pandits. By its irrespon-
sible and unintelligent writings it has confirmed the
belief that the Pandits do really hold a dominant
position in the services which is, all things consider-
ed, not the case.
Few Kashmiri Pandits are tillers of the soil. All
those who own lands are absentee landlords. The
real nature of the middle class Muslim movement
becomes further evident by the fact that while
attacking Kashmiri Pandits, the Muslim leaders have
never raised their little finger against these absentee
landlords but always made Pandit clerks the target
of their denunciation. By taking absentee landlords
t o task they would have supported the demand of
t h e Muslim peasantry but a t the same time depriv-
ed their own class also of a vested interest, a thing
which they would never like t o do. Besides, it
presupposed an active support of the masses to the
movement, which is entirely lachng.
I t is a tragedy too deep for tears that the
Pandits, who were the fittest and most competent
t o lead the democratic movement against absolutism
in the beginning and were actually the men who de-
manded modernism in Government before 1931,
should have played a most reactionary part in the
struggle after that year. There is no doubt that the
communal disturbances of 1931 produced a strong
reaction in their minds. But it must be remembered
that Pandits themselves contributed not a little to
the causes which ultimately resulted in communal
disturbances. Had they been sagacious enough to
bring a generous mind to bear upon the demands
 THE MINORITIES 291
and the grievances of the Muslims on the eve of the
agitation of 1931, matters should not have come to
this pass and the relations bet ween the communities
should have been much happier, to the benefit of
Kashmiri Pandits themselves. But as soon as the
middle class Muslims exploited the mass movement
and demanded a share in Government Services on
the basis of population and communalism, Pandits
took fright and became the champions of Hindu
communalism and defenders of the Hindu Raj. They
were equipped with powers to do it intelligently.
They played the historic role of anti-revolution t o a
finish and played it also only too well. At one
time they joined hands with Usuf Shah to do so,
and were supremely successful in saving those
classes and sections of the people whom the revolu-
tion would have severely hit. In doing so they
damaged their own cause. They have created a gulf
between themselves and the masses which it is not
easy t o bridge over.
The official politics of the Pandits during the
last ten years has been most disappointing for all
patriots. They have firmly stood against all kinds of
political progress. They have played the part of
political obscurantists. By their deeds, too numer-
ous to be mentioned in the brief space a t my dis-
posal, they have proved to the hilt that they were
never so happy as when the progressive elements in
body-politic were ruthlessly suppressed. It is true that
these elements were mixed u p with fanatical com-
munalism, yet it is true also that while professing t o
oppose Muslim communalism, they have set their
292 INSIDE KASHMIR
face against all advance. They do not seem to
realise that their ultimate interest lies with the
masses, though the progress of the Muslim masses
may be inimical to their present middle class posi-
tion. As their interests have tended to make them
side with the Government generally, the Muslims
have deemed the Kashmiri Pandits synonymous with
the authorities. A fight against the Government
has taken the form of a fight with the Pandits. The
Government has taken the fullest advantage of this
position and utilised the resourcefulness of the com-
munity to its utmost, which has been offered to it
very cheap. Thus i t was that what the official ma-
chinery of propaganda could not achieve in mislead-
ing the outside world and subduing the people at
home during the days of many trials and tribulations,
was done by the facile pen and the glib tongue of
the Pandits. Quaintly enough there is hardly a
Pandit young man who has been in the college and
does not profess to be a socialist, though most of
them know next to nothing about it. Pandit
young men feel no qualms of conscience in
supporting their own communal movement while
they think they are the best nationalists in the
country.
Kashmiri Pandits have a knack of presenting their
case in such a way as to attract attention and create
sympathy. Individual cases can become communal
matters and communal problems assume national
importance when Pandits are involved. Of course,
very few really intelligent people can be deceived by
this ;but many a time the purpose of putting the
 THE MINORITIES
Muslims in a wrong by this method has been
successfully achieved.
But to know only this much about Pandits
would be only t o know one side of the picture. It is
true that this is the official policy and programme of
t h e community so far as the Sanatam Dharma Young
Men's Association and the Martand represent
them. Happily, however, progressive elements are
not totally absent in the community. It would be
rather surprising in the highest degree if in such a
highly educated and intelligent class no one would
espouse the cause of nationalism and progress, even
in circumstances both internal and external that
madz their existence well-nigh impossible. Such
elements have always been there though, till the
,days when Muslim politics received a new orienta-
tion in 1936 and was changed from communalism to
nationalism they were rather latent. Efforts have
been made from so early a time as 1934 to revolu-
tionise the mentality of the Pandits and wean
them away from the pernicious influence of the
official class. Liberal Pandit young men have open-
ly joined hands with Muslim patriots. Their sphere
of influence has been increasingly widening. In the
agitation of September 1938 a bout sixty educated
and eminent Pandit public workers went t o jail and
suffered in many other ways for the cause of Re-
sponsible Government. It is significant enough that
they were all condemned by the Martand and
the communal Pandit leaders as renegades and
traitors to their community. But a rift has perma-
nently taken place among them. The Young Men's
 INSIDE KASHMIR
Association is not a force that it once was. Unem-
ployed Pandit young men whose number, already
too large, is growing from year t o year. are going
over t o the side of the nationalists. They have
begun t o realise that the present system of irrespon-
sible Government cannot solve their problem. They
are sick of the extant social order. There are others
who though well-established in life feel intellec-
tually satisfied that a drastic change is necessary for
the progress of the motherland. They feel that
forces have developed and are working for this
change. Nothing can stop them. It will be futile
and dangerous for the Pandits to stem the tide.
Unlike that of the Muslims the record of
Kashmiri Pandits in the sphere of social reform is
creditable and praiseworthy. They have not only
upheld the tradition of being the most highly
educated community in the State but have also been
pioneers in spreading education in the valley. The
whole machinery of the Education Department of
the Government has mainly been run with the ser-
vices of low-paid Pandit teachers. Almost the
whole staff of the Mission Schools in Srinagar and
other towns is composed of Pandits. When the
Muslims started private enterprise to spread educa-
tion in their own community, they had to requisi-
tion the services of the educated Pandits, which
were voluntarily offered and joyously given. The
Dalal Committee passed very adverse comments on
the patriotism of Muslims when i t was brought to
their notice that the educated Muslims preferred
Government jobs to service in the Islamia Schools
 THE MINORITIES 295
because of better emoluments offered by the State,
and that a large number of Pandit young men
were appointed in these Muslim Schools.
There is an organisation in Kashmir known as
the Women's Welfare Trust which was started in
1926. It is being run by a few unknown Kashmiri
Pandits who have always shown great reluctance to
come into limelight. This organisation kuns ten
girls schools-one high, three middle and six
primary-and one Seva Sadan (Adult Women's
School). Three of these schools are meant solely
for Muslim girIs. The Trust has extended its
activities to the Jammu Province and opened a
school for the Harijan girls in Jammu city.
More than one thousand girls are reading in these
schools. The high sense of patriotispl and service to
motherland, irrespective of any consideration of
caste or creed, which has prompted these great
Pandits to run this organisation, cannot be over-
emphasised. No communal excitement or agita-
tion in the country from time t o time during the
past ten years has disturbed the calm equilibrium of
their mind. They never lost their balance.
A t present there are four high schools and
many primary schools all over the valley which have
been founded by Pandits and are efficiently run by
them. Unlike Muslim institutions, again, these are
not denominational, and even their names do not
indicate that they belong t o any sect or community
exclusively.'
*Since this was written some del~ominationalschools h a v e
been started by Pandits also.
296 INSIDE KASHMIR
Last year four Pandit doctors started a national
hospital and a maternity home in Srinagar, where
patients are treated irrespective of any restrictions
of caste or creed. Thousands of poor Muslims have
been cured in this HospitaI, some of whom were
admitted as indoor patients without any fees. This
is the only institution of its kind which has been
established in Srinagar by non-official enterprise.
Pandit leaders have included social reform in
their political programme. The Young Men's Asso-
ciation has from time to time struck a blow a t the evil
customs and made efforts, though unfortunately
more often unsuccessfully than not, t o root them
out. Pandit women are not purdah-ridden as are the
middle and upper class Muslim ladies. What is
more, Pandits are anxious t o make their women
equal partners in life ; they do not grudge them any
emancipation. Pandits are not social reactionaries.
The great social evil among Hindus is the ban
on remarriage of widowed women. About 25
per cent of the Pandit women are widows, most of
them quite young. Their remarriage was disapprov-
ed by society. W h a t was worse, it was not
recognised even by the law of the land. In 1928 a
movement was started t o combat this evil. It was
very unpopular a t the start, and those who
identified themselves with it had t o pay heavily.
But in 1930 the law was amended so as to legalise
such marriages. Within the last 12 years more than
two hundred such marriages have been celebrated
and the institution of widow remarriages is becom-
ing popular day by day. It goes t o the credit of
 THE MINORITIES 297

Pandit leaders that almost all of them have en-

couraged the cause.
I feel I have written more about Kashmiri
Pandits than I had bargained for. I could go on
discussing them in a volume, because owing t o
various reasons, they are an important minority
in the State. Is it also because I am myself a Pandit
by birth ?
But whether I discussed them a t length or in
brief, this much is certain that they will play an
important role in the immediate politics of the
country. They have certain qualifications which all
other communities lack. They are highly educated.
They do not starve. They are compact and organis-
ed. And last but in no way least, they have no love
lost with the ruling classes ; they love their land of
birth. In any movement which will be launched for
Responsible Government and for the expansion of
democracy, they are destined to figure prominently
on the side of the popular forces. If it appears rather
difficult now that this should be so, i t is because
the political movement a t present is not conducted
for the actual transfer of power from absolutism to
popular hands, but for positions and places. In this
the middle classes of the different communities have
come into conflict with each other. This conflict is
bound to end soon, when the present uneven position
of different communities in state services is rectified
t o some extent, which is in the process of being
done. The conflict might cease sooner, if the
masses were rallied under the banner of the move-
ment and pressure was felt from below. Such a
298 INSIDE KASHMIR

consummation is devoutly to be wished for, and is

is up t o the nationalist leaders of both the communi-
ties t o hasten its realisation.

(2) Rajputs
" Maharaja Gulab Singh was a Mian Rajput and the
exteneion of his power led to the advancement of his caste
brethren who were and are in great part the instruments of
the acquisition and of the Government of the dependencies
of Jammu......Individual conceit is common with them and
they are avaricious "......( Drew).
The Rajputs are neither highly educated nor
intelligent, yet they are getting the lion's share
everywhere. The large part of the State Army is
their monopoly, where they get decent salaries and
an opportunity to develop their bodies and
muscles. Civil services are, of course, open to
them too. During the early years of the present
Maharaja's rule some of the Rajputs wished that
most of the departments should remain under the
control of Rajputs so that a sort of Rajput oligarchy
might be founded. One of them had the burning
ambition to become the Prime Minister of the State.
The total population of the Ra jputs in the State is
1.32.440. A small number of them are Mians, that is.
belonging t o the ruling class. Only 6 per cent of the
Rajputs are literate. Yet they dominate the services
both Military and Civil. Rajputs with no qualifica-
tions, under-educated, or almost illiterate and in all
respects unfit to hold important charges, were put in
responsible positions before 1932. The case of an
inefficient and almost illiterate Ra jput who could
barely sign his name and yet became the head of a
 THE MINORITIES 299:
department is notorious.
Soon after his accession t o the gaddi the present
Maharaja declared that though he was a Hindu by-
birth, his religion was justice. Obviously this is a
very laudable idea and was highly appreciated by all
the people living in his territories. But in actual,
practice the Dogra Rule could never rise above its.
partiality for Rajputs and has excessively favoured
them. This policy was so marked that even the
Muslim leaders of 1931 wanted to take advantage of.
His Highness' weakness by saying in their memorial.
while discussing the constitution of the Assembly
that "of the 30 nominated members, 10 should
be Rajputs being an important minority a n d
representing the Ruling dynasty.** This was only to,
humour His Highness and powerful Rajputs, but
certainly a slur on the revolutionary mentality of.
the Muslims.
Even after such widespread political and
communal disturbances, which were not a little born
of this partiality for Rajputs, things have not
improved satisfactorily and to a great extent.
Rajputs are favoured a t the cost of other communities.
Men are placed in charge of jobs for which they are
unsuitable. Rajput Military Officers are transferred
to the Civil Departments, and without knowing
anything about land revenue system or law, are put
in charge of responsible posts.
Jagirs have been granted to the Rajputs out of
all proportion t o their number. A big slice of the
fertile land of Kashmir has been handed over ta
Rajput Jagirdars. It should be remembered that
'300 INSIDE KASHMIR
there are no indigenous Rajputs in K a ~ h m i r . There
is practically no unemployment among the Rajputs.
N o n e of their educated young men are wandering
t h e streets for want of employment.
T h e Rajputs consider the whole State as their
.Jagir and are n o t prepared to accept that the
Maharaja is the undisputed ruler of the land in this
:respect. It is strange how the mentality of Rajputs
is similar t o that of the upper class Muslims of
Hyderabad (Deccan). In their memorial t o His
Highness submitted on 31st October, 1931. they
-candidly, though vainly, stated :
"It is not unknown t o Your Highness that Jammu is the
hereditary seat of Dogra Rajputs, and other parts of the
country now under the sway of Your Highness were acquired
and conquered by Your Highness' illustrious forefathers with
the help of the Rajputs and f6rmed into the territories now
known as Jammu and Kashmir State."
N o t unnaturally the Rajputs held the political
leaders of 1931 movement in undisguised contempt.
All demand for progress was pure crime in their
.eyes. They wanted no change. This is what they
.said :
" We regret that in spite of Your Highness' magnanimity
,culminating m general amnesty, the ungrateful agitators are
still a t work in their criminal designs to achieve their
mischievous ends.''
W h e n it was reported that owing t o the pressure
of public opinion and the mass movement the
Maharaja was prepared to grant substantial reforms
t o the people, the Rajputs threatened to start a
counter-agitation against the decision. They behave
-like the Britishers in India or as the Anglo-Indians
 THE MINORITIES 301
who, though born in the land, consider themselves.
superior t o the ordinary run of Indians. These
people will be the last to join any revolutionary
movement. They will be subdued and made t o
behave like common citizens only when the masses
gain power and the distinctions of caste and race
are to tally obliterated.
A wise ruler with his eye on the future of the
State would never allow any class prejudices t o play
a part in the governance of the country. An
experienced Maharaja, as the present one undoub-
tedly is, would never let any suspicions grow in
the minds of the subjects, after the happenings of the
past several years, that invidious distinctions are made
in treating the people belonging to different com-
munities. Yet, unfortunately, this is what takes..
place even now. T o give a recent example : while
consolidating the Arms Act, His Highness' Govern-
ment have disarmed the whole nation but allowed
the Hindu Rajputs, the members of his own
community, to possess one firearm with sufficient
ammunition for each family for purposes of religious
ritual and worship. In the present deteriorated
international situation grave misgivings have been
given rise to by this legislation in the minds of other
subjects, and His Highness was approached not
t o give his assent t o such a law, but t o no purpose.
The Rajputs called Mians who are fortunate t o
receive this preferential treatment are small in
numbers. They are barely a few thousands. The
mass uprising of 1931 has opened their eyes They
have realised that the counting of heads matters.
302 INSIDE KASHMIR
Before 1931 a large number of Thakars. who are
Rajputs of lower caste and do not belong to the
ruling race. were not classed as Rajputs. In order
.to exploit them and derive advantages out of their
numerical strength, they have now been included
among Rajputs. This change has not benefited the
poor Thakars. They continue economically and
politically t o be what they were-serfs.
The Dogra Rajput is a lovable specimen of
bodily beauty. H e has played a prominent part in
.the shaping of politics in Northern India during the
last century. H e has manly courage and is
unsophisticated gentle and brave. H e retains the
qualities of ancient Indian soldiery and ranks among
the best. The Rajputs rendered distinguished
services in the last Great European War.
66
Seeing how in far-away countries, often in
cold climates thoroughly unsuited t o them, sometimes
in small bands surrounded by a population that
looks on them with no friendly eye, they hold their
own and support the rule of the Maharaja, we must
credit them with much patience and some courage."
L6
wrote Fredric Drew. Some power, too. they have
of physical endurance ; they can endure hunger and
heat, and exertion as far as light marching on
long journeys is concerned; but heavy labour or
extreme cold will knock them up. Faithfulness to
t h e master they serve, is another of their virtues."
It is not the fault of a Dogra Rajput that
Kashmiris afe not recruited in the Army. He is in
an advantageous position and enjoys i t ; who would
not?
 THE MINORITIES 303
(3) Jammu Hindus
Non-Rajput Hindus of Jammu are a mixture of
many elements. Broadly speaking, they may be
divided into two parts. First, Brahmins who are
66
educated, intelligent, in character deep, clever to
scheme and close in conceaIing." Though not as
unfortunate as Pandits of Kashmir, they are not as
fortunate as the Rajputs who are their neighbours.
The Brahmins have always grudged the advantageous
position of the Rajputs and have hesitated wholly t o
identify themselves with the Rajput rule. They
were annoyed a t the mass movement of the Muslims
and, like all other minorities, opposed it. Many of
them are the tillers of the soil.
Among the non-Brahmins Mahajans are a force
t o be reckoned with. True to their profession,
these people consider everything in terms of money.
The change in the politics does not matter so long
as their bags are filled with silver and gold and are
safe. They became reactionaries and opposed the
popular movement because it largely affected their
business and displaced their position. It is doubtful
whether the Sahukars of Mirpur perpetrated greater
hardships on the Muslim peasantry by sucking their
blood during the period preceding 1931, or the
Muslim hooligans inflicted greater barbarities and
outrages on them during the days of widespread
loot and arson in January 1932.
Mahajans, by and large, will remain on the
popular side, if the exhorbitant rate of interest and
their corrupt practices in money-lending are allowed
 304 INSIDE KASHMIR
t o remain intact. I am afraid they will be sorely
disappointed in this.
Jammu Hindus both Brahmin and non-Brahmin
can feel proud of a number of patriots who always
demanded reforms in the administration even before
1931, though in a very moderate form.

