July 13, 1931- A historical tragedy of Jammu and Kashmir
Raies Ahmed Mir *(Human rights activist)
July 13 is commemorated to pay rich tributes to the 22 Kashmiris who were shot dead, one after the other, outside the Srinagar Central Jail by the armed forces of Dogra Maharaja’s autocratic rule. The Kashmiri victims had gathered in the jail premises to attend the court proceedings against one, Abdul Qadeer, who had asked the Kashmiri people to defy Dogra rule.
The discrimination Kashmir’s Muslim majority is still facing to this day also came to the fore for the first time during the Sikh rule. Back then, the murder of a native by a Sikh was punished with a fine of 16 to 20 Kashmiri rupees to the government, of which 4 rupees would go to the family of the deceased if the victim is a Hindu, and only 2 rupees if the deceased is a Muslim.
And in 1846, when the British East India Company defeated the Sikh Empire in the first Anglo-Sikh war, Kashmir was sold to the Dogras as if it was not the home of millions of people but just a “commodity”. Gulab Singh, a Dogra, who served as the ruler of Jammu in the Sikh Empire, chose to side with the British in the Anglo-Sikh war. After the war, the East India Company “sold” Kashmir to Gulab Singh for a lump sum of 7.5 million rupees to reward his loyalty.
The Dogra rule was possibly the worst phase in terms of the economic extortion in Kashmir. Most of the peasants were landless since Kashmiris were banned from holding any land. About 50-75 percent of cultivated crops went to the Dogra rulers, leaving the working class with practically no control over the produce. The Dogra rulers also reintroduced the begar (forced labour) system under which the state could employ workers for little to no payment. Not only every imaginable profession was taxed, but Kashmiri Muslims were also forced to pay a tax if they wished to get married too. The absurdity of the exorbitant tax system reached a new high when something called “zaildari tax” was introduced to pay for the cost of taxation itself!
During the Dogra rule, Kashmiri Pandits – native Hindus of the Kashmir Valley – were slightly better off than the Kashmiri Muslims, perhaps as a result of the administration’s pro-Hindu bias. They were allowed to have more upper-class jobs and work as teachers and civil servants. This meant that amongst a predominantly Muslim population, the so-called “petite bourgeois” was dominated by the Hindus. The Dogra regime also replaced Koshur with Urdu as the official language in the region, making it even harder for the Koshur-speaking Kashmiri Muslims to break free from poverty.
Therefore, the history of Kashmir’s Muslims often intersects with the history of the working class in the valley. In fact, throughout the Dogra rule in Kashmir, the resistance against the oppressive regime was shaped by class as much as religion.
The tension was brewing Jammu and Kashmir during Dogra rule since 19th April 1931 when Imam Munshi Muhammad Ishaq was stopped by Dogra police chief, Chowdry Ram Chand, from delivering Eid Khutba (sermon) in the Municipal Park of Jammu. The incident triggered massive demonstrations in Jammu city that continued for many days. Ban on Eid Khutba was followed by the desecration of the Holy Quran at the hands of Dogra troops in Jammu. This outrageous act led to widespread resentment throughout the State.
In Srinagar, people held massive gatherings at historic Jamia Masjid and other mosques, shrines and Imamabargahs to denounce this blasphemy and demanded punishment to the culprits.
A youth, Abdul Qadeer, was also part of a crowd, who was listening to the speeches delivered by prominent Kashmiri leaders at one such gathering held in Khanqah-e-Mualla, Srinagar. When the meeting concluded, Abdul Qadeer pointing his finger to the Dogra Maharaja’s palace raised full-throated slogans “destroy its every brick”. A case under sedition was filed against him and he was arrested instantly. Abdul Qadeer was to be tried in the court but due to a large public resentment the court was shifted to the Srinagar Central Jail.
On 12th July 1931, intense public demonstrations were held throughout the city against the shifting of the court to the Central Jail.
On 13th July, 1931 thousands of people thronged the Central Jail in Srinagar to witness the trial of Abdul Qadeer. As the time for obligatory Zuhar prayers approached, one of the youth stood up and started reciting “Azan”. He was shot dead by the Dogra soldiers and next youth started the ‘Azan’ where it was left by the martyred youth. He was also killed and in the process of completing the ‘Azan’ a total of 22 Kashmiris were martyred, one after the other. This massacre is the blackest chapter in the history of Dogra regime.
