Nitin Chandel Department of History Ph.D. Research Scholar, University of Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir Cellular:

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Nitin Chandel Department of History Ph.D. Research Scholar, University of Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir Cellular:"

Annabelle Hopkins
6 years ago
Views:

1 17. INFLUENCE OF INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT ON JAMMU AND KASHMIR Nitin Chandel Department of History Ph.D. Research Scholar, University of Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir Cellular: ABSTRACT: - This paper is an endeavor to describe the influence of Indian National Movement in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The educated class of the state fosters new ideas and pragmatic approaches of the Congress movement in the state and ushered them with their local tinge. The Political activities which stirred initially in the state was substantially moderate in content and sought to secure small concessions from the Dogra rulers. The Swadeshi movement and the Khilafat Movement along with Non-cooperation movement only depicts the natives support to Indian Nationalism but later on with Civil Disobedience movement and Quit India Movement, these natives changes there course of actions demanding more liberal State policy, community interests and emergence of united front for constitutional reforms in the State. The study analyses the impact of Indian nationalism in the State and traces the events involved with their reactions and response these patterns evoked from the people of the state.an analysis of the different Congress movements and their sway in the state had been painted precisely. KEY WORDS: -Congress, Kashmiris, Students, National, Pandits and Politics. INTRODUCTION: The impact of the Indian national movement was sensed by the educated young non-muslims in the Jammu and Kashmir state. Educationally advanced as they were, these youngmen were influenced by western learning with its traditions of liberalism. The Punjab was first to influence Jammu because of its adjacentvicinity with the plains where the Indian nationalism inspired officials of the administration and students of schools and colleges. The Arya Samaj movement rapidly spread in Jammu and Kashmir and large number of educated youngmen joined its fold. Many of the Arya Samajists were Congress activists and some of them were connected with the revolutionary movements in the Punjab. A number of secret cells and revolutionary committees were established in the township of Jammu and Srinagar, which aimed to propagate and work for deliverance of India from the British yoke. A large number of youngmen from Jammu and Srinagar joined the congress movement in the Punjab. Prominent among them were SardarBudh Singh, GirdarilalAnand, LalaHansraj, LalaMulk Raj Saraf and Kashyap Bandhu, all of whom played a decisive role in the political reforms of the state later. With the formation of Indian National Congress in 1885 A.D, many Kashmiri Pandits associated themselves with the Congress from its very inception. Even before its birth, Pandit Ajudhya Nath Kunzru started in 1879 A.D, his own paper India Herald which adopted a strong nationalist policy. He was also associated with another paper (Indian Union). The native educated Kashmiri Pandits comprehends the development of emigre Kashmiri Pandits outside in India and with healthy and positive approach theycommenced to tend towards them.the partition of Bengal in 1905 provoked the nationalists to start a countrywide agitation against the sinister VOL. 4 ISSUE 7 JULY