(4) Harijans
About two lacs of human beings (I doubt
whether they can be described by such a name)
live in the Jammu Province whose condition is most
dilapidated and heart-rending. They are untouch-
ables and are now called Harijans. They are divided
into many sub-castes, such as Meghs, Dooms,
Chammars. They are largely employed as sweepers,
cobblers and labourers. In the villages they are
living as landless tenants. N o menial work is too
low for them. They are looked dowq upon by both
Hindus and Muslims. High class Hindus, especially
Rajputs and Brahmins, even now feel polluted by
their touch. Their poverty and illiteracy are
shocking. Only 8 per thousand of them are literate.
The Harijan uplift campaign of Mahatma Gandhi
has turned the attention of the progressive Hindus
towards them. For all that, only their existence is
being acknowledged yet. T h e Maharaja was good
enough t o open all State temples t o them in 1933.
long before Travancore did so, and not without
raising a storm of protest. I n certain cases of
remote parts of the Province, however, the upper
class Hindus and orthodox Brahmins do not allow
them t o enjoy this privilege ; and the royal proc-
 THE MINORITIES
lamation did not improve their economic or
political lot.
Harijans are the most backward in education.
Those who have passed the Matriculation can be
counted on finger-tips. Few of them attend schools
and therefore the future also is not so bright and
hopeful.
A class so down-trodden as Harijans are sure to
form a bulwark in the mass movement for which
the leaders of the Nationalist Kashmir are preparing
the State. But this presupposes an awakening
among them. Much constructive work is to be
done before they can become conscious enough to
take their rightful place in the coming struggle.
A number of sincere workers are required who can,
whithout any eye on reward, work among these
unfortunate beings as belonging t o them. At present
the national leaders are doing nothing and appear
to intend doing nothing for them. This is largely
due to the fact that the national movement has
not yet taken roots in the Jammu Province. For the
present only the Arya Samaj interests itself in the
affairs of the Harijans. Politically this may not be
an unmixed good. The Harijan Sewak Sang of
Gandhiji has begun helping the untouchables, but
not considerably.
(5) Sikhs
The population of the Sikhs in the State is
50,662. They are spread all over the country. In
the Kashmir Province most of them are not indi-
genous people. They were imported in the days of
Sikhs and the early period of Dogra rule to maintain
306 INSIDE KASHMIR
order in the disturbed condition of the Province. In
the country-side of the Kashmir entire villages are
inhabited by them. Though they have originally
been henchmen of the Government, meant t o spy
over the local population, the Sikhs have proved
far-sighted enough to identify themselves gradually
with the people of Kashmir. They have learnt
their language, followed their customs, and shared
their weal and woe.
Sikhs are also a backwad community. Not having
had many educated men in the past, they are not
adequately represented in the Government Services.
Only 13 per cent of them are literate, mostly in
Gurmukhi. But they are making tremendous efforts.
t o make up the deficiency. According t o the latest
statistical reports cent per cent of the Sikh male
population of schoolgoing age is under instruction.
Compare this with 26'7 per cent of the Muslims
and 11'8 of the Buddhists of the same age.
Sikhs are taking a greater and keener interest
in the national cause. Already some of them went
t o jail in September 1938. The present President of
the National Conference is a Sikh.
An average Sikh is much nearer t o the Muslim
masses than the Hindu middle class people who
would like t o exploit the Sikhs if they could. At
present, however, they are mostly employed as
cooks in Hindu homes. Many of them are also
peons in the Government offices.
Many Sikhs have an extra-territorial mentality-
They believe in the solidarity of the Panth. They
bow before the commands of the Central Religious
 THE MINORITIES 307
Organisation a t Amritsar. So far as religious
affairs are concerned, this might be sound, but in
political matters this introduces complicacies. W e
have already seen how a few non-State subject
Sikhs exploited the Sikhs of the soil in 1931 by
submitting a demand t o the Maharaja Bahadur on
their behalf that when local Sikhs are not available
outside Sikhs should be employed in Government
Services. If national movement is to run smoothly,
this extra-territorial mentality in political affairs
must come t o an end. Happily some of the Sikhs
have begun t o realise this.

(6) The Buddhists

The Buddhists of the State number 38,724. They
are mostly confined t o the Frontier District of
Ladakh. Economically they are more backward than
even the Harijans. But more of them are literate,
having the advantage of learning their native
tongue, the Tibetan, in Bodhi script. For a long
time the Government thrust Urdu on the Ladakhi
Buddhists against their will. They submitted a
grievance on this account before the Grievances
Enquiry Commission. Tibetan language in the
Bodhi script is now being taught in the Government
schools.
The Frontier Districts are on the whole steeped
in utter darkness and ignorance. " Vast areas are
hilly tracts and the land is not fertile ; the produce
is limited. Consequently people are living very low
economic lives. They are extremely poor, ignorant,
dirty and superstitious. In places remote from the
308 INSIDE KASHMIR

these hungry beings. .

main road, flesh of a dead horse is a welcome feast to
Polyandry is commonly
'9

practised by the Buddhists, to restrict the growth of

population.
The Buddhists are " cheerful, willing and good-
tempered, they are very ready for a laugh ; they are
not quarrelsome. They are by no means ingenious;
simplicity and clumsiness are characteristics of them
These men do not jabber and lie, fawn and smile
falsely. They are truthful, honest, hospitable and
straightforward. "
The Buddhist women are socially as free as men
and labour under no legal disabilities. They go
about unveiled and " mix where men frequent and
enter with them into their pursuits of business or
pleasure and partake too of their toil." In certain
respects women are better than men. " If there be
no son, the eldest daughter inherits the land ; in
this case the Buddhist heiress enjoys a delightfully
99
independent position. No inferiority complex
exists among these women, and they are equal
partners in the lives of their men-folk in their weal
and woe. But their condition changes abruptly if
they embrace Islam, which is frequently done in the
Ladakh District.
Buddhists, like Harijans, are the most backward
in education. Not more than 5 per cent of them
are literate, mostly in Tibetan. Only 8 persons
know English. Yet, oddly enough, the Government
grants only Rs. 2,311 annually jointly to both the
* The New Burma, Rangoon, October 4, 1981.
 THE MINORITIES 309
Harijan and Buddhist students against Rs. 3,118
t o Sikhs and Rs. 4,306 to Thakars. This is not even
good arithmetic ; certainly it is not just.
While closed scholarships are awarded t o Rajput
girls. no such provision has been made for the girls
of Buddhists.
Kashmiri Pandits manaeuvred to represent the
Buddhists in the Glancy Constitutional Reforms
Conference. They are now represented by their
own men in the Legislature. It may, however, be
admitted that but for the spirited presentation of
their case by the Kashmiri Pandits, no matter from
what motive, it might have gone by default.

(7) Shias
Some disgruntled Shia politicians have made
futile attempts to drive a wedge between the Sunni
and Shia sects of the Mohammedans. One com-
munal Hindu journal has been foolish enough t o
countenance this claim, perhaps hoping thereby
to weaken the Muslim front. While it is true that
some differences do exist between the Sunnis and
the Shias on religious grounds, and the unhappy
memories of the loot in 1872 do not allow the Shias
to come very near the Sunnis, yet it would be pre-
posterous t o suppose that a t the time of any crisis
of communal nature these two sects will separate
from each other.
But the Shias are socially very backward and are
terribly exploited by their own religious preachers.
The upper classes among them are fanatically purdah-
ridden. When the local primary school for boys
 INSIDE KASHMIR
a t Badgam, a place densely. populated by Shias,
was proposed t o be raised t o the middle standard,
the Agha Sahib (the religious Head of the Shias)
raised a hue and cry. H e sent alarming telegrams
to the authorities asking them not to carry out
their intentions. The proposal was dropped in
deference t o his wishes. But the Shia upper classes
are cultured and lovers of personal cleanliness.
They are lovers of fine arts too and good at
calligraphy, woodwork, needlework, carpet design-
ing and other arts.

(8) The Domiciled Community

A few thousand non-Kashmiris, chiefly the
Punjabis, are living in different parts of the State.
They came t o the State either as traders or were
recruited in Government Services during the reign
of Maharaja Partap Singh. At one time they were
very influential and wielded enormous political
power. The promulgation of the State-subject Defini-
tion in 1927 and the disabilities placed on their en-
trance into Government Service and purchase of
immovable property, gave their progress a setback,
and their influence was greatly reduced. Some
of them continue t o be big traders and contractors,
but during the past thirteen years their number in
State Services has diminished.
Not all non-Kashmiris living in the State are
non-State subjects under the provisions of the
definition. A by no means small number of them
has already acquired the privileges accruing to the
hereditary subjects of the Sate. But as no one who
 THE MINORITIES 311
did not permanently settle in the State before 1st
Baisakh, Sambat 1847 (13th April, 1885), can become
a hereditary State subject, many of them cannot in
future, even till the doomsday, enjoy these privi-
leges. They therefore feel disgruntled and have a
grievance against the provisions of the Definition,
which is considered defective.
With the intention of getting the Definition
wrecked many non-Kashmiris did their utmost to
give the Kashmir politics a communal turn and,
having achieved some success, influenced the local
Hindu and Muslim leaders to demand the annulment
of the law. But the Glancy Commission refused to
countenance the demand. Subsequently a Natura-
lisation Bill was brought before the Legislature
repeatedly in several sessions, but the State-subjects
almost unanimously opposed it with the result that
the law has remained intact to this day.
By now non-Kashmiris have realised that it is
impossible to enjoy the old privileges and powers.
They cannot put back the hands of the clock, which
they have been attempting to do since 1927. They
would feel content if instead of a definite date in
the Definition, viz., 31st Chet, Sambat 1846, some
period was fixed by the Government for achieving
Nationality and its rights in Kashmir. It would
appear that this is not an unreasonable demand, and
the progressive sections of the people of the State
are not against this being granted. But the matter
has always been viewed from a sentimental rather
than rational point of view. And a t the time of
discussion Kashmiris have been reminded of the
312 INSIDE KASHMIR
injustices that the outsiders have certainly done
them during the hey-day of their power. Fairness
and statesmanship alike demand that the law should
be amended in this respect, and the grievance of the
non State subjects removed.
 CHAPTER XII.
The National Conference
A special session of the Jammu and Kashmir
Muslim Conference was held a t Srinagar on the
10th of June. 1939, under the presidentship of Mr.
GhuIam Mohammad Sadiq. It was attended by 176
delegates representing all districts. I t had been
convened to decide finally whether the name and
the constitution of the Conference were to be
changed to allow non-Muslims to become members
of the Conference. T h e agitation of September
1938, in which a large number of non-Muslims had
taken an active part and gone to jail, had made the
decision of the Session a foregone conclusion.
Everybody was almost sure about what the verdict
of the Conference would be. The resolution which
had been adopted by the Working Committee
(see page 1 9 4 ) was moved in the open Session.
Unexpectedly Chaudri Ghulam Abbas, the most pro-
minent leader from the Jammu Province, was half-
hearted in giving his support to the resolution,
He defended communalism in the same breath in
314 INSIDE KASHMIR
which he was advocating nationalism. H e raised
controversial issues in his speech. His lieutenants,
notably Chaudri Hamid Ullah, a member of the
State Assembly, openly opposed the resolution and
considered it ill-conceived, anti-Muslim and prema-
ture. They were effectively replied to by progressive
delegates. Speeches were made and discussions
held among the delegates throughout that night
and, when in the morning of the l l t h June at about
2 a.m. the resolution was put to vote, it was passed
with only 3 delegates opposing the motion.
Chaudri Ghulam Abbas supported the resolution
while Mr. Hamid Ullah opposed it. Ch. Hamid
Ullah subsequently issued a statement to the press
saying that though in the Conference he opposed
the resolution which was passed by an overwhelming
majority, he had full confidence in the leadership of
the Conference and was prepared t o work as a
volunteer. His differences with his colleagues had
ended and he would work more earnestly for the
national cause in future. Thus the morning of the
l l t h June sounded the death-knell of the Muslim
Conference and heralded the day with the happy
news of the birth of the National Conference in its
place.
The Conference authorised the Working Com-
mittee t o co-opt a few prominent non-Muslim
workers in all the elected bodies after they had
been duly enrolled as primary members of the
Conference. Accordingly Sardar Budh Singh,
Pandit Jia La1 Kilam, L. Girdhari Lal, Pandit
Kashyap Bandhu, and myself were taken in the
 THE N A T I O N A L CONFERENCE 315
Working Committee as members in addition t o the
already existing members, t o give the Committee
the appearance of a nationalist body.
The 11th of June was a red-letter day in the
history of the State. The great desire of
nationalist Kashmir had been fulfilled. It was
hoped that the ideological confusion which had been
produced in the minds of the rank and file of the
Muslim workers by running the movement, (which
was essentially and fundamentally political and
economic) on religious and communal lines would
now be cleared. It was expected that a large num-
ber of non-Muslims would join the Conference and
take an active part in moulding the destinies of the
country. And so they did.
The work of the National Conference was
started in right earnest, a t any rate, in the Kashmir
Province. Most of the workers were serious in the
beginning. The Conference had caught the imagi-
nation of the thinking people. Educated young
men were attracted towards it. Attempts were now
made t o democratise the organisation by enrolling
primary members and by activising the branch
Committees in the Districts. The lower strata of
society began to come into prominence again, and
the prospects of a mass movement on some future
day, however distant, appeared to take shape.
During the summer of 1939 brisk preparations
were made by the leaders to hold a grand session of
the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference at
Anantnag. The time had arrived when it was
deemed desirable to acquaint the people with the
316 INSIDE KASHMIR
policy and the programme of the Conference.
The Conference was to be held on the the 30th and
31st September and 1st October. The Working
Committee and the General Council met some time
in advance t o discuss the fundamental issues and
formulate a programme.
The Conference met on a tastefully decorated
Pandal. Delegates from all the districts came to
participate in the deliberations. C haudris Ghulam
Abbas and Hamid Ullah also attended it.
The first session of the National Conference
passed several resolutions, in one of which it ratified
the document known as the National Demand,
which was issued by several leaders of Jammu and
Kashmir under their own signatures on the 29th of
August, 1938. According to it the Conference
demanded that the Government of His Highness
should be modelled on the following lines :-
( a ) The present system of administration in the State
shall be replaced by Responsible Government
subject t o the general control and residuary
powers of His Highness t h e Maharaja Bahadur
as hereinafter mentioned.
(b) The Ministry shall be responsible t o the Jammu
and Kashmir Legislature and shall have, subject
t o such responsibility, power t o control the
expenditure of t h e revenues of the State and also
t o make such grants and appropriations on any
part of those revenues or of any other property
which is a t present under the control, or disposal
of the Council as reserved expenditure, save and
except the following which shall remain under
the control of His Highness the Maharaja
Bahadur :-
 THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE 317
1. Expenditure on the Military Service.
2. Expenditure claesed as Political and Foreign.
8. Payments of all debts and liabilities hitherto
lawfully contracted and incurrcd by His High-
ness-in-Council on account of Government of
Kashrnir;
4. The Darmarth Trugt.
(c) The principle of responsibility t o the Legislature
shall be introduced in a11 the branchee of ad-
ministration of the Government subject t o
general coatrol, reservations and residuary
powers vested in His Highness in respect of
control of Military, Foreign and Political affairs,
etc., provided t h a t the proposal of His Highness
for appropriations of any revenues or moneys
for Military or other expenditure for Foreign and
Political purposes shall be submitted t o t h e vote
of the Legislature, but that His Highness shall
have power notwithstanding the vote of the
Assembly to appropriate up to a fixed maximum
any sum His Highness may consider necessary
for such expenditure.
( d ) The Legislature shall consist entirely of members
elected by constituencies. founded on the system
of adult franchise. Provision should be made
for the representation of labour, trade, landlords,
and educational interests in the Legislature by
means of election.
( e ) The election t o the Legislature shall be made on
the basis of joint electorates; seats should be
reserved for the minorities, and all mfeguards
and weightages should be guaranteed t o them in
the Constitution for the protection of their
linguistic, religious, cutural, political and econo-
mic rights according to the principles enunciated,
accepted or acted upon by the Indian National
Congress from time t o time. I n addition to the
 INSIDE KASHMIR
above t h e religious rights and sentiments of all
the communities should always be respected and
not interfered with.
(f) All t h e subjects of the State, without di~tinctionof
creed or caste, shall, be admitted for services
in all armies of defence, and for that purpose
His Highness shall be assisted by a Minister
responsible to the Assembly.
(g) No subject of His Highness shall be liable to
suffer in liberty, life, property or of association,
of free speech or in respect of writing except
under sentence by ordinary Court of Justice and
as a result of lawful and open trial.
This resolution was a sort of minimum demand
of the Conference, constitutionally put. It also
briefly mentioned the fundamental rights of citizen-
ship. W h a t was more, i t assured the minorities of
the State about the attitude of the Conference
towards that most difficult problem of Indian
politics, the rights of minorities. By another resolu-
tion the Conference decided that the National Flag
for Jammu and Kashmir State will be of red colour
with a sign of a plough inscribed in its centre.
The European W a r had broken out a few days
earlier. A resolution was passed in which the Con-
ference appreciated the intention underlying the
statement issued by the Working Committee of the
National Congress about the W a r and the policy of
the British Government towards political aspirations
of the Indian nation.
It will be observed that the clause about the
minority problem in the National Demand and the
resolution about war drove the Conference closer
to the Indian National Congress. This was a wise
 THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE 319
move, though rather difficult t o maintain, for the
Muslim members of the Conference in view of their
immediate past. The non-Muslim elements in the
State generally, and inside the Conference ranks in
particular, greatly appreciated this position. For the
moment i t appeared that the Muslim leaders were
strong enough to have the courage to stand by it.
But things were moving rapidly among the
Muslims, and in the wrong direction. The Muslim
bourgeoisie heartily disliked the new orientation
that the leaders had given to the politics of the
State. From June 1938, when the Working Com-
mittee of the Muslim Conference passed a resolution
recommending change in the name and constitution
of the Conference, they had looked with grave suspi-
cions and doubts on the activities of the leaders.
They foresaw that the movement was going out of
their hands and there would be little chance for
them to oppose the Hindu bourgeoisie from this
platform. The educated unemployed Muslim young
men who had utilised the Conference as the instru-
ment t o secure Government jobs for themselves also
found that their hopes were fading out. The
vigorous propaganda carried on by the Muslim
Nationalist leaders against the Muslim employees for
being selfish and corrupt forced that class to make
common cause with the communalists and the
bourgeoisie. They now joined hands to annihilate
the existing leadership. The force of their opposi-
tion was felt even during the course of the prolong-
ed discussions which were held in the meeting of the
Working Committee in June 1938. It was very
,320 INSIDE KASHMIR
doubtful whether the resolution passed by the
Working Committee would be adopted first by the
General Council and then by the Plenary Session of
the Conference. But the events that followed made
the path of the nationalists easy. The conflict with
the forces of the Government which resulted in the
imprisonment of large numbers of patriotic young
men in September that year sent a wave of enthusi-
asm throughout the country. Nationalistic senti-
ments were aroused, and for the time being the
communalists had to seal their lips. That more than
sixty Pandit young men, most of them highly quali-
fied, and a few Sikh youths had willingly and volun-
tarily taken an active part in the movement for the
achievement of Responsible Government, which, it
must be remembered, was still conducted under the
auspices of the Muslim Conference, and suffered
imprisonment and other hardships was a convincing
proof that the time had arrived for joint action on
the part of the people of the State without consi-
deration of caste or creed. No sentimentalism of
the Muslim communalists could prove of any avail
in disproving this fact. And so the resolution of
the Working Committee was passed in the Special
Session in June 1939, and the name and the constitu-
tion of the Conference were changed.
But the communal and reactionary forces in
the Muslim community did not entirely die out.
The September agitation had demoralised them and
for the time being they did not know what to do.
Some of them had openly joined the nationalist
forces and expiateh for their old sins. Others were
 THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE 321
waiting for their day.
Soon after the Special Session they regained
their lost balance, and under cover of religious fairs,
meetings were held a t which the rechristening of
the Muslim Conference was vehemently denounced.
An attack was also made by them on the Mujahid
Manzil, the headquarters of the National Confer-
ence on 15th June. All sorts of lies were sedulous-
ly spread among the Muslims about the intentions
and the programme of the National Conference.
Unfortunately enough, the entire Muslim press
became hostile to the nationalist movement and
made the situation worse.
Some unknown Muslim young men backed by
Mr. M. A. Hafiz, a member of the Legislative
Assembly, formed the local branch of the Muslim
League. They have not been able to achieve any-
thing beyond passing resolutions in a closed room
46
somewhere " in Srinagar.
It was quite evident that if the national move-
ment was to be a success, the Muslim leaders of the
Conference should do their utmost to counteract
the vicious propaganda carried on by the com-
munalists. It was necessary that the masses
should be kept fully informed of the new develop-
ments and reminded of the selfishness of the upper
classes and the reactionaries. Fortunately, in spite
of the best efforts of the communalists, the mass
mind was sound and they had every confidence in
the leadership of the Conference. But it is greatly
to be deplored that the Muslim leaders remained
supremely indifferent to it and let the matters take
 322 INSIDE KASHMIR
an adverse turn. It is amazing that no leader, big or
small, considered i t worth his while t o make a tour
of all the districts and explain to the Muslims the
significance of the change that had been wrought in
their politics and how it helped their cause. It is
not surprising, therefore, that having been accus-
tomed t o religo-political speeches for nine long
years, the Muslims in the countryside were con-
fused when they were misinformed by the commun-
alists about the conversion of the Muslim Confer-
ence. The activities of the nationalist leaders were
confined to the city and two or three of the more
important towns.
W h e n Anantnag Session of the Conference
adopted the National Demand and passed the reso-
lution about the European War, it gave another
handle t o the communalists to tell the Muslims that
the Conference had become a part of that " Hindu
Organisation "-the Indian National Congress. This
proved dangerous, not because there was anything
really harmful in the Conference becoming a part
of the Congress even from Muslim point of view, but
because of the trend events had taken in the British
Indian politics during a few years past. The rising
popularity of Muslim League ideas among the out-
side Muslim intelligentsia was exploited by the
opponents of the Conference in misleading the
Muslims of the State. "Are Muslims of Kashmir
going to prove traitors to Islam a t this critical
juncture of the Indian history ? " the communalists
asked. Such an appeal t o sentiments had its effect.
Gradually, imperceptibly but steadily, the Muslim
 THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE 323
intellegentsia still with the Conference began t o
change allegiance. Reaction on a tremendous scale
definitely began to set in. The leadership still
remained unmoved and felt no necessity of standing
on their feet and move. They were so full of self-
complacency ?
This was not all. The reaction in the outlook
of the Muslims began to produce its effect on some
of the Muslim leaders of the Conference themselves.
Doubts as t o the wisdom of their policy in having
changed the Muslim Conference to the National
Conference began t o toss their mind. Their activi-
ties became suspicious and their decisions were often
uninspiring. It culminated in a scandalous incident
when Maulana Mohammad Syed, the General Secre-
tary of the Working Committee, was publicly
accused by a handful of young educated Muslims of
complicity in the act of starting a Muslim Confer-
ence with their help. The young men complained
that he had actively encouraged them behind the
scenes to start the communal organisation and
promised them not only his own help but that
of other leaders of the National Conference as well,
but that when the proposal matured, he turned a
volte face due to the fear of being exposed. They
demanded an open enquiry into the Genera1 Secre-
tary's conduct which 'was, however, never held.
In these circumstances non-Muslim members
began t o feel disgusted, and soon mutual suspicions
began to take root. And the Conference showed
signs of disintegration and decay.
In order that the Muslim leaders may furnish a
324 INSIDE KASHMIR
proof of their devotion to Islam they decided to
celebrate the Id-i-Milad (the Prophet's birthday) in
the month of April, 1940. This day was being
celebrated by the Muslim Conference during the
early years of its existence, but had been subse-
quently abandoned. In the hope of catching the
imagination of the Muslims the Muslim League
announced early in 1940 its resolve to celebrate it.
Having already given way to Muslim communalism,
the leadership of the National Conference felt afraid.
So they also decided to celebrate this day afresh.
O n the 11th June, when the Muslim Conference
was rechristened, the Muslim leaders founded, with
the concurrence of the delegates of the Special
Session, a Muslim Trust known as the Auqaf Com-
mittee t o look after and be in charge of the religious
buildings and other property belonging t o the Mus-
lim Conference, which could not obviously be
inherited by the National Conference. The leading
lights of the National Conference are also the
principal members of the Trust. It was therefore
arranged that the Id-i-Milad observations. which
could not be held under the auspices of the National
Conference, should be held under the auspices
of the Auqaf Committee.
The Id-i-Milad was to be observed on 24th
April, 1940. But in order t o do some propaganda
beforehand, meetings were arranged throughout the
city on different days for about two weeks, in which
religious discourses were given to the Muslim audi-
ences. Theoretically and constitutionally there
could be no objection t o these functions, but in
 THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE 3'25
practice they proved harmful as politics and religion
got inextricably mixed together in the National Con-
ference, with bad results. In one of those meetings
Mr. S. M. Abdullah, President of the Conference,
made an unwise remark that Islam was the sun
whiIe all other religions were stars, implying thereby
that when the sun appeared stars could not be seen.
Unfortunately an official version of the speech con-
taining this statement was issued by the General
Secretary of the Conference in his capacity as the
Secretary of the Auqaf Committee and could not
therefore be easily repudiated. The remark incensed
the non-Muslim public in general, and the Hindu
leaders of the Conference felt embarrassed and
displeased. The function itself turned out to be a
brilliant success. The meeting of the Muslim League
held a couple of days earlier proved a dismal failure.
T o their great disappointment, communalist Muslims
found that the leadership of the National Con-
ference continued to hold sway over the majority of
the Muslims.
But this success was dearly bought. Was it
worth having ? The Communalist Muslims were
defeated; but what of that ? The Nationalist Mus-
lims who had started going back to their communal
ways became themselves almost wholly communalist.
Reaction thoroughly set in, and for them the
National Conference was henceforth national only
in name.
Information reached Srinagar that by the end of
April Pandit Jawahar La1 Nehru was visiting
Kashmir. This was an important event in the his-
326 INSIDE KASHMIR
tory of the country. Nehru is a Kashmiri Pandit and
was coming to the land of his forefathers. it was
decided that he should be given a right royal recep-
tion. And what a reception it was ! Never before
in the annals of Kashmir has any Viceroy, much less
any other visitor, been received in such a right royal
manner. Princes would envy such an honour.
But there was a serious rift in the Working
Committee on this auspicious occasion. O n 28th
April, while consultations were in progress about
the reception, questions were put to Mr. Abdullah
about his speeches delivered in connection with
Id-i-Milad celebrations. Exception was taken to
his remarks about the comparative greatness of
Islam. I n anger Mr. Abdullah admitted that he was
" Muslim first and Muslim afterwards," a statement
which his non-Muslim colleagues desired to be
replaced by his being Muslim and Indian a t the same
time. Hot words were uttered on either side.
Silence. a * * #
Next day the Reception Committee met to
elect their President and other office-bearers.
There was again some misunderstanding about
these elections. The misunderstanding was not
serious in itself, but the background made it so.
O n 30th of April Pandits Jia La1 Kilam and Kashya~
Bandhu, two leading Kashmiri Pandit members
of the Working Committee, resigned not only from
the Committee but the Conference itself. The
effect that their departure from the Conference
would have produced was lost in the din and bustle
of Nehru's arrival. At the moment both of them
 THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE 327
were condemned and their ill-advised action ad-
versely criticised. Though there is no doubt that
they acted hastily, it is unfair to judge them by
the isolated action. They were forced to take
the step by the oppressive communal atmosphere
which was daily increasing inside the circles of
the Conference. Those who did not know the
real facts misjudged them.
Pandit Jawahar La1 toured Kashmir for ten
days. He was the honoured guest of the National
Conference. His speeches which were delivered a t
different centres and to different audiences pro-
duced a profound impression on the minds of the
people. Kashmiri Pandits were moved by his
appeals. T o Hindus in general his advice gave
food for thought. Muslims saw that, unlike the
Muslim League leaders, the Congress leaders advo-
cated the cause of freedom and upliftment of
the poor in every part of India, whether that
helped Hindus or Muslims. However unpalatabIe
his opinion might have been to Hindus, Pandit
Jawahar La1 did not hesitate saying that the time
was fast approaching when there would be popular
Government in Kashmir.
Had the National Conference been free from
internal dissensions, the leaders could have derived
an immense advantage out of the effect produced
by Jawahar Lal's visit. At the time of his departure
everyone appeared keen on becoming a member
of the Conference. The Conference itself appeared
to be in the highest heaven. But, amazing as it
may seem, within a week's time the dissension
328 INSIDE KASHMIR
started again.
Realising the impotency of the Conference
leadership, the Muslim communalists made a griev-
ance out of Jawahar Lal's visit by saying that
the Conference had entirely identified itself with
that " Hindu Body. " the Congress, a thing that the
nationalist Muslims were now careful to disown.
Chaudri Ghulam Abbas, who had been wavering
in his ways and undecided in his mind all along
about nationalism, tendered his resignation from
the Conference without assigning any reasons.
It was quite evident that the Conference had
lost energy and its spell was broken. In these
circumstances when its second Session met a t
Baramulla on 28th September 1940, all the dele-
gates t o the Conference were nominated as only a
small number of primary members had been en-
rolled during the course of the year. No Muslim
delegates attended from the Jammu Province, except
Mirpur district. It was an agreeable surprise
to find that a large contingent of Hindu and
Sikh delegates had come from all over the State and
even from Jammu. The elements did not favour
the Baramulla Session : there were incessant rains
and most of the proceedings had t o be held inside
in a hall.
Some radical resolutions were passed by the
Conference which need a mention. According to
one of them it was laid down that " no scheme
of Responsible Government would be acceptable
t o the nation in which the tillers of the soil are
not allowed to enjoy the fullest fruits of their labour ;
 THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE 329
for this there can be no other way than that those
alone shouId possess and own the soil who till it.'"
As a measure of immediate relief the Conference de-
manded the introduction of the principle of pro-
gression in land revenue system guaranteeing the.
peasant ( a ) exemption of means of subsistence
from the tax and (b) lower rates of tax on smaller
agricultural incomes. Another resolution recognised
the pressing nature of rural indebtedness and said
that, in cases where the principal had been paid back
by the debtors in the shape of interest, no further de-
mand should be made. The resolution assured
the debtors that " when a Government responsible
to the people comes into existence, all such debts
would be lawfully liquidated." By another reso-
lution the immediate establishment of a department
to effectively watch all the interests of labour
was demanded from the Government.
Ordinarily these resolutions would have created
a stir in the country and the upper classes would
have taken a fright. By adopting the red flag
with the sign of plough inscribed in its middle,
the Conference had already shown to which side i t
was moving. These resolutions were a further
indication of its tendencies. But those whom
this policy of the National Conference would have
affected, considered it a mere bluff and the Govern-
ment did not value it more than a joke.
As I write these lines I feel a particular re-
sponsibility in having been the chief mover of these
resolutions. I was serious in moving the Confer-
ence to adopt a radical programme and had
 INSIDE KASHMIR
thought that by doing so we might be able to
extricate the organisation from the meshes of
communalism by enlisting mass support. I had
thought that we might be able t o free ourselves
of the degrading controversies about petty problems,
such as the distribution of Government Services, by
raising discussions about big national problems
of the masses which the land problem and rural
indebtedness unquestionably are. But I was grossly
mistaken. Even while moving the resolution
about the distribution of land, I realised that I
was wrong as nobody, not even the delegate8
who owned big landed property, considered it
worth their while to oppose or amend it. In
spite of my implorings that serious thought should
be bestowed on its revolutionary nature, the resolu-
tion was passed unanimously. I was deeply morti-
-fied a t my success as it did 'not take me long to
realise what little gravity was being attached to
the decisions of the Conference by the workers
themselves.
In this I was not far from right. A few days
after the Baramulla Session, the Government
issued their orders on the recommendations of
a n official committee which they had set up two
rears before for the reorganisation of the educa-
tional system then prevalent in the State. While
dealing with the medium of instruction in the
schools the Government ordered :-
" The language sllould be a common one, viz. simple Urdu.
But for reading and writing, both the Devanagri Script and
the Persian Script should have equal recognition. The text
 THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE 331
books t o be used in imparting inetructions in the various
subjects should be same but printed in both scripto."
" Pupils attending a school should be a t liberty to choose