The number of people killed on 13 July 1931 is generally quoted as 22. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah has mentioned this number in his book (Aatash-i-Chinar, p 64) without giving names of the fallen persons. Political leader and one time Abdullah’s associate, Munshi Mohammad Ishaq (Nida-e-Haq, p 107), an eyewitness to the developments of 1931, corroborates the number but, like Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, mentions no names. Author and scholar, Molvi Mohammad Ibrahim, [Koshur Encyclopedia, Vol I, p 350-51, published by the Jammu & Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture & Languages in 1986] gives the following 22 names with residential addresses:
Amir Joo Jandgaroo (Gojwara), Akbar Dar (Osar Bhavan), Mohammad Teli (Osar Bhavan), Mohammad Subhan Rather (Osar Bhavan), Abdullah Ahangar (Narabal Nowshehra), Abdullah Lone (Mokhte Pokhar), Mohammad Shaban Misger (Mokhte Pokhar), Khaliq Shora (Anzimar), Mohammad Sultan Chola (Aram Masjid Khanyar), Ahmad Bhat (Fateh Kadal), Mohammad Sultan Khan (Basant Bagh), Nasiruddin (Chinkral Mohalla), Abdul Salam Hajam (Guzarbal), Mohammad Akbar (Zaldagar), Ghulam Nabi Kanewal (Mohalla Pandan), Abdullah Najar (Ompora), Ghulam Mohammad Sofi (Daribal), Mohammad Subhan Khan (Nawab Bazar), Abdul Gani Makai (Nawa Kadal), Ghulam Mohammad Naqash (Kadi Kadal), Ghulam Mohammad Halwai (Jama Masjid) and Ghulam Qadir Bhat (Mohalla Bahauddin Sahib).
Pir Mohammad Afzal Makhdoomi, another political leader and eyewitness of the events, says that 23 persons were killed on 13 July 1931. [Kashmir ki Tehreek-e-Azadi: Khwaab, AzaabSaraab, p 73-74]. The one additional name given by him is Ghulam Rasool Dardah, a resident of Qutubuddin Pora.
Mridu Rai mentions “the death toll of twenty-two demonstrators and one policeman” [Martyrs’ Days: Memorializing 13 July 1931 in Kashmir, (PDF) Martyrs’ Days: Memorializing 13 July 1931 in Kashmir (researchgate.net)]. She also does not state any names.
Late Sadruddin Mujahid, a close associate of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and leader of the erstwhile Plebiscite Front, who took part in the 1931 Agitation as a student of Islamia High School, had identified 108 persons with their residential addresses martyred between July 1931 and 1938 in different parts of Kashmir and Rajouri and Poonch [Weekly Khalid-i-Jadeed, 13 July 1981]. According to him, 20 persons were killed at the Central Jail on 13 July 1931 while 6 others were gunned down in other parts of the city including 2 each at Nawakadal and Nowshera and 1 each at Jama Masjid and Gaw Kadal.
As scholar and activist Prem Nath Bazaz noted, the sentiments of the crowd that rushed the prison were not anti-Hindu but anti-tyranny. Yet, the riots that took place in the aftermath of July 13 took a religious turn when shops owned by the Hindus were looted in the valley.
Bazaz attributed this to the shortsighted and inexperienced politics of the Reading Room Party as well as the hostile and discriminatory attitude of the Hindus towards the Muslim majority. Ever since that episode, however, all stakeholders in the Kashmir conflict have been attempting to communalise Kashmiri history. The struggle of the valley’s working-class Muslims has been reduced to their religious identity, as if the religion that they follow makes their anger somewhat illegitimate.
The Martyrs Graveyard at the Naqshband Sahib’s shrine near Nowhatta and the graves remember their martyred of those killed by Dogra forces on 13 July 1931.
Before this wholesale slaughter, the Kashmiris had been facing the worst brutalities at the hands of their rulers since the selling of Jammu and Kashmir – with predominantly Muslim population – by the Britain to Dogra dynasty for Rs 75 lac under the Treaty of Amritsar in 1846. The Dogra period is considered to be the worst phase of the Kashmir history on account of cruelties meted out to the Muslims.
13th July 1931 is a significant day due to the fact that it was the first occasion when the Kashmiris rose en masse against the oppression of the Dogra Maharaja.
The Indian occupation is a new saga of people of Jammu and Kashmir sufferings started after the announcement of the understanding behind the Partition Plan of the Indian subcontinent by the British Government in 1947. Under the Plan, the British India Colony was to be divided into two sovereign states – Pakistan and India. The understanding behind the Partition Plan had given the right to the then Princely States to accede to either of the two countries on the basis of their geography and demography. The Kashmiris had a great feeling to join Pakistan due to their strong geographical, religious and cultural bonds with the country. However, their dream of becoming part of Pakistan was shattered by the landing of Indian Army in Srinagar on October 27, 1947 in total disregard to the Partition Plan that sowed the seeds of the Kashmir dispute. This shows that Kashmir is the unfinished part of the partition of South Asian subcontinent.
13th July 1931 is a significant day due to the fact that it was the first occasion when the Kashmiris rose en masse against the oppression of the Dogra Maharaja.
Since 1989, the processions to salute and pay homage at the memorial of July 31, 1931 martyrs were disallowed by Indian authorities. While after Aug 2019, the BJP regime stopped the official function and also banned political parties from visiting the Naqashband Sahab graveyard in Srinagar.
The continued denial of their political rights to people of Jammu and Kashmir by India compelled the people of the occupied territory to start a massive uprising in 1989. It picked up pace with the passage of time and gave sleepless nights to the Indian rulers. Pursuing the path shown by the July 1931 martyrs, the Kashmiris rose against the Indian illegal occupation and continue their struggle with the pledge to liberate their motherland from Indian bondage.