2 intention of Lord Curzon and it had its aftermaths in the state too. The State government imposed a ban on the outside speakers and it was on frivolous grounds that they were turned out of the state. In 1907 some students from Jammu who were studying at a college in Lahore came to Jammu. Their names were Bikram Singh, JamunaDass, Sohan Lal, Tara Chand, BhagwanDass and Gulsharan. These students went to various schools asking for subscriptions in aid of the Punjabee newspaper published in Punjab in connection with the student s movement. Two teachers Basant Singh and Jawahar Lal acted as cashiers for the students. Some of the students shouted Bande Materam in the streets and got the words Bande Materam inscribed on their coats they also wrote these slogans on the walls. These students were later on expelled from their schools and turned out of the State for a year. The use of Banda Materam was strictly prohibited. Instructions were given to the District Magistrates by Raja Amar Singh "to keep close watch over all agitations and their promoters of the schools.notifications were issued by the Maharaja warned that the persons making any speech either in public or private or even holding private meetings to cause any kind of disaffection or public demonstration of individual feelings of discontent will be equally dealt with. Despite the policy of repression adopted by the government, the patriotic youth continued to be under the influence of the Indian Nationalism. The Khilafat movement in Jammu and Kashmir was a part of the Khilafat movement which Indian Muslims had started in the early 1920 s by way of protest to bring pressure upon Britain to change her policy against Turkey. The Muslim reaction in the State was obviously aroused by the impending dismemberment of Turkey and the deposition of the Khilafat, which the Muslims believed was aimed to destroy the center from where they derived their spiritual and temporal leadership. The Kashmiri Pandits played a vigorous role, responded to the call of the congress to support the Khilafat Agitation. In this context of Khilafat movement, which from late 1920 s A.D onwards began to play such a seminal role in Muslim nationalist agitation in British India aided and abetted not only by Mahatma Gandhi but also by the two prominent figures of the Kashmiri origins Pandits Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru and Motilal Nehru, had relatively an impact upon the political life of Kashmir. The movement affected both the Jammu and Kashmir provinces but remained confined mostly to Muslims. In the Kashmir province prices had been rising for quite some time and as the winter of 1920 A.D approached most of the essential commodities disappeared from the markets. Khilafat meetings continued to be held in Srinagar, almost daily in which thousands of Muslims and Hindus participated and in which speeches were delivered exhorting Hindu-Muslim unity and boycott the purchase of goods at high prices. SardarBugh Singh, Pandit Jialal Kilam, Moulvi Yusuf Shah who many years led the freedom movement in the State, organized and led the Khilafat agitation in Kashmir. Societies propagating boycott of foreign cloth were formed in Kashmir Province at Baramulla, Anantnag and Sopore, where membership was open to all castes and creeds without distinction. Over 150 students went to Gojranwalla to attend a conference of students convened by LalaLajpat Rai to induce the students to join the Non-Cooperation movement. Organization like Arya Samaj, Ram Krishna Ashram, SanatanDharam Sabha, Khilafat community and the Ahmediyas joined hands. But instead of adopting the non-cooperation programme in letter and spirit, their leaders took up the local issues. VOL. 4 ISSUE 7 JULY

3 Thus they launched a movement Known as Meat Strike Agitation to bring down the prices of meat in Kashmir. They also accentuated the necessity for Hindu-Muslim accord, cow protection and fraternization among the Kashmiri population. Instead they were chiefly organized by Kashmir Pandits who had recently returned from British India and believed that Kashmiris should unite to counteract the effects of skyrocketing food prices through a social reformation of their communities. The Muslims who did join these meetings lamented the apathy of the general population to their cause and exhorted Kashmiri Muslims to join hands with Pandits and sacrifice meat-eating and wasteful expenditure and observe economy in relation to their daily expenses. However, the Khilafat leaders in the State could not adopt the Congress directives of boycott and non-cooperation. The State government did not interfere with the outburst of protests and anger in support of the Khilafat agitation and adopted measures which were less than half-hearted to contain the agitation even though the British Resident and the British officers in the government insisted upon punitive measures against the agitators. The agitation was however finally brought to an end by fully employing the seditious meetings Act passed in 1915 to ban the Khilafat meetings. After the Congress withdrew the movement, the movement in the State immediately collapsed. It had its deep impact on the evolution of the people participation in reforms movement in Jammu and Kashmir State. There was now a regular inflow of daily papers in English and vernaculars from the rest of India, and the events there were keenly watched by the people of the state. Maharaja Hari Singh period witnessed a sharp rise in the political activities both in the state as well in British India. When Mahatma Gandhi launched his famous salt Satyagraha in 1930 A.D, the authorities in the State were faced with a situation for which they were not prepared at all. The news of the Gandhiji s arrest spread like wildfire and there was a spontaneous hartals in Jammu, Srinagar and other towns. In Srinagar, a huge procession headed by Jialal Kilam, ShivjiKhuda, Pt. Sambu Nath Ogra and others carried out through the city of Srinagar. A bonfire of foreign cloth was held in Maharajganj. Kashmiri Pandits in hundreds participated in this procession, though the Muslims generally refrained from it. At a number of places foreign clothes were burnt in bone fires. Revolutionary cries, such as Long live revolution, Down with Union Jack were made throughout. The processionists shouted slogans Mahatma Gandhi Ki Jai and Maharaja Bahadur Ki Jai. When the procession reached Maharajgunj Chowk, a bonfire of foreign clothes was again made. The procession then turned to HazauriBagh in Srinagar, and a bonfire of foreign clothes was made there too. Meanwhile, people led by GwashalalKauland VidhlalVakil, ran up the Residency Road with the avowed intention of inducing the shopkeepers to observe hartals. They approached all the shopkeepers and pleaded them to close their shops. The students also participated in these processions and wore Gandhi caps on both sides of which the National Flag was embroidered. A series of processions and hartals were observed at Amirakadal, Magam, Tithwal, and Karnah in Srinagar. However the Maharaja issued warning and orders to prohibit any demonstrations and participation in these revolutionary movements. Subsequently there were no political organizations in the State; the nationalist movement was piloted by the natives through voluntary participation and indirect contacts with the leaders of the freedom drive in the British India. This procession created a deep wound in the hearts of the representatives of the British government in Kashmir. Their friendliness towards Kashmiri Pandits ended and they tried to find others supporters. VOL. 4 ISSUE 7 JULY