to use either of the two scripts for reading and writing.

" Teachers employed in schools which have, or are like-
ly to have, a fixed minimum strength of children to
learn each of the two recognised scripts should know
both scripts. This minimum strength is fixed a t 15 per
cent of the total average strength on the rolls of t h e
~chools."
" Teachers who are already employed in schools, which

require both scripts but who are not acquainted with

one ofb
them should learn t o the satisfaction of a pm-
scribed authority within a period of one year. No person
will be appointed t o the post of a teacher in any such
school in the future unless he knows t o rend and write
both scripts or if he does not know both scripts he shall
not be confirmed in his post unless, within a period of
one year of his appointment, he learns to read and write
satisfactorily the script with which he is not already familiar."
These orders are unexceptionable. They are
not only the soundest and best but are in con-
formity with the true principles of nationalism
and democracy. They have a value because of
the principle of self-determination which they
allow in the matter of the choice of script to
all sections of the people living in the State,
the minorities incidentally. But they are a de-
parture from the existing position in the schools.
The medium of instruction in the schools a t
present is Persian script to which Hindus almost
as one man take objection. Time and again
they have demanded that the medium of in-
struction for their boys in the Government
schools should be Hindi. The question was
332 INSIDE KASHMIR
raised on the floor of the Kashmir Assembly
repeatedly for several years. The demand was
reasonable, but the Government, afraid of Mus-
lim communalism. tried to avoid it in the be-
ginning. W h e n it became irresistible after some
time, the above orders were issued. It is in-
tersting to note that a resoIution of the Working
Committee of the National Conference which was
passed in a meeting held a t Mirpur on the
28th of December. 1939. encourged the Govern-
ment t o come to this decision. According to that
resolution the Committee " strongly resented ex-
clusion of the recognised court language of the
State, vri, Hindustani from the list of both
compulsory and optional subjects prescribed for
the Kashmir Civil Service Gazetted Examination,"
La
and strongly urged its inclusion as one of the
compulsory subjects. facility to be given to the
candidates to use either Persian or Devanaga?.i script
as they like." (Italics mine)
Commenting on these orders of the Government
the Statesman of Delhi wrote in its issue of
November 21, 1940 :--
" Kashmir Government has by a recent order directed
that the language of test-books t o be used in its schools
must be " simple Urdu. '' No other language is recognised.
They are however t o be printed in both Urdu and De-
vanagri Scripts which are to have equal recognition for
reading and writing. This seems a sensible order. Simple
Urdu may not be easy to define but i t stands for some-
thing about which no mistake is likely t o be made. It
was the right language to clloose in a State whose people
are predominantly Muslim. Two sets of text-books in
t w o eeparate languages would have complicated matters
 THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE 333
without benefiting the Hindusl who live in Keshmlr.
These we imagine are no strangers to simple Urdu. Lin-
guietic consciousnears in Northern India is on the whole
more sensitive about script than about diction and it
wcw wise to sanction both ~cripts. Even thoee who pay
attention to diction ae Hinduu or afi Mualims, may And
in eimple Urdu much that iu free from controversy."
T h e Government orders were not liked by
the communal Muslims. They thought i t t o be
a n opportune moment t o make a n assault o n the
nationalists and finish them. The provisions of
the Government orders were misreported. It was
stated that Muslims would be forced t o read
Hindi in future. Irresponsible and inflammatory
speeches were made in certain Muslim quarters
t o excite the Muslims. An attempt was made
by a number of Muslim workers to revive the
Muslim Conference and a manifesto was issued
on 1st October 1940 under the signatures of
some communalist workers. It was decided that
the annual session of the resurrected Muslim
Conference might be held a t Kotli a t the end
of November under the presidentship of Chaudri
Ghulam Abbas. No such session was, however,
held a t all.
Nationalist Muslims became desperate now.
Having given way once and gone on the wrong
path of communalism t o counteract communal-
ism, nothing appeared t o them more efficacious
t o deal with the situation than t o forestall the
communalists. The Muslim members of the
Working Committee therefore issued statements,
delivered speeches and passed resolutions vigo-
334 INSIDE KASHMIR
rously condemning Government orders. It is not
surprising that remarks casting aspersions on Hindus
were also made in these exclusive Muslim
gatherings which were mostly held in the pre-
mises of the mosques. All this was done before
the Working Committee Members had an oppor-
tunity to discuss the matter amongst themselves
and the opinion of the non-Muslim members
could be ascertained. These colleagues were not
consulted even informally.
While matters were taking such a course
outside, worse things were happening inside the
State Assembly. General elections t o the As-
sembly were held in August 1938, when the
Muslim Conference was still alive. The Con-
ference was able to win 19 out of 21 Muslim
seats in the elections. But subsequently, when
the Conference adopted a national programme,
some of these members led by Ch. Hamid Ullah
severed their connection with the Conference
Party. In their meeting, which was held at
Mirpur on the 28th of December, the Working
Committee arrived a t the decision that " if the
activities of the remaining 13 members are carried
on in an efficient, disciplined and well-organised
manner, it is bound t o prove helpful in the
struggle for the achievement. of Responsible
Government in the State." A Sub-committee
of 5 members, with M. Mohammad Afzal Beg as its
President, was formed t o " help, guide, and
supervise the party in the Legislative Assembly
which is composed of the members who believe
 THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE 335
in the goal of the National Conference and are
prepared t o follow their mandates issued from
time t o time." The party of 13 members was
therefore owned by the National Conference.
On 28th October Ch. Hamid Ullah moved
a cut motion in the Assembly, when general
discussions on the State Budget for the next
year were being held, to " discuss the prepon-
derance of the Kashmiri Pandits in State Ser-
vices " Ch. Hamid Ullah wanted to place the
National Party in the wrong. He wanted to
create bitterness between the Pandits and the
Party. And he was brilliantly successful in this.
To the amazement of all, the Conference Party
supported the cut motion and one of its mem-
bers, Maulvi Ghulam Mustafa, made very wild
and reckless charges against the Pandit commun-
ity as a whole in the course of his speech.
Naturally this raised a storm of protest in the
Pandit circles and their press. Next day, while
making a speech in some other connection,
Mr. Mustafa made a staggering admission in
the House that he had been prompted to make
the tirade against the Pandits by the Muslim
Revenue Commissioner who was sitting opposite
t o him on the Treasury Benches. That gentle-
man, however, lost no time in repudiating the
charge. Obviously, if his admission was correct,
Mr. Mustafa had flouted the authority of the
Party and the Parliamentary Sub-committee by
these consultations behind the scenes. He had
made the National Conference a laughing-stock
,336 INSIDE KASHMIR
of the world. If it was incorrect, he was a
liar. Subsequently a correspondence between
myself and the President, Parliamentary Sub-corn-
mittee, was released t o the press, which made it clear
that the decision to support the cut motion had
been arrived a t by the Party after they had consulted
t h e President, who considered such an approach
t o the matter " in conformity with the ideal of the
National Conference and true principles of nation
alism !" I t is interesting to note that the Working
Committee had in their resolution of the 29th
of December, 1939, given clear instructions to the
Sub-committee that " nothing should be done
inside the Legislative Assembly by members in-
dividually or the Party jointly which in any
way directly or indirectly harms the cause for
which the National Conference stands."
But this was not all. In this session of the
Assembly the leader of the Conference Party,
Mian Ahmad Yar, brought an adjournment mo-
tion to discuss the Government orders about
the medium of instruction above referred to, im-
plying thereby that these orders were harmful.
Mian Ahmad Yar knew that Hindus had wel-
comed the orders and, although it would serve
no useful purpose to discuss it, some bad blood
would necessarily be created. Happily the motion
was not admitted by the President of the
Assembly. Again Mian Ahmad Yar, on behalf
of his Party, supported a resolution moved by
another member, not belonging to the Party,
putting on record the appreciation of the House
 T H E NATIONAL CONFERENCE 337
for the good work which Sir Abdus Samad, a
non-State Subject Development Minister of the
Government, who was to retire from service, had
done during his period of Mitliste~ship in the
State. Only a year ago this estimable leader
of the Party had stated, when a resolution of
congratulations t o His Highness was before this
very House a t the time of the appointment of
K. B. Mohammad Afzal Khan, a state subject,
as Home Minister, that the Party could not
support it, being committed to the ideal of Re-
sponsible Government. The inconsistency was
glaring. According to the instructions of the
Working Committee " the Parliamentary Sub-
Committee was t o guide the Party in such a
way and make it work in such a manner that
the hollowness of the present Constitution
was demonstrated in a most effective manner."
Well-demonstrated indeed !
Yet another matter, though a trivial one,
showing the incompetence of the Party. It was
considered desirable that owing to pressure of work
the Assembly should sit till late in the afternoon.
These were the days ofRamadan fasts. The Muslim
members rightly resented this and wanted early
adjournment. The President was ill-advised to insist
on his decision. Of all the Muslim members in the
House the leader of the Nationalist. Party charged
him with being a bigoted Hindu ; as if there
was no other charge to level against him for
this action of his ; as if Mian Ahmad Yar could
not tell him that he was unfair and narrow-minded.
 INSIDE KASHMIR
The nationalist elements in the country great-
ly deplored the trend that the politics of the
Conference was taking. I t is not surprising that
a large number of sincere workers were dis-
appointed and became indifferent. Articles and
statements appeared in the pro-Conference press
slashingly criticising . this policy and warning the
leaders of its inevitable dangerous results. A
meeting of the Working Committee was there-
fore convened on the 28th of November in
Srinagar t o discuss the matters. After prolonged
discussions it was decided that the orders of the
Government regarding the medium of instruction
b6
in schools were ill-conceived, mischievous, and
definitely anti-national, " and therefore they strongly
condemned them. The Committee turned down
even my suggestion that the Governmerit might be
asked t o make the knowledge of both the scripts
compulsory for all students whether Muslim or non-
Muslim, which I believed was an alternative in
many respects better than what the Government had
bb
decided to do. As regards the cut motion " and
the attitude the Conference Party adopted to-
wards it, the members did not consider it worth
their while t o do anything in the matter and declared
the Parliamentary Board competent enough to deal
with it. These were most disappointing decisions.
It was clear that the Working Committee had
ceased t o be a nationalist body. The members had
laid themselves open to the charge of inconsistency
and had certainly forgotten even their imme-
diate past. Their integrity became very doubtful.
 T H E NATIONAL CONFERENCE

