Kashmir: a history of revolt

This latest separatist revolt, however, is not new in Kashmir and its origins can be traced to 16th century, when Mughal Emperor Akbar sent his troops to conquer. In fact, Kashmiri separatists have always framed their ideology behind the demand of “azadi” with this 423 year long history. Even the tallest leader of Kashmir, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah launched a movement for freedom from Dogra autocratic rule in 1931 based his demand on historical injustice and foreign rule, making the Mughal army’s toppling of the Chak dynasty rule as its beginning. The memory of loss and pain by the Mughal invasion has, in fact, been imortalised by the poetry of Kashmir’s last queen Habba Khatoon, which still is alive in every Kashmir home.

It’s a historical fact that the first rebellion in Kashmir began through a subtle verbal resistance soon after Kashmir’s last king Yousuf Shah Chak was tricked by Mughal’s to come for negotiations to Delhi, only to be imprisoned and exiled to Patna in Bihar. Chak later died there. Chak’s painful exile and then the poetry of loss written by his peasant queen, wandering the beautiful landscape of the valley, have always sowed the seeds of revolt here. Habba’s songs, lamenting the pain and loss of Kashmir during Mughal rule has framed almost every separatist discourse including the successful peasant rebellion against Dogra autocratic rule led by Sheikh Mohamamd Abdullah and his National Conference party in 1930’s and 40’s. Kashmir’s response to Mughal rule was to use contemptuous terms like “pogi Mughal – shinay-e- Mughal (ominous/ inauspicious Mughal) and ridicule their rule.

Mughals first tried to conquer Kashmir in 1561 but were defeated by Sultan Gazi Shah Chak. In 1585, Mughal invasion was led by Raja Bhagwan Das and it succeeded after Kashmir’s king Yousuf Shah Chak was tricked to come for negotiations, captured and exiled. Chak’s resisted the Mughal rule for another two years but surrendered in 1588 when Mughal Emperor Akbar finally entered Kashmir in 1589.

The first organized revolt, however, took place during Sikh rule of Kashmir (between 1783-85), when the local population led by Malook Khan rose against Governor Azad Khan. The rebellion was, however, crushed.

In 1846, another revolt took place when Imam-ud-din, the then governor under Sikh rule in Kashmir rebelled with the help of Kashmir’s hill tribes and resisted and refused to surrender the territory to Dogras after the notorious Treaty of Amritsar, through which Kashmir was sold to Maharaja Gulab Singh and Dogra rule established. The people who were killed in this resistance were buried in a Srinagar locality which is now named as Shaheed Gunj (The locality of the martyrs).

On April, 29, 1865, Shawl weavers rebelled against Dagh Shawl department of the Dogras rulers. The reason behind this revolt was their extremely difficult working conditions, meager wages, excessive taxation and a ban to leave Kashmir valley. The weavers staged a protest outside the house of Pandit Raj Kak Dhar, the top Dogra official incharge of the department, in city’s Zaldagar locality. The Dogra army charged at the protesting weavers and drowned 28 of them. This led to an uprising which was, however, crushed by the Dogra army.

In 1924, the next round of revolt took place when the employees of Silk factory launched an agitation. This agitation triggered by the unhygienic conditions in the factory but soon expanded to the demand to pressure Dogra rulers to grant political concessions to Kashmiris.

July, 13, 1931 – This resistance was spread across Jammu and Kashmir and began from Jammu against the sacrilege of Quran by the soldiers of Dogra ruler Hari Singh. There were massive protests in Kashmir. The struggle began as a movement against this act of sacrilege but soon turned into a struggle for the ouster of the Dogra autocratic rule. Thirty one protestors were killed when Dogra army opened fire at them during the trial of the leader of this agitation, Abdul Qadeer. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah came to limelight soon after this incident, who later framed the discourse of Kashmir’s freedom from autocratic Dogra rule. Although Muslim Conference led by Sheikh was at the fore front of this struggle, Sheikh renamed it as National Conference on secular principles to include the minorities, especially Kashmiri pandits in its fold on June 11, 1939. This led to the first fissures in Kashmir’s revolt for freedom, dividing it along idealogical lines. While Sheikh professed a secular and socialist agenda, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s grand uncle Mirwaiz Yousuf Shah and Choudhary Ghulam Abbas stuck to Muslim Conference, making the religious identity of Kashmiri Muslims the focus of their struggle against the Dogra rule.

This internal chasm, in fact, played an important role in 1947 when Sheikh rejected the two nation theory and decided to go with India, rather than siding with the newly born state of Pakistan on the basis of Jammu Kashmir being a Muslim dominated princely state. The Muslim Conference, however, sought Kashmir’s accession with Pakistan.

On August, 9, 1953, Sheikh was arrested for allegedly espousing the cause of an independent Kashmir. While Sheikh was in jail, New Delhi consistently changed the dynamics of the very principle of Kashmir’s autonomy within Indian state and took a series of measures to destroy its special character. A plebiscite front was launched to revolt against New Delhi’s rule in Kashmir and Sheikh had returned to the demand of a referendum. This rebellion continued till 1975 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi singed an accord with Sheikh. This accord too was controversial and although National Conference returned to power, the seeds of separatism in Kashmir didn’t die. Infact, this further strengthened the separatist sentiment.

In 1967 – the first underground militant group Alfatah was launched to rebel against New Delhi’s rule in Kashmir. This group, however, fizzled out when it was finally crushed in 1971.

In 1989 – Kashmir erupted again. And this time, massive public protests lead to a militant movement which continues. The Hurriyat Conference – which was launched in 1993 to spearhead the political campaign for separatism – too has been divided along the same idealogical lines which witnessed the split when Sheikh Mohamamd Abdullah created secular National Coference but couldn’t entirely replace the Muslim Conference.

Today, the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front is seeking an independent secular and united Jammu and Kashmir while Syed Ali Shah Geelani led Hurriyat staunchly supports Kashmir’s accession with Pakistan.

The discourse might have substantially changed since the Mughal invasion of Kashmir 423 years ago, the songs of Habba Khatoon still frame the separatist yearning for self rule.