4 The year 1930 A.D, was a remarkable year in the annals of Kashmir because first time a political procession was carried out in Srinagar.The struggle for Responsible government in the State was on similar base as the notion they pinion in the Indian Native States. The Indian National Congress supported the right of the people for the States for responsible government. The problem of the establishment of federal polity in Indian politics assumed appreciable dimensions in the Kashmir politics also. It is pertinent to mentioned here that the political action happened in India was firmlyscrutinized by the Kashmiris and even the Jammunities. Even the top leaders of the State like S.M.Abdullah, Kashyap Bandhu, Jia Lal Kilam, Budh Singh and many more draw their inspiration from the top Congress leaders and their techniques they utilized.for instance SardarBudh Singhwas a Sikh revolutionary of the Jammu province, hewas deeply influenced by people and in his speeches clearly said that so long India laboured under foreign yoke Indians would not be freed from their disabilities. He exhorted people to use Swadeshi which he claimed marked the beginning of the struggle for freedom. He himself had however already taken to the use of Khadar. Similar was the case of other leaders too. The Indian National Congress began to figure openly in Kashmir politics in On December 28, 1935 a public meeting was held at Amirakadal, Srinagar in connection with fiftieth birth anniversary of the Indian National Congress. The meeting was presided by the Pandit Prem Nath Bazaz. In August 1936, Mr. Purshottam Das Tandon was strictly instructed to see S.M.Abdullah and Pandit P.N.Bazaz. In 1937, two prominent Congress leaders, Kan Abdul Gaffar Khan and K.M.Ashraf came to Kashmir and made to bring Kashmir movement closer to the Indian National Congress. Dr. K.M.Ashraf delivered several speeches in favour of nationalism and joint action by Hindus and Muslims. A year later, Pandit Nehru categorically suggested to Abdullah that the doors of the Muslim Conference should be thrown open to non-muslims and a new era should be started in the Kashmir politics. The Indian National Congress and the All India States Peoples Conference made a tremendous impact on the Kashmir Politics. The Quit India movement of 1942 evolved sharp response from the people in the Jammu Province and the Kashmiri Pandits in the Kashmir Province. In Jammu, students boycotted the schools and colleges and business centers were closed. A number of Congress supporters were arrested and imprisoned. At a number of places minor clashes occurred between the police and the students. The Kashmiri Pandits reacted with equal severity against the arrest of the Congress leaders. On 11 th August 1942, the Kashmiri Pandit Yuvak Sabha adopted a resolution condemning the arrest of the Congress leaders and called upon the British Government to release the Congress leaders and negotiate a settlement of the Indian problem with them. The Sabha was of the opinion, the resolution read, that these arrests were the most inopportune, impolitic and ill-advised, particularly when the whole world is passing today, through most troublous and critical time ever known to history. The Sabha is of the strong beliefs that at this critical juncture, when time honoured and cherished values of culture and civilization are at stake, the services of Mahatma Gandhi (the greatest apostle of non-violence and peace) could have been utilized for the good of the suffering humanity which could under his leadership be led to peace and progress. On 16 th August, 1942, the General Secretary of the Kashmiri Pandit Yuvak Sabha issued a statement to the press, supporting the resolution of the National Conference which called for protest demonstration against the arrest of the Congress leaders on 23 rd August, He further added that the time had come when Indian people should be given complete control over their country s affair. The Secretary VOL. 4 ISSUE 7 JULY