The " National Demand " and the Mirpur resolu-

tions were reduced to mere scraps of paper. In
these circumstances it was very difficult to shoulder
the responsibility of being a member of the Working
Committee. After some tormen tingly sleepless nights
and painful days, and with a heavy heart. I resigned
from the membership of the Committee. Comment-
ing on the decisions of the Committee, the Tribune
of Lahore in its issue dated the 29th of November
said :
" We are not a t all surprised that the script controversy
has caused a rift in the ranks of the Kaehmir Natiooal Con-
ference. The attitude that the Conference or rather ita Mudim
members, who happen t o be in an overwhelming majority in it,
has taken up in this matter, is not only inconsistent with its
professions of nationalism but has created feelings in the
minds of non-Muslirns that they cannot expect justice from t h e
Conference Party in the matter of safeguarding their linguistic
atad cultural interests. The result is that the already kw
non-Muslims who are in the National Conference are one by
one severing their connection with it .... ..... And what the
Kashmic Government had done is to give recognition t o both
Devanagri and Persian scripts while keeping Urdu as the
medium of instruction in educational institutions. Is there
anything wrong or unreasonable in this act of Government ?
W a s i t not its duty t o do so to satisfy the legitimate demand of
the minority Community ? If anybody could have any griev-
ance, it was the Hindus, because the Government, while
conceding t o them the right of having their children educated
through the Devanagri script, still kept Urdu as the medium of
instruction. But unfortunately it was left t o the Muslim
members of the National Conference Party, who were least
expected to raise a controversy on this issue, t o read a meaning
into the official order which it did not convey."

Adverting to the matter again in its issue of the

340 INSIDE KASHMIR
9th December, the journal wrote :-
" At its annual session held a t Anantnag, the Jammu and
Kashmir National Conference adopted a resolution, embodying
what is popularly ternled as ' National Denland.' This
' National Demand ' guaranteed t o the minorities ' all the
safeguards and weightages for protection of their legitimate,
linguistic, religious, cultural, political and econonuc rights
according t o the principles enunciated, accepted or acted upon
by the Indian National Congress from time t o time.' Do the
Muslim members of the Conference stand by that ' National
Demand ' Y If so, may we enquire if their attitude on the
script question is consistent with the assurance contained in the
" Demand " ? The Congress while accepting Hindustani as
linguu franca for India, has given equal recognition t o both the
Devanagri and t h e Persian scripts. Why would the members
of the National Conference hesitate t o recognise both the scripts,
especially when Urdu, according t o the Kashnlir Government
orders, will remain the medium of instruction in educational
institutions P "
The writer of these lines, however, did not know
that the Muslim members of the Working Committee
had taken it into their head to fight the communalist
Muslims by becoming communalists themselves ! In
that lay the source of this trouble. The present
politics of the Muslims in the State is entirely in the
hands of the middle and upper classes. They are at
the back of the Muslim press. They support the
Muslim workers and give them their ideas. The
communalist leaders are entirely under their sway.
But they are not popular among the masses. SO
long as the nationalist Muslim leaders served these
classes satisfactorily the latter backed them up, sup-
ported them and acknowledged them as their leaders.
But as soon as it appeared that they were losing their
hold on them and the Conference was devoted more
 THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE 341
and more to larger interests of the country, which it
undoubtedly had been since 1937, the middle and
upper classes hastened to withdraw their patronage.
The logical course for the Muslim leaders of the
Conference should have been to approach the
masses, produce more intimate contact with them
and bring them back in larger numbers under the
banner of the national movement. Then they would
have been strong enough to withstand the intrigues
and machinations of the upper classes. The support
of the masses would have proved the strongest
bulwark of the movement. But, as we have seen, no
attempt was made to do so, with the result that the
National Conference is weakening day by day. The
Muslim leaders who, one and all, themselves belong
t o the middle classes are anxious to placate the
members of their own class, and their problems
appear to them more important, compared with which
the national problems have become insignificant.
It is thus easy to understand why the Muslim mem-
bers of the National Conference have in utter
disregard of their ideal made themselves responsible
for certain embarrassing positions. The more they
are involving themselves in the politics of the upper
classes the more communal they are destined to
become in their outlook, and the farthest will they
recede from their goal. Ultimately, by constantly
following this path, they shall have either completely
t o be communalistic in outlook and give up the
historic revolutionary mission of achieving com-
plete Responsible Government or commit political
suicide and be subservient to the communalistic
342 INSIDE KASHMIR
elements in the country. For the moment, it appears,
they are going fast in this direction. Only a miracle
can save them. The absurdity of the position taken
u p by the nationalist Muslims with regard to the
medium of instruction in schools became evident from
the plea that Sir Abdul Qadir advanced in the
course of his presidential address t o the second
All-India Urdu Conference held a t Cawnpore
on December 26th. In his opinion Urdu and
Hindustani were synonymous and there was no
difference between them. Regarding the controversy
of script, the President said that Urdu script was
best suited, but advised that "the controversy on
this point should not be prolonged and it should be
made optional for the people to adopt whichever
of the two scripts- Devanagri and Urdu-they
liked, "-exactly what the orders of the Kashmir
Government said. But the Muslim nationalists
.stubbornly held their ground and persistently refused
t o retrace the wrong step.
The chief reason which is mainly responsible for
this tragedy is t h e lack of intellectuals in the Con-
ference ranks. No one, not even those who consti-
tute the High Command of the Conference, take
the trouble of analysing the forces that are working
in the country and giving shape t o her politics. 1
am sure none of them knows that they are the
victims of class interests. They speak in the name
of the masses, while the masses have long abandoned
them. They have the temerity to revile and inveigh
against the upper and middle classes while they are
fighting for them. Amazing self-deception !
 THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE 343
Most of the members of the Working Commit-
tee do not consider it necessary to read a daily
newspaper, and most of them hardly read a book
throughout the whole course of a year. Much lesc
does any of them write or discuss an article on the
burning problems of the day.
Sardar Budh Singh, an old man of fifty-
seven, is the present President of the National
Conference. He is the oldest of all the members.
In fact he is the only eminent leader above forty-
five years of age. H e is saintly in dress and de-
meanour, a very simple man. He wears khaddar
and lives mostly on fruit and milk. He is devoted
t o the cause of nationalism and is a passionate
follower of Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress. He
has the courage of his convictions. H e is a nationalist
a t heart, and I have found him mostly non-communal
in his ideas and actions. He was a Wazir Wazarat
(Deputy Commissioner) in Government service but
voluntarily retired from service before his superan-
nuation age, to serve the people. He was arrested for
his activities before 1931 and interned in the Bahu
Fort. He joined the national movement in 1936 and
was imprisoned in the agitation of September 1938.
Government confiscated his well-earned pension, but
he has never regretted the loss.
Sardar Budh Singh is a Sikh of a religious bent
of mind, but he is not a fanatic or a bigot. He is very
suspicious by nature and questions the sincerity of
almost all the Hindu workers. He is desirous of
enjoying as great an honour in the public life of the
State as Gandhiji does in British India and, for that
344 INSIDE KASHMIR
reason, he loves to be called a Tyagi and a Mahatma.
He is both, t o some extent. H e has written several
unimportant books and pamphlets on rural up-
liftment, mostly giving his own experiences and
events in life.
By far the most important of all the Conference
leaders is Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the man who
has been the chief hero of the Kashmir movement
and has been primarily responsible for the politics of
the State during several years in the past. It
would be no exaggeration t o say that Sheikh Abdullah
is the National Conference. Many legends came
to be woven round his personality when he was a t
the zenith of his fame. At one time he was the mast
respected man among the Muslims. who conferred on
him the title of " The Lion of Kashmir." I have
seen people kiss the hand that touched his body. He
was often mobbed by his devotees and a t times had
a narrow escape on such occasions. No one in the
history of Kashmir has enjoyed so much popularity
with the masses as he.
Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was born in 1905 a t
Suwara. a village which is a t a distance of only four
miles from Srinagar. His parents died when he was
a boy and he was brought up by his elder brothers.
The family occupation was trade, and his father was
a shawl merchant. But, like one of his elder brothers.
young Abdullah was educated for some suitable
Government job. H e got his M.Sc. degree from the
Muslim University. Aligarh, in 1930 and soon after
found himself in the whirlpool of Kashmir politics.
Mr. Abdullah has made supreme sacrifices for
 THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE 345
the national cause. Unlike so many of his earlier
Muslim colleagues, he disdained to use his political
influence for building his future career. When he
could have easily become a high official of the Gov-,
ernment if he had desired to become one, he chose
t o be a humble worker for his down-trodden country-
men. The nobility of his character will be valued
very highly when one knows that all along he lived a
poor life with no income except the small monetary
help that his brothers continued' t o give him out
of their earnings from the family trade. Sheikh
Abdullah even denied himself the well-deserved mem-
bership of the Legislature, to which he could have
been elected unopposed from any Muslim constitu-
ency in Kashmir. This supreme self-abnegation
was really commendable and raised him in the
estimation of all.
Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah started his politicar
career as a communalist. But he displayed a marvel-
lous capacity to carry the Muslims on a path of
progress. In this he had to face tremendous diffi-
culties of great magnitude, but he proved equal to
the task. His courage in changing the outlook of
the Muslim politics was amazing. The conversion
of a communal organisation, lock, stock and barrel,
into a national body is unparalleled in contemporary
politics, and will remain a unique feat in the political
history of K a s h m i ~
It is not easy t o compress the description of
Mr. Abdullah's personality in a few paragraphs like
this ; but for want of space there is no alternative.
Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah is six feet four
346 INSIDE KASHMIR
inches. As a friend he is very lovable and sociable.
H e has n o false sense of prestige; and when hi8
pocket did not allow him t o maintain a car, he began
t o ride a bicycle.
But Mr. Abdullah has proved a great disappoint-
ment to his intellectual and progressive colleagues
in the National Conference. H e is a hater of books
and no admirer of intellectual movements. Believe
i t or not but this is a fact that he has not read
any history of Kashmir. W h e n in July 1940 a
few friends formed a society a t Srinagar under
the presidentship of Miss Mahmuda Ahmad Ali,
#a talented young Muslim lady, to promote free
thinking and free exchange of ideas on scientific
lines as also t o inculcate the habit of reading pro-
gressive literature and encourage research into the
history of Kashmir. Mr. Abdullah jeered a t it.
4 a
I am no believer in democracy nor constitutional
ways of doing things," he told me more thanonce to
my amazement, and he actually exasperated some of
his colleagues by acting unconstitutionally in several
cases, thereby reducing the internal democracy of the
organisation t o a farce. Surprising as it may seem,
Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah has no ideas and
opinions of his own. For them he mostly depends
on those who surround him for the time being. But
once he has taken up sides, he becomes almost
fanatical in popularising the same. Environment
produces a tremendous influence on his mind, and it
will be sheer good luck for Kashmir if he is placed in
healthier political environment and is surrounded by
wise counsellors. Recently he has come under the
 THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE 347

influence of certain notorious Muslims members of

the Conference, who are reported to be nationalist
by day and communalist by night.
This susceptibility to outside influence makes
Abdullah inconsistent when honestly he means no
inconsistency. Some people, not making allowance
for this weakness of his, have considered him un-
dependable in his ways a ~ i ddoubted his integrity.
Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah has been from the
very beginning of his career very unfortunate in the
choice of his colleagues. Most of his Muslim
lieutenants are not nationalists by conviction. They
are mostly afraid of him, as without his active support
their influence in the community is next to nothing.
But some of them speak freely against him behind
his back. H e found one or two of them actually
intriguing for his downfall.
Mr. Abdullah is a devoted Musalman and
believes that much of his success has been due to
the fact that he has been a true follower of Islam.
I n politics he is not sure where he is. H e is tossed
between communalism and nationalism and, oddly
enough, sometimes even professes to be a socialist
and gives a sermon to his audience on the subject of
66
Haves and Have-nots." H e is a good mob-orator,
though his speeches are not always responsible and
balanced. H e can indeed get angry in public and
denounce and threaten and abuse like any dangerous
demagogue. He hardly cares for facts and figures
and, therefore, a t times, comes to grief. Only
last year some of his Muslim colleagues obtained his
consent to an amazingly irresponsible memorial sub-
348 INSIDE KASHMIR
mitted to the Kashnlir Government regarding the
affairs of the Srinagar Municipality. When the
incorrectness of the facts and figures given in the
document was brought home to him, he felt per-
turbed and sorry for having given his consent to it.
Sheikh Abdullah showed a marvellous apti-
tude for progress till 1939, but when, soon after the
formation of the National Conference. Muslim upper
classes became vociferous, it appears that his faculty
for further growth deadened and decay set in. The
indifference of his Muslim colleagues, and his
own, towards the intellectual side of the move-
ment is mainly responsible for this set-back.
Much of the immediate future of Kashmir politics
depends on what attitude Sheikh Abdullah adopts.
Unfortunately a t the moment he has taken a wrong
course. His speech at Pathar Masjid on the last
Id day was reminiscent of his earlier public career,
when he spoke as a communalist Muslim politician
and a rival of Mir Waiz Usuf Shah. Some observa-
tions in the speech have been astounding. Imagine
Sheikh Abdullah the democrat attacking certain
individual Muslims for not keeping the fasts during
Ramadan and suggesting t o them not t o court scandal
by taking meals openly in a hotel but to do SO
stealthily, forgetting that he was encouraging the
practice of hypocrisy.
Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah is increasingly
coming under the influence of the communalists and
upper classes of.Muslims. No one can say definitely
if they will bz able to reciaim him wholly and utilise
his popularity and influence t o fight the communal-
 THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE 349

