It was a speech and what followed it that made him a hero of the 1931 uprising in Kashmir. His identity, however, still remains a mystery. Abdul Qadeer Khan left the political scene of Kashmir as dramatically as he entered it. His speech against the Dogra rule inthe state at Khanqah-i-Moulla shrine, asking people to revolt against the cruel policies of the Maharaja, gave a vent tothe perpetual yet dormant anger among the civilians who suffered under different autocratic rules of Sikhs, Afghans and then the Dogras. Although much has been written about Khan by historians, scholars and writers, most of it lacks proof. MAKING OF A HERO It was on June 21, 1931 that the ‘Young man’s Muslim Association’, led by Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, planned a public meeting at the Khanqah-i-Moula. It was a unique meeting because all Muslim divines, irrespective of their schools of thought, assembled there. The meeting was addressed by Abdullah himself. He asked all the Muslims to unite and demand for their rights. He also appealed to the Pandits to join hands with Muslims to seek redress of grievances as well as, demand for independence. All the leaders swore in the name of the Holy book that they would remain faithful to the cause of Islam. Sheikh Abdullah (encircled) near a martyrof 13 July, 1931. Khawaja Saad-ud-din Shawl, Mirwaiz Moulvi Yousuf Shah, Mirwaiz Moulvi Hamdani, Chowdhary Ghulam Abbas, Agha Syed Hussain Shah Jalali, Khwaja Ghulam Ahmad Ashai, Munshi Shahab-ud-din, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and Sardar Gohar Rehman were elected as representatives of the Muslims. Just when the meeting was about to beover, a well-built Pathan,around 36-40 years old, rose up and delivered aninspiring speech which was considered to be seditious by the State Government. The Pathanwas Abdul Qadeer Khan. He said, “The honour, respect and reverence ofthe Holy Quran are dearer to the Muslims than the ruler-ship of the world. They will never tolerate any interference in their religion or defilement oftheir Holy Book. The Government of the Maharaja does not care for his subjects. It has notouch with the people, nor any sympathy for the downtrodden. Oh, Muslims arise! Time is near when you shall reply with stones, against the bricks. I warn you that your representatives and memorials cannot come to your rescue, nor will these papers remove injustice and misery. Such things cannot solvethe issue relating to the defilement of the Holy Quran. You must stand on your legs and fight against autocratic force. Even, if, you have no arms you can fight with sticks and stones”. Khan then pointed towards the Shergarhi Palace of the Maharaja and cried: “Demolish this edifice of injustice, cruelty and subjugation”. The listeners, who included leaders and the general public, were quite flabbergasted to hear such a speech. The crowd seemed so mobilized and motivatedby the speech, that they shouted ‘Allah-o-Akbar’ to manifest their supportfor Khan. After the event,Abdul Qadeer Khan and his speech became the talk of the town. Some said Khan was a man of wheatish colour, sharp eyes, big face and curved moustaches, whohad come to Kashmir with a European tourist as a butler. Others believed he was a disciple of Maulana Jamal-ud-din Afghani, a foremost Muslim philosopher of the 20thcentury, who had also visited Kashmir before his departure to Russia via Pahalgam. QADEER’S INSPIRATION Two religious defamatory incidents are believed to have played a major role in inspiring Khan. The first incident took place on the 29th April 1931, and is remembered as the ‘Khutba incident’ in Jammu. It is said that during Eid prayers, KhemChand, a Hindu police officer ordered the Imam, who was conducting Nimaz to stop the Khutba. The second incident thatseemed to have provoked Khan took place on the 4th July 1931. It is still remembered as Tohin-i-Quran. In the police lines Jammu, a Hindu official Lakha Ram, threw away the Holy Quran, which a Muslim employee was reciting in his room. Besides these two incidents, Muslims generally were barred from practicing their religion under the rule. Soon after delivering thespeech, Khan was arrested on 25 June, 1931. The offences like Section 124(A) (Anyone who by words or expression of any kind brings or attempts to bring or provoke a feeling of hatred, contempt, or disaffection towards government established by law is culpable under the section for imprisonment from 3 years to lifetime with or without fine) and 153 (Wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot-if rioting be committed-if not committed) of the Penal Code were charged on him in the Court of Session Judge on the 4 July, 1931. During the hearings, it was found that the trial had greatly excited the Muslims as it was the first case of a political nature in the state. The Muslims of the state were sympathetic towards Khan and thousands of people assembled in the court to know the fate of the prisoner. As such, there was an imminent dangerof turmoil and so on 11 July, 1931, District Magistrate suggested that the trial be held in Jail and permission for itwas granted. Not to forget is the fact that no lawyer came forward to defend Khan, except Maulvi Abdullah Vakil. Historians say Maharaja Hari Singh had appealedto the masses to stay away from the functioning of government but that appeal was completely rejected by the Muslims. They were “prepared to sacrifice for the sake of Islam and for the sake ofthe helpless prisoner, forwhose defence they had planned to raise subscriptions”. 13 July 1931 The trial was to be held in the Srinagar Jail premises. The Deputy Inspector of Police came to the site with one Inspector, two Sub Inspectors, five Head Constables, and 44 policemen. Out of this force, 22 policemen were armed with rifles and the rest with clubs, while the Inspectors hadrevolvers. Besides, the Jail forces comprised 119policemen armed with bamboo canes and 19 policemen with rifles. Before the arrival of the Session Judge, a large group of Muslims had gathered on the road leading to the Jail compound. When the Judge arrived in his car, escorted by the police, they shouted slogans like: ‘Our brother from Raibareli! Release Abdul Qadeer! Our brother from Rawalpindi! We will go to the jail. Imprison us instead’. The Jailor told the Judge that people wanted to have a glimpse of Khan but the Judge refused. Khan was brought out ofthe Jail to the court at 2 pm. People were excitedto see Khan and started raising slogans like Allaha-o-Akbar. The Sessions Judge ordered the people to disperse but they requested for permission to offer prayers. The police arrested five men and this incensed the people further. One of them -Khawaja Abdul Khaliq Shora, stood up and recited the Azan (call for prayers) loudly. A policeman promptly shothim dead. This agitated the people more and they started pelting stones on the police. “Oh, Muslims arise! Time is near when you shall reply with stones, against the bricks. I warn you that your representatives and memorials cannot come to your rescue, nor will these papers remove injustice and misery“ Two rows, comprising five policemen each, fired on the people. The Magistrate ordered the policemen to fire three rounds in the air but the people continued shouting slogans like Allaha-o-Akbar and IslamZindabad. Many people got injured and many were arrested in the incident. The first man to be arrested was Khawaja Muhammad Yahya Rafiqi. Some of the protestors entered the Jail Office and picked up charpoys to carry the ‘martyrs’ and the wounded. The police had used about 200 rounds of ammunition and arrested 32 persons in the initial stages.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 04:46:50 +0000
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