ists and the upper classes among the Hindus as they

are frantically trying to do. H e is not a reactionary
by nature. and therefore the hope that he might
regain his powers of progress, is not totally a forlorn
one. But if he does not, there is no doubt that the
nationalist movement in Kashmir will receive a
temporary set-back.
The task before the National Conference is a
tedious one. The path is beset with manifold diffi-
culties. Only a confirmed nationalist with a broad
vision and a large heart can guide the movement
successfully. The work requires unlimited patience
and tact. The leaders must possess the uncommon
qualities of true statesmanship and diplomacy. I t
must be admitted in fairness to its critics that all
these qualities are not in evidence in the present
leadership of the National Conference. I know most
of them will hotly resent this remark. But, none-
theless, I know that it is so.
"What's in a name ? " wrote the Civil and
Military Gazette of Lahore when the name of the
Muslim Conference was changed into the National
Conference. And, t o be frank, the National Con-
ference is only national in name now ; some of the
very members of the Working Committee are arch
communalists a t heart. It has been my misfortune
t o hear from them that nationalism is another name
for communalism and that the Indian National Con-
gress itself practises communalism under the garb of
nationalism.
The limited knowledge of world affairs, the
amazing ignorance of history, the total indifference
 INSIDE KASHMIR
towards the growth of intellectualism and, last but
not least, the absence of clear and independent
thinking are the causes which have led the Con-
ference High Command to come t o such a pass. The
vision of most of the members is blurred, and they
are carried off their feet by petty problems which
become very big in their eyes a t the moment. They
lose sight of their goal and sacrifice the important
ssues which really matter.
But whether Abdullah remains with the move-
ment or not, whether the present Muslim leaders of
the Conference develop the traits of real statesman-
ship or continue to bungle with the Revolutionary
Movement for the emancipation of the people, the
Kashmir movement is bound to grow. This struggle
is no respecter of personalities. It is the creation of
economic and political causes. Sheikh Mohammad
Abdullah and other leaders are its creatures. It
gave birth to them and not they to it. If we become
unfit t o carry on this historic mission till the goal is
reached, the movement can produce new leaders.
The biggest hurdle in the path of progress at
present is the self-interest of the middle and upper
classes of the Muslims. As it comes into direct
conflict with the vested interests of the middle and
upper classes of the Hindus, the matter often takes
a communal turn. The Muslim communalists, as we
have seen. wanted to utilise the mass energy to fight
the Hindus. As a matter of fact they have not only
been eminently successful in this by snatching a
portion of Government jobs from non-Muslim hands,
but have also secured many demands from the
 THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE 351
Government and shared them with the upper and
middle classes of the non-Muslims. If we study the
conditions closely and calmly, the freedom of press
and platform, the Legislative Assembly, and such
other amenities that were granted as a result of the
mass uprising of 1931, are being enjoyed not by the
masses who rendered supreme sacrifices for them, but
by the middle and upper classes who have money
and are educated enough to derive advantages from
them. The condition of the masses economically
and otherwise has changed, if at all, for the worse.
Even the grant of the right of proprietorship of land
has entailed great miseries, in many cases, as a large
portion of land has gone out of the hands of poor
peasants.
The middle and upper classes of Muslims want
to repeat the history of 1931. When they speak
about the Muslim rights, they mean nothing more
than the interests of their own class. They like to
make us believe that a few thousand of them a t e
synonymous with the entire Muslim community.
Any National Conference worthy of its name will
disillusion them and keep itself entirely free from
their influence. Time will come when they will have
t o join hands with the middle and upper classes of the
non-Muslims against the masses. This will happen
when the National Conference becomes strong
enough with the support of the lower classes. as soon
as they are awakened. Let but the present uneven
position of the Hindu and Muslim upper classes be
rectified, and matters will quickly take this shape.
But a caution is needed. I have written so strongly
352 INSIDE KASHMIR
and in detail about the machinations of the middle
a n d upper classes of the Muslims. This is so because
I find that they want t o sabotage the National
Movement. It must be noted that the middle and
upper classes of the Hindus are no less mischievous.
Obviously they are not so influential in the National
Conference; but they are powerful in the Govern-
ment. Their only anxiety is t o see that they are in
n o way dispossessed of their vested interests. No
National Conference appears nationalist- to them if
it does not allow them to continue t o have what
they have. They want the status quo t o be maintained.
They have various organisations in the country to
speak for them. The National Conference need not
countenance their unreasonable demands. In a
conflict between the upper classes of the Hindus
a n d the Muslims we must show firmness and uphold
principles of justice. But we must always remember
t h a t it is a passing phase of our politics and never
g e t totally absorbed in it. Theoretically it appears
very easy; but in actual practice it has taxed the
patience and wisdom of the best amongst us. The
barque of nationalism has recently floundered on
the rock of this problem.
 CHAPTER XI11
The Prese
At the time of the mass uprising in 1931
freedom of the press did not exist in the State and
consequently no newspapers of any sort could be
published. After persistent refusals made in the
beginning for several years, a special permission
with awkward conditions attached to it was granted
to a public-spirited Dogra young man, L. Mulk Raj
Saraf, to start a weekly (the Ranbir) from Jammu in
June 1924. It was really enterprising of Mr. Saraf
that the journal was run for about six years in spite
of great difficulty. According to the admission of a
very high Government official, the Ranbiv has been
most moderate in its views. But its moderation did
not help it when in May 1930 it published in its
special edition, dated the 7th May, the proceedings
of a big procession which was taken out in Jammu
on the arrest of Mahatma Gandhi. " His Highness
was upset t o find that his people were interfering in
the affairs of British India " and was afraid that it
was a breach of treaty obligations, according to
354 INSIDE KASHMIR
66
which he could not countenance or permit any
political demonstration within his territory against
the British Government. * *
Evidently the holding of the demonstration was
no fault of L. Mulk Raj, but His Highness accused
the Ranbir of having given unnecessary promi-
nence to an affair with which his people had no
concern. H e also said that the report of the pro-
LI
ceedings was highly malicious and grossly mis-
leading so far as the intentions and the policy of His
Highness and his Government and the conduct of
his police in relation to the demonstrations in ques-
tion were concerned." I t is amusing to read the
part of the report to which His Highness took
exception in his order dated May 9, 1930 :-
" 1. His Highness controlled the situation by his states-
manship and keen insight.
" 2.Everywhere i t was being said that His Highness
issued instructions that so long as the procession was non-
violent no interference should be made.
" 3. The City Inspector of Police and one sub-inspector
came t o the students and inviting their leaders argued that
when a suffioient demonstration had already been made, they
should disperse.
"4. Students raised slogans in every part of the city and
cried " Maharaja Bahadur Ki Jai."
"5. The whole atmosphere was resounding with national
slogans and simultaneously the slogan " Maharaja Bahadur ICi
J a i " was also raised."
All this was indeed seditious and disloyal ! The
publication of the Ranbir was ordered to be stopped
immediately.
In issuing the order banning publication of
 THE PRESS
the " most moderate " solitary journal. His Highness
said : *
'' It is not my intention to curb in any way the legiti-
mate expression of opinion or fair and just criticism of the
policy and acts of myself and my Government. The policy
regarding these matters will continue unchanged and I shall be
quite willing to entertain applications whether in Jammu or
in Kashmir from other journaliets wishing to etart another
newspaper or newspapers within the State territory so long
as their bona jides are not in question."
I had applied for permission t o start a paper on
13th September, 1926. After a lapse of four years I
was in reply told by the District Magistrate of
Kashmir on 10th September, 1930, to submit a fresh
application. I did so. So did many others. But,
unfortunately, no one could be found by the Gov-
ernment in the whole country whose bona fides were
not in question, and no permission could therefore be
granted. It was clear that the birthright of the
freedom of press had to be struggled for. No
autocratic Government ever gave it willingly t o the
people.
" There is hardly any public opinion in the
State. As regards the press, it is practically non-
existent, with the result that the Government is not
benefited to the extent that it should be by
the impact of healthy criticism." Sir Albion
said this in 1929 while the Ranbir was alive and
kicking. The effect of his observations on the
Kashmir Government was visible next year in
1930, when it suppressed this single weekly in
spite of its most moderate views. As yet, when
there was a gigantic rising in 1931, it was sur-
356 INSIDE KASHMIR
prised that people should have been so ungrate-
bb
ful as t o forget the amenities and the' conces-
sions" that the generous Government had of its
own accord granted t o them.
In the course of his report on the inquiry
into the disturbances a t Jammu and its environ-
ments during the first week of November 1931,
Mr. L. Middleton writes :-
"Another cause for disturbance rnay be found in the
absence of any public press within the State......the absence
of any meane of providing accurate news to the public was
certainly contributory to the disturbance."
According t o the commands of His High-
ness dated the 12th November, 1931, Mr. B. J. Glancy
bb
had been asked to submit a report as t o how
the then existing regulations with regard t o matters
such as establishment of societies and associations,
public meetings and the press, should be modified as
t o bring the State legislation into conformity with
99
the law prevailing in British India.
Accordingly he submitted a report containing
his recommendatio~~s, and a Press Law analogous to
the one prevailing in British India was promul-
gated in May 1932. Soon after journals began to
be issued from important cities and towns in the
State. That the Press Law could be suspended at
any moment with the fiat of the executive authority
was proved by the action of the District Magis-
trate of Kashmir, when on 31st of May, 1933, he
peremptorily ordered all the local editors not to
publish any paper without his permission. A
strong protest was lodged by the journalists
 THE PRESS 357
against this unwarranted order, which was subse-
quently cancelled. ?he occasion for issuing such an
order arose because Government had arrested several
Muslim leaders and widespread agitation was
threatened. The authorities did not want the
people to have any news.
It is rather difficult to state the exact number
of papers published at any time in the State.
New papers continue to come out and many of the
old ones cease publication without notice. More
than a hundred papers were started since M a y 1932.
Dozens of them had very brief spans of life and
only a few have survived. According to the
latest statistics there are about 40 journals existing
a t present in different parts of the State.
The percentage of literacy in the State is as low
as 3'4. Only 19,469 know English according to the
census figures of 1932. The masses are illiterate and
the circle of newspaper reading public is limited.
Journalism is not a paying profession as a business
proposition. No capitalist has as yet dared to invest
his money in this bargain. Men with no means, and
mostly those who could find no employment else-
where, have taken to journalism as an adventure. The
profession has not therefore developed on healthy
lines., The standard of writing is very poor. The
editors usually display a remarkable lack of the
sense of responsibility and are generally en-
gaged in personal recriminations. Most of them
utilise their energies solely in the disgusting game of
mudslinging and muck-raking. But there are honour-
able exceptions.
358 INSIDE KASHMIR
The press of the country may be divided into
two classes : the press conducted and edited by the
Muslims and that by the Hindus. Till 1935, as a rule,
no Hindu paper had a Muslim on its editorial staff
and no Muslim journal could tolerate a Hindu as its
editor. Generally speaking, even in the matter of
news, the papers would until recently publish
only the news of their respective communities. Of
course, so far as the editorial policies are concerned,
the papers are extremist in the advocacy of demands
and grievances of their co-religionists. This would
not be so harmful ; but more often than not utter
disbelief is shown about the veracity of statements
made in the columns of the journals. Journalistic
responsibility is cast to the winds and not much
valued. Sometimes articles are written in very
bad taste, and personal and private cases of in-
dividuals are discussed a t length.
It is surprising that very few cases of libel and
defamation are reported. One should have thought
they must be numerous. Perhaps people do not
take the journalists seriously.
The actual sale of the papers does not exceed a
few hundred each. Some of the papers do not sell
a t all. They have no genuine subscribers ; yet they
are published, though in a miserable way.
The Hindu press is better managed than the
Muslim press. Those journals which are considered
to be efficiently run are conducted by Hindus. It is an
irony that, while the Muslims fought for the freedom
of the press, the Hindus derived the greater advantage
out of it. The reasons for the superiority of Hindu
 THE PRESS 359
press are, firstly, that a larger percentage of the Hindus
is literate, and has a wider field of newspaper-
reading public ; secondly, the Hindus are economically
better off ; thirdly. many Hindu journalists are
educationally and intellectually equipped with the
necessary qualifications t o conduct their papers.
while most of the Muslim journalists are less
educated and able to understand the niceties of the
profession. None of the Muslim journalists work-
ing now has had any university education.
The Government of Kashmir exerts tremendous
influence and indirect pressure on the press. The
Publicity Department is a faithful watchdog, which
never allows any journal to enjoy substantial liberty,
and when any sharp criticism, unpalatable to the
Government, even though based on facts, appears in
any paper, immediate action is taken to see that it is
contradicted. The wishes of the Government
whispered into the ears of an editor by the Head of
the Publicity Department are commands that must
be carried out. Even the actions of a Government
official with regard to the discharge of public duties
may not be adversely commented upon.
The Government maintains a record of indivi-
dual newspapers. They are classified into three
categories, A, B and C. Those journals which are
put in the " A " list receive all kinds of Government
patronage. Advertisements of various departments
are sent to them for publication, for which they
receive fair payment. This is the main source of
income of the newspapers in Kashmir. I have men-
tioned some journals who have no genuine subscri-
360 INSIDE KASHMIR
bers and are yet published almost regularly. This is
possible only because they reteive income from
these official advertisements. Papers in "B"
list are favoured only with official communiques
and press notes, while those in " C " list enjoy no
privileges. It is the great desire of all the news-
papers t o be in " A " list, which is popularly
known as the " white " list. For this they have t o
" behave " and they all do. It is interesting to note
that the Kashmir Government denies that i t main-
tains any white list a t all.
This " A " list is an effective weapon in the
hands of the Government to control the press in the
present state of backwardness of the people. The
Government can get anything done under the
threat of displacing any paper from this list. Others
not already in the " A " list do so in the hope
of receiving this privilege in the near future.
These lists are revised periodically. Extensive pro-
paganda of an anti-national character was done by
the Government in the past through the local press
under the pressure of this threat. All communiques,
big or small, of whatever nature, are expected to be
published. When, however, the threat of being
struck off the list proves unavailing, which is seldom
the case, a security is demanded from the printer
and publisher of the journal and the keeper of the
press at which the journal is printed. This is an exe-
cutive order and no previous judicial enquiry is
necessary t o issue it. Behind the back of the editor
the authorities decide that a certain article or news
has violated the provisions of the Press Law, and a
 THE PRESS 361.
security is demanded forthwith. In the extreme
financial difficulty from which they are suffering a t
present such an order proves a death warrant for
the newspaper. In almost all cases in the past such
demand of a security has proved fatal. Security is
not demanded on such occasions alone. The
District Magistrates, who have to confirm the
declarations under the provisions of the press law.
frequently ask applicants to deposit securities a t
the very start. In 1939 the District Magistrate of
the Kashmir Province made it a point to see that
security was demanded every time there was
any change in the management of a journal. For
the mere reason that the journal was to be printed
a t another press he ordered the printer and publisher
t o deposit a security. Even the journals in the
"A **
list had to suffer such harsh treatment. The
editors bitterly complained, but to no purpose.
It must not be concluded that the Government
is very fastidious in the selection of papers when
framing the white list. Its only anxiety at the
time is to see that all pro-Government and docile
journals are chosen. It does not matter if the
writings of the paper are filthy or create communal
bitterness. No criterion of any standard is main-
tained. Some miserable rags are in the " A "
list, and the worst sinners in fanning communal
enmity have found a place in the privileged
class. While independent papers have been mer-
cilessly controlled and checked, this filthy stuff
is not only allowed t o circulate but patronised
and encouraged.
,362 INSIDE KASHMIR
The policy of the State press is mainly and
largely shaped by this attitude of the Govern-
ment. In the beginning the Muslim papers were
bold, independent and progressive, though their
tone was highly inflammatory and communal. But
the Government managed to bring them under
its sway. Not being efficient enough to make
their concerns self-supporting, the conductors of
these Muslim papers are in great need of the
privileges of the white list. Though the over-
whelming population of the State is Muslim, not
a single Muslim journal has been able t o secure
a couple of private advertisements of any well-
established business concern either in India or
abroad. They therefore faithfully carry out the
behests of the Publicity Department and are
careful to see that the Government remains pleased
with them. N o criticism or comment on the attitude
of the Government with regard to the freedom
movement now appears in the Muslim press. Of
course, the actions of the Government in con-
troversial communal matters are vehemently criti-
cised and Government is dubbed as Hindu Raj.
For obvious reasons Government tolerates such
comments and allows them t o be published.
If the Muslim press is extremely moderate
with regard t o the Government policy, it is fero-
ciously violent with respect t o the non-Muslims.
For this reason it is hostile t o the nationalist
movement also. The Muslim press is entirely sub-
servient t o the wishes of the middle and the upper
classes. It is vastly influenced and run by them. Its
 THE PRESS 363
chief characteristic is the publication of state-
ments showing the figures of Muslim and non-Mus-
lim employees in the different departments and
offices of the State. Like its patron, the upper
classes, the Muslim press bluffs in the name of
the Muslim masses but does not care to advocate
their cause. It in no way mirrors the opinion
of the poor, wretched Muslims whom it claims t o
represent.
The Muslim press of Kashmir has a great
future before it. If some capable young men imbu-
ed with patriotic fervour and spirit of self-sacrifice
come forward to take up the profession, the present
position can vastly be improved upon before long.
Hindu journals of the State have mostly been
reactionary and almost as communal as the Muslim
ones. But they have from the very start shown a
greater sense of responsibility. Some of them have
greatly improved. The majority of the papers a t
present are owned by Hindus. All the English
papers belong t o them. It is remarkable that most
of the papers that support the National Conference
are conducted by Hindus.
Out of the 40 journals in existence at pre-
sent, mention may be made of the most important
ones. They are, firstly, the four Urdu Weeklies,
the Hamdard, the Ranbir, the Desh, and the Chand,
and the English Weekly, the Kashmtr Times. I have
already mentioned the Ranbir as being the oldest
paper in the country. It was restarted in November
1931 with the special permission of the Government.
It has maintained the reputation of being very
364 INSIDE KASHMIR
moderate and non-communal. But its writings are
not forceful and inspiring. It generally supports the
National Conference and is progressive in outlook.
The Desh has been started recently by Pandit
Kashyap Bandhu. Every line in the paper is read-
able and espouses the cause of the poor and the
down-trodden. Like an average educated Pandit
young man this paper professes t o be a socialist ; but
it is doubtful whether those responsible for its
writings understand the essence of socialism. Still it
would be unfair to ignore the effective manner in
which the short stories published in the journal
from week to week spread discontent with the
extant social order, in which inequality of different
sections and classes is conspicuous. It also contains
articles in a humorous and satiric vein.
During the course of its very brief existence (it
was started only last year) the Chand has established
its reputation as a good journal. It advocates the
cause of nationalism and is an enthusiastic admirer
of the National Conference and its leaders.
The English weekly, the Kashmir Times, has
not followed any consistent policy from the time of
its birth. It was started in 1934 and was thoroughly
reactionary in the beginning. I n 1939 it came
under a temporary spell of nationalism. A t pre-
sent it is keenly critical of the National Con-
ference and its activities. It is, however. well-
edited at present by Pandit Janki Nath Zutshi, a
young, enthusiastic journalist.
The most important of these journals is the
Illustrated Weekly Hamdard. It was started in 1935
 THE PRESS 365
with a definite policy and purpose. It is entirely a
political journal and aggressively nationalistic. The
vigorous writings of the Hamdard were mainly res-
ponsible for a change in Kashmir politics. The con-
version of the Muslim Conference into the National
Conference was also, to a large extent, the result of
its consistent propaganda. The Hamdard is the only
paper which can truly be called non-communal as it
belongs neither to Hindus nor to Muslims. Hindus
as well as Muslims have remained its editors in
the past. It enjoys the largest circulation in the
State.
In August, 1938, the Hamdard issued a
voluminous Responsible Government Number, which
was a surprising feat in Kashmir journalism. I t
contained messages and articles from such eminent
men as Mr. Lloyd George, Mr. Fenner Brockway,
Mrs. Sarojini Naidu, the Premiers and Presidents
of the Legislatures of several British Indian Pro-
vinces and other Congress leaders, besides various
politicians of the State. The District Magistrate
did not permit the printer and publisher to issue
the Number until he had an opportunity to
read it. After he read it he objected t o certain
photographs that appeared in the Number
and wanted these to be deleted from it. This
was done in the presence of a Magistrate deputed
by him. And then the Number was issued. The
Government, of which the District Magistrate
was a responsible officer, did not rest content
with this action. It ordered the printer and pub-
lisher of the Hamdard and the keeper of the
366 INSIDE KASHMIR
press a t which the Number was printed to de-
posit Rs. 1.5001- and Rs. 7501- respectively as
securities. This could not be done as within a
few days of the issue of this order, the pro-
prietors as well as the editors and some members
of the staff of the Hamdard were imprisoned in
connection with the agitation of September 1938, and
the paper had to suspend its publication. It was re-
started in May 1939 when the District Magistrate
ordered that a sum of Rs. 3000/- be deposited as
security from the paper alone. This was the maxi-
mum that could be demanded under the Press Law.
Mention may now be made of a few less
important journals. The Martand is the only
daily paper in the State. The Islah is a weekly
run by the Muslims of the Ahmadiya sect. It
is the most popular of all Muslim papers and receives
a regular subsidy from Qadian. The weekly Amar
of Jammu is extremely communal and provincial in
outlook. The weekly, Khalid, is a Muslim nationalist
paper but not clear in its views. The weeklies, the
Sudarshan, the Vakil and the Kashmir Chronicle (in
English), are all Hindu nationalist journals, while
the old weeklies, the Pasban, the Albarq and the
Rahbar* are all extreme Muslim communal papers.
Some Hindi journals were also started from
time to time but they have not survived. There is
however a Hindi magazine, the Bharati, in existence
a t present. There is also an Urdu magazine, the
Rattan, for boys.
--- v
*Since the above was written the Ruhbar has changed
hands and is now owned by a Hindu journalist.
 THE PRESS 367
The future of journalism in Kashmir depends on
the progress of the nationalist movement and the
spread of education among the people. Geographic-
ally, politically and historically Kashmir is a separate
province in a sense in which most of the Indian
States situated in the very heart of British India
and surrounded on all sides by British terri-
tories, are not geographically, culturally or linguis-
tically well-defined, separate Provinces. It shall
have t o maintain its own independent press
when India achieves freedom. The Punjab press,
which a t present caters for the wants of the people,
shall have to make room for local papers. Some of
those mentioned above have come t o stay and,
if they persevere, have a bright future. A t pre-
sent they are read by a limited number of people
and circulate mostly among the middle class intelli-
gentsia. They do not exert any effective political or
popular influence. But things are rapidly chang-
ing even in static Kashmir, as we have seen. and the
press will before long have its rightful place in the
public life of the State.
 CHAPTER XIV
The Freedom We Enjoy
His Highness' Government is never weary of
telling the outside world that under the Dogra
rule and especially during the present regime
the people of Jammu and Kashmir have made
tremendous progress. In season and out of season
they trumpet the boons that have been gladly
granted t o the people from time t o time by the
Ruler. It is not possible to discuss and scruti-
nise in such a brief chapter as this all that is
being claimed in this connection I shall, how-
ever, try t o deal with the main points and attempt
t o describe the freedom that we enjoy under
the present regime. Let us first discuss the con-
stitutional aspect of the matter.
The Glancy Commission appointed for the
purpose of inquiry into the grievances and demands
of people finished its work in the first week
of March, 1932, and forthwith a Conference met
a t Jammu t o discuss the introduction of the
constitutional reforms in accordance with the
 THE FREEDOM WE ENJOY 369
orders of His Highness dated the 12th November,
1931. This Conference in which for the first
time in the history of Kashmir representatives of all
sections of people conferred about the national pro-
blem of constitutional advance, consisted of twelve
non-official and two official members and was
presided over by Mr. B. J. Glancy. I was one
of the non-official members of this Conference. The
proceedings of the Conference were carefully record-
ed, but as there was scarcely any unanimity
among the members on the main points, Mr. Glancy
made his own recommendations regarding the
reforms. He recommended that " a Legislative
Assembly should be established as soon as may be
practicable and, subject to the final assent of His
Highness the Maharaja Bahadur, the Assembly
should have power to make laws." True to his im-
perialistic principles and the policy of the Govern-
ment of India, Mr. Glancy recommended the system
of separate electorates and considered joint elec-
torates as a dangerous experiment. " It would
seem a fair solution," wrote he, " that the total
number of nominated members should be equal
to two-thirds of the number of elected members.
If these recommendations are adopted, there
would be a clear majority and proportion of not
less than two non-official members to one official
member." Mr. Glancy also recommended some
reforms in the constitution and the powers of
the Municipalities in the State. But neither his
recommendations regarding the establishment of
Legislative Assembly nor those about the Municipal
370 INSIDE KASHMIR

reforms were readily accepted by the Government.

While Mr. Glancy considered the demands of
the progressive members of the Conference ex-
tremist, the Government itself thought Mr. Glancy's
recommendations radical. But it was no easy
affair to dismiss the recommendations of this
august member of the Political Department of the
Government of India. Dilatory tactics were there-
fore adopted and a Franchise Commissiorl under
the chairmanship of the late Sir Barjor Dalal was
formed. Apparently the Commission had only
the specific function of making recommendations
about franchise ; but when their report was published,
it came to be known that they had dealt with the
whole matter of the constitutional reform. There
was to be no elected majority in the Legislative
Assembly, and the powers t o be enjoyed by it were
much less than those recommended by Mr. Glancy.
As regards the Municipal reform, it was
quietly shelved. When, subsequently, the ques-
tion was raised almost in every session of the
Assembly, and even bills were submitted for consi-
deration of the House, the Government and its
nominated President of the Assembly, under one
pretext or another, manoeuvred to keep it in
abeyance.
On 2 n d April, 1934, the Government published
Regulation No. 1of Sambat 1991. It was a kind of
" Government of Kashmir Act " and contained the
constitution and the powers of the Legislative
Assembly that was ultimately granted to the
people. The regulation was based on the con-
 THE FREEDOM W E ENJOY
servative recommendations of the Franchise Corn-
mission.
The first Session of the Assembly met in
October 1934 in Srinagar. In the course of a
proclamation which His Highness made on 17th
October while inaugurating it. he said :-
" The assemblage here present this day is t h e out-
come of labours t o give outward form t o our behests. It
is the first of it^ kind in recent times ; but, of old, the
duties, which you will have to perform, were duties which
were always shouldered, and loyally discharged, by the
praja ever since the institution of monarchy came into
being in this ancient land of India. To acquaint them-
selves with the needs of their people the kings of old had
caused to be performed, and maintained, bodies from
village Yanchayats up to assemblies of this nature, com-
posed of the representatives of t h e various interests in
their kingdoms; our own record8 bear witness to this."
Again :-
" Peace and harmony are the essential conditions
of progress and prosperity, and all can see t h a t the world
of the present day, after experiencing the storm and
stress of unsettlement, is once again discovering the axiom
that peaceful progress, ever] if slow, is in the long run
t h e best, indeed, the only, way."
The Legislative Assembly, or the Praja Sabha
as it has been officially named, consists of 75 mem-
bers of whom 33 were elected. The Constitution
permitted the asking of questions, moving of reso-
lutions. introducing of bills and the discussion of the
State Budget. No powers to spend the revenues.
no control over the administration, and no sub-
stantial voice in the Government were allowed.
The Army and His Highness' privy purse.
372 INSIDE KASHMIR
which consume more than 34 per cent of the
revenue were reserved subjects entirely outside the
purview of the Assembly. This could not and did
n o t satisfy the aspirations of the people.
Subsequently, when the pressure of public
opinion became irresistible, a Royal Proclamation
was issued on 11th of February, 1939, the very
day on which most of the signatories t o the
National Demand were released from different jails
on the termination of their terms of imprison-
ment for Satyagarah of September 1938. The
Proclamation commanded " the making of a con-
stitutional advance." It was recognised in this pro-
clamation that " the Praja Sabha had a respectable
record o f legislation to its credit and its influence
on the administration by means of questions and
resolutions compares very favourably with that o f
similar bodies elsewhere (italics mine). After this
admission it is rather disappointing t o note the
reforms that were actually granted. According
t o the Proclamation the elected element in the
House of 75 members was raised from 33 to 40.
It is interesting to know who elect these seven
members.
" (a) Two provincial seats by the Constituency of Tazimi
Zemindars that is big jagirdars such as Rajas of Poonch and
Chennani and the like.
( b ) Two provincial seats for smaller Jagirdars, muafidars
and mukarraridars holding a jagir, muafi or mukarrari from the
State of not less than Rs. 5001- per annum.
(c) Two provincial seats for land-holders owning land,
assessed to land revenue of not less than Rs. 2501- per annum.
 THE FREEDOM WE ENJOY 373
(d) One seat for Pensioners receiving Rs. 1001- or more
as pension per month."
This is the "elected majority " in the Praja
Sabha !
According to the Proclamation the Sabha
was given the right of electing a Deputy Presi-
dent from amongst the non-official members.
Provision was also made for the appointment of
non-official members as under-Secretaries to
work with His Highness' Ministers and ensure
closer association between the Government on the
one side and the members of the Praja Sabha and
the constituencies on the other. The Praja Sabha
was given the right to vote on some of the
demands made by the Government for Budget
appropriations, as also the right of passing legisla-
tion pertaining to taxes. In their Annual Adminis-
tration Report for the Sambat 1995-96, the Gov-
ernment claim that " His Highness the Maha-
raja Bahadur was pleased of his own accord t o
sanction further constitutional advance by the Pro-
clamation issued on the 11th February, 1939."
(Italics mine). If only His Highness had been
surrounded by far-seeing and wise councillors and so
well-advised as to grant the legitimate aspirations
and remove the genuine grievances of his sub-
jects in time the history of Kashmir would have been
differently written. But in the course of our
survey, we have seen that it was only when, owing t o
the unprecedented sacrifices rendered by the people
in the gigantic Movement of 1931, no alter-
native was left for those who wielded the power but
374 INSIDE KASHMIR
to concede the demands. During the whole
course of 1931 the Government made great efforts
t o resist the grant of constitutional reforms, and
when it became evident that further resis-
tance was dangerous, the Glancy Conference
was convened to discuss the problem and make
a report. The country had to undergo another
period of repression and Ordinance r a j in September
1938 t o get the petty and nominal reforms
announced in the Royal Proclamation of 11th Feb-
ruary, 1939. Thus it is clear that the constitution and
tbe reforms were wrested out of most unwilling
hands. Had the Government been solicitous about
the constitutional advance of the people, reforms
could have been granted before 1931 and 1939 when
the demand had already become irresistible.
The question now may be asked if any real
advance has been granted t o the people even after
theJ have borne such indescribable hardships
during the course of their struggle ? In the previous
chapter I have discussed the nature of the Freedom
of Press that the State's people enjoy. Now let US
see the freedom of association that they are
allowed.
I n 1914 the Government of Kashmir passed
a law t o definitely define unlawful meetings
and warn people of the consequences that they
would have t o face by participating in them. This
law is called the Seditious Meetings Regulation of
1914. According to its provisions no public meet-
"

ing for the furtherance or discussion of subjects

likely t o cause disturbance or public excitement
 THE FREEDOM WE ENJOY 375

or for the exhibition or distribution of any

written or printed matter relating t o any such
subject shall be held unless (a) written notice
of intention t o hold such meeting and of the
time and place of such meeting has been given
to the Governor or Sub-Divisional Magistrate or
the Superintendent of Police a t least three days
previously and (b) permission to hold such meet-
ing has been obtained in writing from the Gov-
ernor or the Superintendent of Police. * 1

Any one violating this law may be arrest-

ed without warrant and shall be punished with im-
prisonment for a term which may extend to
six months or with fine or with both. And what is
a public meeting .
" A meeting may be public meeting notwithstanding
that it is held in a private place and notwithstanding
that admission thereto may have been restricted by ticket
(W otherwise."

When on the recommendations of Mr. B. J.

Glancy the Government announced the grant of
Freedom of Association, it was. not unjustifiably,
understood that all such laws would be abroga-
ted and become things of the past. But they
were allowed to remain on the Statute Book.
Strangely enough, nobody knew that the Regu-
lation was still alive, and even the lawyers had
t o rub their eyes in astonishment when the
Government enforced it in the Jammu city and
arrested some political' workers in connection
with the agitation of 1938. The workers were tried
and sentenced t o varying terms of imprisonment.
376 INSIDE KASHMIR
The leaders did not believe that the Regulation
could be applied. Nor did their legal advisers. The
Jammu workers appealed t o the Sessions Judge
against the judgments of the convicting Magistrates.
It is amusing to note what the appellate court said
in its judgment with regard t o this point :--
a Sitting at a court of justice I cannot deny that
the Seditious Meetings Hegulstiorl of 1914 is still on the
Statute Book and in that capacity I cannot refuse to
enforce it. If this asoohnent ir enforced strictly it will' sti)le
all discussion of public ciflt~drs. There may be justification
for taking this step in a limited area for a short time
when the highest executive authority is satisfied that it
is necessary in the interests of the public peace, but to
make this the normal feature of administration for all times
places U T ~ ~ ~ Tpmms
~ T Y in the hands of subordinate @ems and
Magistrates and leaves the citizens entirely at their mercy."
(Italics mine).
But this is not all. W e have already become
familiar with the Regulation called 19-L which
was invented for the first time in September
1931 t o deal with the unprecedented rising of the
masses when the Civil Administration frankly admit-
ted its utter inability to cope with the situation.
Notification No. 19-L is a comprehensive
law. According t o its provisions a competent
authority appointed by His Highness m a y
6b
arrest without warrant any person against whom
a reasonable suspicion exists that he has promot-
ed or assisted t o promote disaffection against
the authority of Government or that he has acted
or intends t o act in a manner prejudicial to the re-
storation or maintenance of law and order."
In making such arrests if the competent authority
 THE FREEDOM W E ENJOY 377

is satisfied that " there are reasonable grounds for

believing that any person has promoted or assisted
to promote or intends to promote disaffection
against the authority of Government or that he
has assisted or intends to assist any disaffected
persons or has otherwise acted or intends to
act in a manner prejudicial to the restoration or
maintenance of law or order," the authority may
exile or intern such a person. A competent authority
bb
may require any person to assist in the restoration
or maintenance of law and order in such manner
and within such limits as the competent authority
may prescribe."
Again. " Where in the opinion of the com-
petent authority such action is expedient t o t h e
furtherance of any operation being carried out by
the military forces or the police for the main-
tenance or the restoration of law and order or the
protection of property, such competent authority
can take possession of any land or buildings together
with any property thereon whether movable or
immovable, including works for the supply of elec-
tricity or water or any source of water supply. He
can cause any buildings, structures, trees, hedges,
crops or other property of any kind to be re-
b6
moved and even destroy it." In fact he can do-
any other act involving interference with private
rights in property " under the provisions of this
Notification.
And again :-
" I f in the opinion of 3 competent authority any
product, article or thing can be utilised for the public
 INSIDE KASHMIR
advantage, the competent authority may by order ro-
quire any owner or person in o1i:krge of such product,
article or thing t o place it a t the disposal of Governxrlent
at such time and place as may be specified in the order,
and the competent authority may dispose of or use it in
such manner as i t rnay be considered expedient."
Yet again :-
" A competent authority may, by order in writing,
require any person to make, in such form and within
such time and to such authority as may be specified in
the order, a return of any vehicles, vessels or other means
of transport owned by him or in his possession or under
his control."
Even traffic on roads and water-ways can be
controlled.
" Where in the opinion of the competent authority
such action is expedient for carrying out the purpose of
this Notification such competent authority may close,
divert any road, pathway or waterway or may regulate
t r d c over any road, pathway or waterway."
Any person who Qisobeyes or neglects to
comply with an order made or direction or condi-
tion prescribed in accordance with the provisions of
this Notification or of the rules made thereunder,
t h e authority which made the order, gave the
direction or prescribed the condition, is at full
liberty to take any action as i t thinks necessary
t o give effect thereto.
The penalty for disobeying the orders under
provisions of the Notification is imprisonment
which may extend to three years or flogging up to
thirty stripes or fine extending t o Rs. 1000/-, I have
noted that in the movement of September 1931,
political workers were awarded a11 these punishments
 THE FREEDOM WE ENJOY 379
and the maximum number of stripes was inflict-
e d in certain cases on their bare backs. The
severe monstrosity of this law can not be over-
emphasised. I t does not require extraordinary
imagination to think what must be the condi-
tion of the people when this law is enforced
and set in motion. The law-makers themselves
foresaw the barbarities that could be committed
by the guardians of law and order under its
provisions. Having promulgated this lawless law
and established a reign of terror, they did not
like that the news of these atrocities should
trickle out t o the civilised world. Therefore
the Notification allows a competent authority,
4b
t o control the operation of any State telegraph
o r telephone office or station in any part of the
area for which he is appointed " and in parti-
bb
cular intercept any telegraphic or telephonic
message in the course of transmission." I t was
found out that this control extended to the imperial
telegraph office as well.
The ruthlessness with which the Notification
No. 19-L was enforced in Srinagar and Shopian
during the period of agitation of September 1931
has been narrated in chapter V. Under pres-
sure of public opinion it was withdrawn by the
Royal Proclamation of October 6. 1931. Nobody
could imagine a t that time that it would be re-en-
forced a t some future date. It was again promulgated
on June 1, 1933. And thenceforth it has been
given a permanent place on the Statute Book
of the Government. The Kashmir Government,
380 INSIDE KASHMIR
we have seen, was never pleased t o grant any
constitutional advance of its own accord, but
it can be safely stated that Notification No. 19-L
has been made a permanent law of the land by
the Government of their own accord, as nobody.
not even the reactionaries and privileged classes,
were so unpatriotic as to demand it.
It was under the provisions of this law that
hundreds of workers were arrested without warrant,
and summarily tried and convicted in the National
Movement of 1938. As a matter of fact, most
of the signatories t o the National Demand,
who were imprisoned, had been charged under
the provisions of this Notification, which was
set in motion on the very first day of the agitation.
Heavy fines were inflicted on poor volunteers,
and when they expressed their inability to pay,
their movable and immovable property was
auctioned at nominal prices by the police.
In his presidential address a t the All-India
States Peoples' Conference held a t Ludhiana
during February 1939, Yandit Jawahar Lal Nehru
severely criticised the Kashmir Government for
this Ordinance raj and termed Notification 19-L
as monstrous and infamous. The State Government
was annoyed a t it and issued a lengthy communique
justifying their action. They admitted that " both
Notifications 19-L and the Seditious Meetings
Regulation were on the Statute Book of the State,"
but added that "it would be a travesty of facts to
suggest that these laws are. or have been, used by
the Magistracy and the police of the State regularly
 THE FREEDOM WE ENJOY 381.
in normal times. Neither of them was used a t all in
putting down the two serious communal disturbances
which occurred in 1937 and each of which extended
over several weeks." The Government stated that
the use of both these laws was forced on the
authorities during the agitation in August-September
1938. In a flamboyant manner and rather shame-
lessly they said that "though the law permitted
it, no sentence of flogging was inflicted " on the
political workers.
Pandit Jawahar Lal's rejoinder was characteris-
tic of that great champion of civil liberties. Here
is it in part :
" I had stated that Notification 19-L was " monstrous. "
I am told i t is not used in normal times and that i t was not
even used to put down serioue communal disturbances. I entirely
agree. It is not used for murderers, thieves, kidnappers, dacoits,
brigands, cut-throats or other criminal scoundrels, who are tried
by the ordinary law of the land. It has not been used for com-
munal fanatics even when they stab and kill. But when
political workers, desiring a political change raise their heads
then i t is used, and has been barbarously used and presumably
will be used or else t h e Janlnlu and Kashmir Government
would not keep i t on.
"The law functions so long as it is on the Statute Book.
The Notification 19-L is on the Statute Book and was used
recently enough. The Penal Code provides the punishrnent of
hanging for murders. It is not necessary for continuous series of
hangings t o take place in order to d e m o ~ ~ s t r a that
te the Penal
Code is still functioning. I repeat t h a t the Notification 19-L
is a monstrous imposition. It is bad enough that the Gorern-
ment should father sucll a monstrosity. It is worse that it
should have the temerity t o justify it."
This forceful rebuff silenced the Kashmir Gov-
ernment and they did not dare t o say a word on the
382 INSIDE KASHMIR
subject again. But the laws continued to function.
W i t h these on t h e ' Statute Book it is not difficult
t o see with what irresponsibility the police officers
and the subordinate executive must be working
them.
It is difficult t o discuss in a brief chapter all such
orders as have been issued by the various officials
from time t o time to crush the civil liberties of the
people. All these orders are not public documents.
They are confidentially circulated and hardly see the
light of the day. A few such circulars of a Rajput
District Magistrate, Colonel Baldev Singh Pathania,
which hte issued in April 1939 soon after the
Ludhiana Conference may be mentioned in brief.
This District Magistrate issued an order to all
the revenue and police employees " to note and to
intimate t o the Government if any Government
employee. Government pensioner, scholarship-holder.
or persons in receipt of Government favour in
any shape or their relatives or friends take part in any
anti-Government activities. " Anti-Government
activities according t o him were nothing more than
ordinary political meetings and processions. In his
over-enthusiasm Colonel Pathania added, " Loyalty
does not constitute in merely not taking part in
objectionable activities, but the times have come
that all loyal persons should do propaganda for the
Government and actively resist anti-Government
movement."
Col. Baldev Singh admonished the jagirdars and
issued the following order t o them :-
" There is a large number of jagirdnrs and muafidars spread
 THE FREEDOM W E ENJOY 383
in Kashmir Province. Mmt of then1 belong t o Muzaffarabad
diotrict. It hae been noticed that they have not been doing
their duty properly. Some of them are secretly alleged t o have
syrxipethy with anti-Government Associations. Most of them
do not take any active pert t o resist or counteract anti-
Government propaganda. All jagirdars must be clearly told
that they have to he loyal a t till time^. Loyalty does not begin
and end with merely not taking part in the agitation or keeping
aloof, but it demands them t o take active steps that nothing
objectionable is allowed to lrappen within their jagira. They
are also responsible t o see that none of their tenants or the
individuals of the jagir take part in anti-Government
activities.
" If i t is found that anti-Government meetings or demon-

strations are held in jurisdiction of any jagirdar or any rnernber

of t h e family of the jagirdur, or his defendants or servants or
tenants take any part in any anti-Government meeting o r
demonstration, the jagirdar or the Muajidar concerned will be
held responsible. "
In order to make his orders effective, Col.
Pathania attempted to denude the National Move-
ment of its sources of income. Read his oder to the
petty village officials :
" It has come to my notice that solrle unauthorised indivi-
duals or associations t r y to collect subscriptions from poor
zemindars. The Wazir Wazarat will please inform every village
official through the Tehsildar that no one can be compelled t o
pay subscription t o any unauthorised person or agency. The
zemindars being illiterate do not realize their own benefits. If
i t comes t o my notice that any individual is deceiving or
subscriptions are realized from the zemindars by the un-
authorised person or agency, the lambardar, zaildar, chowki-
dar, jagirdar and patwari concerned will be punished. "
Colonel Baldev Singh did not rest content with
this. H e was determined t o crush the National
Movement and suppress the civil liberties of the
 INSIDE KASMMIR
people. The Secretary of the States Peoples Con-
ference in Kashmir. Pandit Mohan Kishen Tikku,
was a son of one of his office clerks. This Conference
was not an anti-Government body and had never
been declared illegal. It was an ordinary political
organisation. The Secretary is a lawyer in the
local Bar. But his father was peremptorily ordered
that if his son continued to be the Secretary of the
Conference he would be dismissed from the Govern-
ment service. The clerk is an old employee of the
Government, but he was told that " the long period
of his loyal and unblemished services would not
stand in the way of the District Magistrate in dis-
missing him if he could not prevail upon his grown-
up educated son " t o remain a slave of the Govern-
ment.' Needless t o say that Mr. Mohan Kishen had
to quit his post against his will.
There is no reason t o disbelieve that all these
orders were issued by the District Magistrate with
the connivance of the Kashmir Government and, in
certain cases, with their full approval.
In the press communique just mentioned the
Kashmir Government had said that the national
leaders had given up the agitation of September
1938 because " by their method they had forfeited
all public sympathy. * * If anything, these fiats of
the District Magistrate prove the reverse and con-
clusively show how desperate the authorities had
become with the growing popularity of the political
movement in ~ a s h L i r .
* These orders and circulars of the District Magistrate
appeared in the press in Punjab, U.P. and Bombay. Some
articles were also written on them.
 THE FREEDOM W E ENJOY 385

These facts are enough to show the kind of

freedom that people are allowed to enjoy under the
present regime. The Government seizes every
opportunity t o tell the world that it has been large-
hearted in granting constitutional advance. We are
told that the country has progressed rapidly in the
present regime. The record of the State Assembly
about its having done any good t o the people is not
encouraging. Thc way in which the popular demands,
even when supported by all the representatives
really elected by the poor people, are dealt with
is highly discouraging and has disillusioned many a
conservative politician in the past. The perfidious
manner in which the Government behaved in con-
nection with the Kah Charat (Grazing) Tax is
astonishing and needs a paragraph.
In a major part of the country there are no
grazing grounds or pastures, yet poor peasants are
made t o pay the grazing tax. After making compre-
hensive enquiries about this matter, the Glancy
Commission recommended that " the tax should be
suspended in certain specified areas and action
should be taken to see that the demand does not
press too heavily on other parts." The tax was ac-
cordingly suspended in seven tehsils, but as regards
other tehsils nothing was done. This created re-
sentment and the elected members of the Assembly
raised the point in several ways by asking ques-
tions and moving resolutions in the House. In its
Session of October 1933 the Revenue Minister
assured the Assembly that he would bring forth
an official Bill in the next session when oppor-
386 INSIDE KASHMIR
tunity would be afforded to everyone t o present his
point of view. A Bill t o amend the Grazing Tax Law
was introduced in the Jammu Session in April 1936
and was referred t o a Select Committee of the
Assembly. A meeting of this Committee revealed
that if justice was to be done and action taken in the
matter, it would mean the remission of the tax t o
the tune of more than two lakhs of rupees. The
Government was taken aback. The Revenue
Minister refused t o convene any further meetings of
the Select Committee and dodged its members by
repeatedly postponing the date from 28th August to
11th September, then t o 18th September. until the
Assembly was in session again. Then he brought
forth an astounding motion before the Assembly
t o be allowed t o withdraw the Bill. This was
a clear case of perfidy and the electedmembers were
upset by this unconstitutional behaviour of the Gov-
ernment. S. Budh Singh in a neat little speech
made unanswerable indictment against the Govern-
ment. Subsequently he resigned. A few days later
all the members of the Muslim Conference Party
followed in his footsteps. W h e n bye-elections were
'held for the seats thus rendered vacant, all of these
members were returned by their respective constitu-
encies. S. Budh Singh, however, did not stand again
as he had entirely lost faith in the intentions of the
Government and co-operation with it.
Out of the total number of non-official Bills
and Resolutions which come out successful in the
ballot. the majority lapse for want of time, some are
not moved and those that are moved are either de-
 THE FREEDOM W E ENJOY 387
feated or withdrawn. This is in a nutshell the record
of the work of the Praja Sabha.
And for having got this sort of Assembly we
have to pay a heavy price in the shape of Notifica-
tion 19-L and such orders as the District Magistrate
of Kashmir issued in April 1939. W h o can doubt,
then, that Kashmir has made rapid constitutional
advance and is enjoying a large measure of free-
dom !
6b
Another momentous reform " that has been
recently introduced by the Kashmir Government
is the appointment of the Board of Judicial Advisers
who are t o advise His Highness in the disposal of
such civil and criminal appeals as may lie t o him
from the decisions of the High Court of Judicature
and on such other matters as His Highness may
choose t o refer to it for advice." It is said that the
66
establishment of this tribunal has met a genuine
demand for the satisfaction of which public opinion
in the State was pressing. " That not a single reso-
lution was ever passed by any political organisation
in the State nor a demand made by any community
in their representation at any time for the establish-
ment of such a tribunal is a fact. W h a t the people
wanted was that well-qualified, experienced and
independent men may be appointed as judges of the
High Court of Judicature. They complained against
favouritism in making these appointments. They
know that their civil liberties and personal freedom
are in great danger if the supreme court is manned
by inefficient people who are mere creatures of the
Government. The Government instead of conced-
388 . INSIDE KASHMIR
ing this legitimate demand by removing undeserving
members of the High Court of Judicature, created a
Superb. Body a t the expense of the rate-payer. If
there is an efficient and really independent High
Court, a State like Kashmir does not need any
Privy Council. It is only fair t o add that quite re-
cently a very able man has been appointed as the
Chief Justice of the High Court.
N o account of the present-day Kashmir will be
complete without a mention of Sir N. Gopalswami
Ayyangar's regime. It is too early, perhaps, to
attempt a just appraisal of his work and policy ; but
a close observer of events cannot fail t o remark his
administrative acumen and efficiency. H e came to
an administration which had lost morale ; where, a s
we have seen, no official, however high placed,
liked to undertake the risk of using his discretion,
much less initiative ; where many officials of the
subordinate ranks were amenable t o blackmail by
the gutter press and the adventurous political agita-
tor ; where. broadly speaking, the political leadership
was notorious for its intransigence and journalism
for its irresponsibility ; where the bureaucracy was
not only unsympathetic but also inefficient. In.
fairness to him it should be said that he has impart-
ed strength and tone to the administration all round;.
that he has enhanced its morale and increased its
efficiency; and, by a uniformly strong policy, told
the agitator and the journalist that he meant busi-
ness and he must therefore be prepared t o take the
consequences. But all this is negative achievement
for which he cannot be given the credit of original-
 THE FREEDOM W E ENJOY 389
ity. He has learnt the lesson well a t the feet of the
British bureaucrat. True, he has initiated the pro-
grammes of educational expansion and adult literacy;
of veterinary service and cattle breeding, and of
rural reconstruction ; he has started some facto-
ries in their experimental stage ; he has brought
about many reforms in the working of Government
offices and in the recruitment to civil services, spe-
cially so to the gazetted cadre ; but, compared to the
vast amount of nation-building activity that is, so t o
say, in arrears in our State, what he has done or
attempted to do is so little. Much of the increase
in the expenditure on the nation-building depart-
ments of an Indian State a t the present day is a part
of necessary propaganda, and Kashmir is no excep-
tion. Sir N. Gopalswami Ayyangar is certainly the
most efficient Minister whose services have ever
been employed in the State : but it is equally fair t o
say that he has come thirty years too late to Kashmir.
Thirty years or more before, a Sir Gopalswami
should have been eminently successful ; but corn-
ing a t a time when no mere bureaucratic and
administrative efficiency nor even bolder nation-
building activities are enough, he has not struck
the imagination of the people here. Kashmir
needs a man who has the imagination t o envisage
responsible self-Government for her people and the
courage to take reasonable risks.
 CHAPTER XV

Random Thoughts about Future

My survey of the past and the present of the
Kashmir politics is complete. Let me now say a few
words about the future. In the present distressing
condition of the international situation, when almost
everywhere politics is fluid in the world and no-
thing can be said with certainty about the future of
any country, it is dangerous to hazard a prophecy in
this direction. Still certain broad lines may be
drawn without any risk of being caught into the
meshes of dangerous prophecies.
It is quite evident that the Kashmir Movement
will end only when roal power is entirely transferred
t o the hands of the people and they become the
masters of the land. No compromise, no half-heart-
ed solution can finally decide the issue. At the
present moment many parties claim to speak on
behalf of the masses. The Government thinks
that it is their natural protector and guardian and
no one else can snatch that right from it. The
upper classes. the bourgeoisie and the communalists
RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT FUTURE 391
talk as if they are the true spokesmen of the masses
and could properly represent them. But all of them
are interested in these unhappy lower classes only so
long as they can exploit them to their own advant-
age. In the course of this brief survey we have un-
ambiguously and repeatedly found that as soon as
the mass interests begin t o come into conflict with
the interests of the classes or the Government, the
latter expose themselves and their intentions.
The masses are good and worthy people so long as
they remain docile and obedient. When they show
any sign of independence and seriously demand their
rights, they deserve no sympathy and must be
crushed. And crushed they have been with a cruelty
and ruthlessness that only privileged classes backed
by the iiresponsible Government are capable of. But
whether the upper classes like it or not, and though
the Government and its henchmen may do all they
can to suppress it, the battle of freedom once begun
can never be ended until it is finally won.
The major part of this struggle will be fought
outside the State territories, with its headquarters
in Wardha and Allahabad. Kashmir is not now
what it was in olden times, an entity by itself which
could forge its destiny quite separately and free from
any outside influence. Our country is a part of that
big geographical and political unit called India. Our
fate is linked with that of the rest of Indians.
However hard we may struggle, however rapidly we
may march forward, and however quickened our
pace may be, unless and until India progresses for-
ward, we can achieve nothing substantial.
392 INSIDE KASHMlR
We are living under the mightiest imperialism of
the world of which the local Governments are but
tools. We cannot be really free so long as that im-
perialism remains our master. If we had t o face the
local authorities alone, the past events prove that
by now the people of Kashmir would have achieved
their end and established a Responsible Government
in their land. The spontaneous mass uprising of
1931 which was caused by the rotten and most un-
worthy administration of those days was quelled not
by the Kashmir Government but by the authority
of British Imperialism. N o political movement,
however moral, however genuine and however
well-organised, can be successful in any Indian
State so long as the rulers are confident of
British help. N o political worker of the States
can lose sight of this most important and self-evi-
dent fact. It therefore naturally follows that those
workers in the Indian States who are anxious to free
their people from the yoke of the irresponsible
Government, should solidIy support that great orga-
nisation, the Indian National Congress, which alone
is breathlessly fighting t o achieve Purna Swarai.
Fortunately this lesson was brought home to the
leaders of the political movement in Kashmir when
they had gone some distance on the dangerous path
of communalism in the beginning. They realised
their mistake and with a unique courage changed
their course and came to the right track.
There is, however. a difficulty t o face. India is
very largely populated by Hindus and the National
Congress is dominated by them. The Muslims as a
RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT FUTURE 393
community have of late been carried away by the
shibboleths of the reactionaries under the leadership
of the reactionary Mudim League. Evidently the
interests of the Muslims of the State. who form the
overwhelming population of the country and are
dominating its real and progressive politics, lie with
the Congress. By siding with the Muslim League
they will be committing suicide and wrecking their
own cause. They will postpone the day of freedom
and retard the progress of their movement. But i t
requires a deep insight into the nature of things, a
statesmanship and large-heartedness to believe in i t
and abide by it. Our freedom movement is an integ-
ral part of the Congress movement in British India.
T h e lsame world forces which gave birth to that
movement have urged the people of the State t o be-
stir themselves. W e may not be able directly t o
participate in the Indian movement, but we can in-
fluence it so as t o give it a shape. After all, what
is the Congress movement, if not the collective
desire of the people of whom we are an inalienable
part ?
Our movement is primarily meant to prepare the
people of our part of India for the establishment of
responsible Government in our motherland. W e
must work to that end. W e must organise and make
the masses politically conscious and place them on
their guard against the self-seekers, opportunists
and their exploiters. In this lies our great task and
the essence of our movement. It is futile to believe
that any real responsible Government can be
achieved in Kashmir so long as British Imperialism is
394 INSIDE KASHMIR
a strong force in India. W e may get partial reforms.
Nothing more.
Kashmir is. geographically. the most important
of all the Indian States. It is surrounded by high
mountains which separate it from the rest of India,
and on its north three empires meet. As soon a s
India gets freedom. Kashmir is bound t o become
internationally important. At present this geogra-
phical position is, however, only a source of trouble
t o us. The British Government can never tolerate
any political disturbance on this frontier, especially
when it is sponsored by elements which are hostile
to their imperialistic designs and which struggle for
achievement of real power. The British Government
sympathised with and encouraged the political rising
of 1931 t o the extent that it remained communal in
outlook and was backed from outside the State by
its own supporters and friends. They also wanted
t o curry favour with the Muslims in British India
who had helped them t o quell the civil disobedience
movement of the Congress. As soon as these ends
were achieved, they withdrew their support to the
Kashmir movement. Now the case is different. The
Kashmir movement is no longer a communal struggle.
It is becoming wholly political and economic in out-
look. The British Government cannot look a t it
unconcerned.
Almost from the very day the British handed
Kashmir over t o Maharaja Gulab Singh, they have
wanted it back. Its bracing climate and enchanting
beauty were enough t o tempt them, but its political
importance made them act rather unwisely a t times.
RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT FUTURE 395
They have made unreasonable demands on the
Maharaja of Kashmir from time to time and furnish-
ed proofs of the inner workings of their mind. In a
meeting of the East India Association in August
1889 Mr. Edward E. Meakin is reported to have
said that he had been told the following by Maharaja
Ranbir Singh in 1876.
" I learned 8 great many things by my recent visit
t o Calcutta. Some of my people urged me not to go, say-
ing that no sooner should I leave my territory than I
should find myself a sort of honoured guest, something
like Shah Shoojtih when he visited Ranjit Singh, who would
not allow him to cross the Sutlej until he had left the
Koh-i-Noor behind him. w e y said i t was an open secret
that the British Government wanted t o annex Kashmir, and'
t h a t i t was only a question of time, and skilful manoeuvring,
and that I should be inveigled into allowing the first s t e p
towards the attainment of t h e object before I should be
permitted t o return t o my own country."
The Maharaja added :
" I am a buffer; on one side of me there is the big

train of British possessions, and whenever they push

northward, they will tilt up against me : then on the other
side is the shaky concern Afghanistan and on the other side
of i t is the ponderous train and engine called Roos. Every
now and then there is a tilting of Roos towards Afghanis-
tan and simultaneously there is a tilting upwards of the
great engine in Calcutta, and I am the poor little button
between them. Some day, perhaps not far distant, there
will be tilting from the north a n d Afghanistan will smash
up. Then there will be a tremendous tilt from the south
and I shall be buried in the wreck and lost. It may not
come in my time but i t is sure to come when t h a t poor
little button is on the pin. "
The shrewd Maharaja was quite correct in his
estimation. His son Maharaja Pattap Singh "the
396 INSIDE KASHMIR
little button " was virtually deposed and why ? Let
.Amrita Bazar Patrika speak :
" So i t will be seer1 t h t , when Sir John Gorst said
that he would not be surprised if a feeble-minded man
like Partap Singh would withdraw his resignation ; or when
Lord Cross declared that the hlaharajtlr cruelly oppressee
his subjects ; or when Lord Lanrsdowne wrote t o the Maharaja
that His Highness was an extravagant and bad ruler, they
were not aware of the real reasons of t h e Maharaja's de-
position. It was Gilgit that the Governnrent wanted. (Italics
mine)+.
This premature exposure of the whole matter
forced the British Government t o give up their
scheme of annexing either Gilgit or the whole of
the State. But they were nbt discouraged and did
not totally abandon the idea. They only bided their
time. In the political uprising of 1931 they saw signs
of their success. W h a t could not be achieved in the
days of Maharaja Partap Singh was accomplished on
b6
1st August, 1935, when Gilgit was taken tempora-
rily *' under their direct control by the British Gov-
ernment.
The people of Kashmir are not pleased with
this arrangement. Writing about this change of
hands the Hamdard of Srinagar in its issue dated
the 8th of August said :-
"Not only "Is Kashmir known all over the world as a
delightful health resort, but its geographical position has given
i t an importance in international politics which the European
Powers and the Governments of China, J a p a n and Afghanistan
cannot ignore easily. This is all due t o the fact t h a t Gilgit
forms a part of Kashmir. English people are fully aware of
it, and from the time it dawned upon the British Government

'Quoted in Condemned Unheard.

RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT FUTU'
that Gilgit is 8 place " where three empires meet,"
inceseently on the look out t o take povsevsion of it.
tishero eyrnpethised with the plitictll n~overnentin Kashmir
only t o be able to grab Gilgit by donlinecring over the politics
of the State. They wanted t o see neither Kashmiris liberated
nor the Maharaja contir~ueas an rlnbridled autocrat. They
wanted to bring both the ruler and ruled under their control.
And this they did. Their cherished dream of occupying Gilgit
materialised on the fateful day of August 1.
"The people are quite justified in their loud protestations
agaiwt this transfer of a very important part of their mother-
land. But eteeped as they are in the mire of extreme poverty
themselves, their protest will prove ineffective. Of course i t
does not rnean that the transfer has not given rise t o grave
doubts in their minds against the British Government's inten-
tions and t h a t they are unaware of the implications of this
important political change. Had it bee11 so, the Erlglishnltrn
would not have acted with extreme caution in this connection
and would never have allowed the State flag t o fly over Gilgit
even now. This is all due t o the pressure of public opinion.
Nonetheless 1st August has been a historic day and will be
remembered long."
While in the earlier times the British Govern-
ment had to deal with the Maharaja alone, regarding
Gilgit and Kashmir, now they cannot altogether
ignore the rising nationalist opinion of the people.
They do not like that the public in Kashmir should
be so aroused as t o become fully conscious of the
real importance of their State. If the dread of Czarist
Russia descending upon India through Kashmir
was great in the past, the possibility of the invasion
of Red Russia, whose boundaries after the inclusion
of Tajdikistan and Uzbekistan in the U. S. S. R.
have come very near Gilgit, are much greater.
In the opinion of the British a strict watch and
398 INSIDE KASHMIR
supervision is therefore necessary. No nationalist
movement with the object of uplifting the lower
classes, the ignorant and the down-trodden, as the
people of Kashmir in general and the Frontier
Districts in particular are, can be looked upon with
equanimity by them. This attitude of the British
Government towards Kashmir politics is a tremen-
dous difficulty for the nationalists, but they must
face it patiently, wisely and cautiously. The Fron-
tier has been an inalienable part and of utmost
importance t o the people of Kashmir. It is of great
strategical value to us and i t must remain so in
time t o come, of course, with the voluntary support
of the people of that illaqa.
Another contentious problem of serious mag-
nitude is that of provincialism. This question again
and again cropped up in the course of the Dogra
Rule. I think I have made it sufficiently clear in
the course of this book what is a t the bottom of
this problem. W e have seen how a 0 invidious
distinction has been created between the people
of Jammu and people of Kashmir. I have mentioned
the establisment of the Rajput school in Jammu
before 1931. While inaugurating the first Kashmir
Assembly on the 17th of October, His Highness
said :-
"For our part we declare that Divine providence having
laid upon us the sacred duty to care equally for all those com-
mitted to our guardianship, we can recognise no difference
between one person and another or between one class and
another. They are all our beloved children whatever their
persuasion or creed, and we desire to protect, foster, guide
and advance them by every means in our power."
RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT FUTURE 399
But His Highness' Government made this very
Assembly pass the Arms Act which exempted the
Hindu Rajputs from its provisions to the extent
of their possessing one firearm per family. When
the present European W a r began, His Highness
was indiscreetly advised to issue an appeal, on 13th
September, not t o all his subjects between whom he
knew no class distinction as befitted him, but to
the " Dogras and Rajputs " only. He said:-
" Neither the R ~ j p u t sas a whole nor the other Dogras
have forgotten and can ever forget their ancient traditions of
chivalry and bravery, their manliness, their power of endu-
rance and their martial qualities which cannot be requisitioned
in a worthier cause."
As if people belonging to parts of the State
other than Jammu neither possess these quali-
ties nor had possessed them a t any time in the
past. The appeal proceeded :
"I consider myself most fortunate that Dogar the home
of my forefathers continues t o be a vital part of the territories
which God has called upon me t o administer. I arn addressing
myself t o all Dogras, Hindu or Muslim, or of any other persu-
sion who for centuries have lived in amity and acknowledged
...
an unswerving allegiance t o their Ruler ............... Nor is this
appeal confined t o the Dogras who continue to reside within
my State. It is equally addressed to all Dogras outside my
State whom I claim as my kinsmen."
O n their very face these remarks in the
appeal were highly provocative to the Kashmiris and
galling t o those who had any sense of self-respect
in them. The sensitive political workers were
touched to the quick. The appeal was bitterly
criticised in the nationalist press and the Anantnag
Session of the National Conference, which met soon
400 INSIDE KASHMIR
bb
after, rightly observed that the appeal is apt to
raise providcial and racial issues because it credits
exclusively certain sections of the people of
Jammu and Kashmir State with certain qualifica-
tions which are not only not peculiar to them alone
but are shared with them by other sections of the
people in a greater degree." The conference
emphatically requested His Highness never t o act
so as t o cause righteous indignation in the minds
of the non-Dogra and non-Rajput sections of the
people. The result was the Arms Act!
The appeal did raise provincial and racial
issues, and the matter was frankly and comprehen-
sively though uglily discussed in the press for many
months. The problem became alive again.
The present day Jammu and Kashmir State
was formed when the Treaty of Amritsar was
signed in 1846 A.D.. after the first Sikh W a r ; and
as a result thereof people belonging t o different
races, speaking different languages, professing
different cultures and possessing divergent economic
interests were blended together to form into one
nation. It is doubtful whether this will remain so
when democratic ideas are developed and have
their full play. For the Kashmiris do not like to be
yoked t o the chariot wheels of the Dogras. They
consider the Dogras alien t o themselves. They
have sufficient justification to feel like that. The
Kashmiris say :-
"Geographically speaking, we have nothing to do with
Jammu. In fact the high mountains around the beautiful
valley which have served as its natural guards against outside
enemies cut it off from the rest of the world.
RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT FUTURE 401
" Linguistically speaking, we speak a different language
from that which the people of Jammu speak.
And lastly, politically, we might be equal in theory but
in actual practice we are looked down upon as a conquered
race or, worse etill, as people who were purchased. We are
not therefore trusted on positions of responsibility and are
net recruited in the Army."
Kashmiris therefore want provincial autonomy.
For obvious reasons the Dogras and Rajputs do not
like even t o envisage any kind of separation of the
two provinces. The separation is, however, bound
to come sooner or later unless strict impartiality is
observed in treating the different people of the two
provinces and all invidious, distinctions against
Kashmiris are withdrawn and they are allowed t o
enter the Army. The Indian National Congress is
committed t o the redistribution of provinces as
soon as India is free. Kashmir will, if necessary,
then narrow down to her natural boundaries which
she had before 1846 and in the days when it was
really independent.
Kashmiris are a virile and an intelligent race.
They are capable of making supreme sacrifices for
their national cause. They are hard-working, labo-
rious and frugal. Fortitude is a trait of their charac-
ter, and they can work wonderfully in most adverse
circumstances. Nobody would imagine before 1931
.that there would be such a gigantic and spon-
taneous movement in Kashmir. People everywhere
held a very low opinion of our character and courage.
I have mentioned the statement made before the
Dalal Committee by Mr. Wakefield in which he said,
" I think everybody is agreed that nobody anticipated
402 INSIDE KASHMIR
that a Kashmir mob would behave in the way it did,
and consequently no disturbances were anticipat-
ed." It was rightly observed by the Committee
that he and other officials had a contempt for the
courage of Kashmiris, but that they were thoroughly
disillusioned, and so was the world a t large.
The main brunt of the Kashmir Movement has
t o be borne, as in the past. by the people of the
valley. So many of them were shot dead in the
year 1931 by the military, and it must be said to
the credit of all those who thus laid down their
lives for the national cause that not one of them
ran away when the fire was opened but boldly
faced it empty-handed. In no single case were the
bullets found in the back of the dead bodies ; they
had entered the flesh on the front.
Kashmir is again seething with unrest. People
feel the pangs of political thraldom, economic
slavery and privations of poverty, starvation and
disease. The Government is not doing all it
can do t o ameliorate their lot. Unemployment both
among the educated young men in the towns and
illiterate masses in the vilIages is becoming more
and more acute. No well-planned scheme of indus-
trialisation cf the country is being taken up. The
overwhelming populatioll of the country who live
on land are passing through a period of great misery.
Before the proprietorship of land was vested in the
people, about 50 per cent of the cultivable soil was
in the hands of jagirdars and other absentee land-
lords. About 15 per cent more has now gone out
of the hands of cultivators, with the result that the
RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT FUTURE 403
problem of landless tenants has become serious.
Any day there may be an acute agrarian trouble.
Kashmir is not only beautiful, it is a rich country.
It is evident that the immense water power that is
being wasted a t present can be utilised in many
ways to irldustrialise the country and add to the
wealth of the nation. Another source of income
is the forests with their various minor products. The
valley forms a part of the belt round the world along
with Rumania and Iran where petrol is in abundance.
It will not be surprising if oil deposits are discovered
in some parts of Kashmir.
,I have mentioned that various cottage indus-
tries were a great source of income to the masses
during the ages gone by. The paper industry has
completely died down. The shawl industry which has
been revived by the efforts of Gandhiji's All-India
Spinners* Association has a vaster field. So have
other cottage industries like Silk, Papier-mache,
Gabba, Pattoo, Carpet, Woollens, Namdas. Furniture,
Willow-works, etc.
Then there is the tourist trade. Kashmir is an
ideal place for tourists. I t presents the best scenes
of nature. It affords all kinds of game and sport ;
it has a bracing climate. cordin in^ t o Pandit
Jawahar La1 Nehru, one of the best-travelled men,
"Kashmir can well become the play-ground not only
of India but of Asia."
All this can be exploited only when there is a
scientific planning and a scheme of all-round deve-
lopment This again is a work of a Govern-
ment interested in the upliftment of the masses
404 INSIDE KASHMIR
and the progress of the country as a whole. The
present system of administration, however well-
intentioned, is incapable of doing it. This Govern-
ment is responsible t o a certain class of people who
are in affluent circumstances and do not care what
miserable lives the generality of the people have to
live. The administration is carried on for the belle-
fit of that class, and so long as they d o not feel any
pressure, it goes merrily o n . This irresponsibIe
Government cannot even start a substantial industrial
scheme, as sometimes it professes to do, evidently
because the carrying of such reforms will mean
enormous expenditure of money. The main portion
of the present income, as we have seen already, is
appropriated either by the privy purse or by the
Military and the Civil Administration. There is no
possibility of any reduction in this direction, nor
will any idea of such reduction be tolerated by the
members of the privileged classes who enjoy this
wealth. Even now any serious criticism of the
largeness of the privy purse is considered unpalat-
able. Further taxation of the starving masses is
impossible. The result is that there is no pros-
pect of any more income. The Government can
a t best, therefore, carry on as it is, if it can
even do that. It can manipulate things and try
t o deceive the world by showing small things as big
in the matter of having industrialised the country
and carried it on the path of progress. But
in the long run it can prove t o be only
self-deception, as in matters economic it is not
propaganda alone, however dexterously carried on,
 RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT FUTURE 405
that matters. It is facts that count.
Kashmir is an agricultural country. The chief
source of income is land. During the past few years
the price of grains went down. Whenever there
has been any rise in the prices, the profit has accrued
to the middlemen and not to the cultivator. The
peasant has suffered and suffered immensely. H e is
on the brink of destruction. Thousands of the
peasants, as I have remarked above, have sold part
of the lands to pay the interests on their debts or
the revenue t o the Government. The Government
can say, and even produce statistics to mislead the
world, that the peasant has paid the dues promptly
during the past seven years. But how they have
managed to do so can be explained only by saying
that it was possible owing t o the sale of land on a
large scale to the moneyed statutory agriculturist
middle-class people of the towns.
" Kashmir needs a change. It deserves one.
Again and again, as I was wrapped in pleasurable
contemplation of Kashmir's beauty, I came back to
hard earth with a shock when I saw this appalling
poverty. W h y should these people remain so miserably
poor, I wondered, when Nature has so abundantly
endowed them, " observed Pandit Jawahar La1 Nehru
while giving his impressions about his visit to the
happy valley. But this desired change cannot take
place so long as the present system of Government
lasts. It must go. It must be replaced not by a
reformed Government but by an entirely different
system of administration, one that is solely and
wholly dominated by the people of the country.
406 INSI-DE KASHMIR
W h a t cannot be achieved In a century now can be
accomplished in a very short time then.
But how can such a change be wrought ? Not by
mere talk, as some of the present-day leaders seem to
think. Nor can i t take place merely by the success
of the freedom movement in British India. The
Congress struggle can help us a great deal, no doubt.
It can free us from British Imperialism, but for the
ultimate good and prosperity of our country we shall
have t o toil ourselves. We expect that, like a ripe
fruit, Responsible Government will automatically fall
some day into our hands. This is a ridiculous belief.
The sooner we are disillusioned the better. There
are innumerable difficulties in our way. Our people
are backward. They are not politically conscious.
Economic necessity drove them t o rise spontaneously
against the Government in 1931. But they do not
know what is basically responsible for their poverty
and starvation. W e have to make them politically
conscious by making them rralise the injustice of
the social system in which we live. They must feel
that the inequalities among people which we face a t
every turn are not nature-born, as is the universal
belief, but have been created by privileged classes
who live a t their expense. So long as we do not
create a passionate desire of equality and demand
for justice in social and political order among the
masses, the desired change bringing about Respon-
sible Government is not possible. Kashmiris must
know that the wealth and the joys of life that our
country produces are there for even the humblest
among them. Those who have appropriated all this
RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT FUTURE 407
common property for their own luxuries are the
real enemies of the country. They have no right to
this robbery. They have to be controlled and
rendered innocuous.
This call easily be said rather than done. It is
a huge task and requires Herculian nerves to perform
it. We must have . inexhaustible patience, wise
statesmanship and wonderful courage. W e must be
cautious. Our own people can be turned against us :
the very famishing masses for whom we want to
fight. We should maintain our balance and remain
unperturbed and calm. W e must be farsighted and
always keep our ultimate goal in view. W e must
remember that in the circumstances in which we
are placed non-violence is the real and the most
effective weapon which has been placed in our hands
by the greatest Indian, Mahatma Gandhi, to achieve
our goal. W e must be non-violent both in the open
and in secret, and try to have the strength to be
non-violent in thought, word and deed.
The immature radicalism of certain muddle-
headed young men and extremists cannot help us.
W e must understand that though we are fight-
ing for the masses and the underdog, it will
not be they who can prove of substantial help
in the beginning. Revolution is an art. It can-
not be achieved by carrying out halfbaked and
raw schemes of jingo socialists. In the beginning
we have t o organise and fully arouse the middle
classes and carry them with us. A t this stage
of our development it is they who can prove
useful in fighting for democracy. Absolutism now
408 INSIDE KASHMIR
stands as a huge rock in the way of the pro-
gress and expansion of the middle classes. The
selfishness of the small ruling class has alreday
exasperated them and they want to get rid of
their pernicious hold. We must make the best
of the situation. W e must rally all the middle
classes under the banner of our national fight
and, while never forgetting our goal, create imme-
diately an atmosphere for the establishment of
the bourgeoisie democracy in the country. This
will bring us nearer to our object. And when
the power has been wrested from the hands of
the upper classes and handed over t o the middle
classes, we must proceed further with the scheme,
broadening the bases of democracy and social and
economic equality.
Kashmiri Pandits are eminently fitted t o form
the vanguard of this force. They are the typical
middle class men, neither starving nor in affluent
circumstances. They want expansion of demo-
cracy if they can be assured that it will not prove
harmful for them. Pandit young men are swel-
ling the numbers of the educated unemployed.
Because of their high education and powers of
organisation they can prove of immense use to
the leaders of the National Movement. Owing
t o some unfortunate incidents, Pandits have
become sullen and feel displeased with the
National Conference. Muslim members of the Con-
ference also do not trust them but think they are
the enemies of the movement. This is most de-
plorable.
RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT FUTURE 409
Pandits are suffering an inferiority complex.
They feel that the masses being Muslim can
only be organised and led by Muslim workers. This
is wrong. Muslim workers have one community of
interest with the masses, that of religion, which is
sentimental and changeable. O u r relations with
the masses are eternal and deep-rooted. W e
belong t o the same race and have the same blood in
our veins. If Pandit young men sincerely go to
the country-side t o serve the masses, there is no
reason why they cannot organise and lead them,
W h a t in reality is the cause of the inferiority
complex is that we are ourselves communal in out-
look and have a middle class mentality. O u r
nationalism is skin-deep, and as soon as a Muslim
middle class communalist offers the slightest
provocatio11, the bubble is pricked and we come out
in our true colours. That is the genesis of our
weakness. If we are true patriots and really above
communalism, we are destined leaders of Kashmir.
a t any rate in the near future, however pre-
mature it may be to say what attitude Pandits
will ultimately adopt when masses become fully
conscious and powerful enough to take the work of
Government into their hands.
N o attention whatsoever has been paid to
eradicate the degrading social abuses which are
sapping the vitality of the masses. Illiteracy i s
rampant. Muslim villagers are mullah-ridden and the
mullahs do not want to loosen their grip. Progress is
impossible so long as these preachers and waizes
are not publicly denounced as the worst obstacles
410 INSIDE KASHMIR
t o progress. Women are barbarously treated. Their
life is a stone-mill round the neck of the nation.
They are suffering from innumerable diseases. Their
ignorance, social thraldom and subjection are looked
upon as virtues. Most o them, particularly those
belonging to the upper and the middle classes.
have t o move, outside their homes, if a t all, under a
veil-that great impediment in the way of their
spiritual and physical development. As a rule our
people are unclean and dirty. W e talk so much
about the gifts of nature which abound in our land,
but have not had the wisdom to utilise the com-
monest of these gifts, i.e., water to remove dirt.
Obviously Muslim workers can immediately prove
of greater use in this field than their Hindu
colleagues. But Kashmiri Pandits can eminently
perform the task of carrying the torch of literacy t o
every corner of the State. Educated unemployed
young men with patriotic feelings can become
teachers on small wages, and a net-work of national
schools can be spread all over the country.
W e have complained so much against the un-
sympathetic attitude of the Government, but we
can not reasonably deny that we are ourselves a t
fault in many respects. We could advise a pro-
gramme of social reform and adopt it. W e could
build a constructive side t o our movement. Mere
passing of resolutions and delivering of speeches can-
not lead us far.
We have inherited a magnificent past with
o u r old culture and literature. N o national
movement worthy of its name can ignore it. Poli-
RANDOM T H O U G H T S ABOUT FUTURE 411
tics has made the people of Kashmir blind t o
their ancestral heritage. Muslims think that they
have nothing to do with the greatness we achieved
during the Hindu period, and Hindus would like, if
they could, t o delete that portion of history which
begins with the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir and
ends in 1846. If a dispassionate mind is brought
t o study the problem, it will be seen that this atti-
tude is unnationalistic and unedifying. We must
feel proud of our ancestors and redeem their memory
from the mist of the past. The stature that our
prodigious ancesters had added to our greatness
by their intelluctual productions is of as great
importance t o us as the natural beauty of our
motherland. Man does not live by bread alone.
Our movement is not only for our economic
and political advancement ; it is for our cultural
progress as well. And no cultural revival can
minimise the usefulness of our old heritage.
Kashmir needs a leader with great qualities
and immense capability. Like Kemal Ataturk
he must be bold t o face the mullah and in-
troduce social reform of a revolutionary character.
Like Riza Shah, he must be endowed with a
passionate patriotic zeal and must be a believer
in the greatness and glory of the past of his
motherland. Like Zaglul, he must deal liberally
with the minorities of his country. Such a hero
is destined t o appear on the scene, and the
forces of nature are bound t o throw him up on
the surface t o lead the needy masses. When
he will appear no one can say. I believe that,
412 INSIDE KASHMIR

for obvious reasons, he must be born. I have

cherished this belief all these many years. It may
ultimately prove an obsession ; who knows ? But
in the hope that a great future awaits us and
our country. that the political and economic
and social uplift of our country-men is an ideal
worth striving for, let us work calmly, quietly,
but incessantly and in scorn of all difficulties
and privations.

Epilogue

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, could no+. Tdh
- may wound,

Although I naget meant. it >houId. Bu1 il

By -I
>ome uncon>ciou> ettot) hove cau-jrd

O n e >mot+, I ctave I o f g i ~ a n o ~o-nj my knee> :

LJn+tu+h mu>+die and +*u+hp t e ~ a i Ia+ lag+.