5 said, The Sabah cannot but sympathize with the spirit of the resolution adopted by the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference which called upon the people in the state to observe 23 rd August, as the National Day. The Secretary added, Unlike the other minorities in British India, Kashmiri Pandits minority and the Yuvak Sabha will not stand in the way of those patriots whose cherished purpose is to secure freedom for the motherland. Emphatic appeals were made to the British authorities to release the leaders of the Congress and come to settlement with them. In 1946, S.M.Abdullah launched Quit Kashmir Memorandum to the British Cabinet Mission. The movement was on the same page just as Congress in India launched Quit India but this Quit Kashmir Movement was not fruitful as it was abandoned by all sections of the society and the top Congress leaders too didn t support the move. During the partition years and with the onslaught of the tribal incursions the politics in Jammu and Kashmir was pursued by the steps of Indian National Congress. Ultimately, the Jammu and Kashmir State was merged with the Free India. CONCLUSION:- To conclude, we can say that the prematuresegment of the nationalist movement in the Jammu and Kashmir State was not conducted under any officialcourse from the Indian National Congress. Since there existed no political association in the state, the nationalist movement was conducted by the inhabitants through voluntary participation and indirect interactions with the leaders of the freedom movement in the British India. The Swadeshi Movement and the Non- Cooperation movement were closely monitored by the educated elites of the State and they framed the similar movement in the State adding local issues to it. Later on, with the improved means of communication and education facilities in the State, the demand for more concessions for community as well as for generous constitutional reforms, the natives followed the steps of the nationalist leaders in India and supported their cause. The influence of newspapers, literature, poetry with nationalists themes, patriotism and reforms awakened the people of the state and they began to clamour for more privileges and transformations. To sum up, educated Kashmiris act as a bridge between Indian National Movement and the autonomycrusade in Kashmir. The National Movement in India stirred the educated elite of the state and they began to express their local demands by the same techniques as the Congress leaders had adopted under the grab of Indian nationalism. WORKS CITED 1. Bamzai.P.N.K, Socio-Economic History of Kashmir, Gulshan Books, Srinagar Saxena.H.L, The Tragedy of Kashmir, Nationalist Publishers, New Delhi Kilam,J.L, The History of Kashmiri Pandits, Utpal Publishers, Delhi Kaul.Santosh, Freedom Struggle in Jammu and Kashmir,Himalayan Publishers, New Delhi Khan.G.H, Freedom Movement in Kashmir, Light and Life Publishers, New Delhi Bazaz,P.N, The History of Struggle for freedom in Kashmir,Pomposh Publishers, Srinagar Wakhlu.Somnath, Hari Singh The Maharaja, The Man, The Times, Anmol Publishers, New Delhi Zutshi.U.K, Emergence of Political Awakening in Kashmir, Vitasta Publishers, Delhi Kaur,Ravinderjit, Political Awakening in Kashmir, APH Publications, New Delhi VOL. 4 ISSUE 7 JULY

6 10. Saraf.Mohammad Yusuf, Kashmir s Fight for Freedom, Vol.1 ( ), Lahore Publishers, Lahore Raghavan.G.S, The Warning of Kashmir, The Pioneer Press, Allahabad Lt.Col. Bhagwan Singh, Political Conspiracies of Kashmir, Vikas Publications, Delhi Bazaz.P.N, Inside Kashmir, Gulshan Publications, Srinagar Abdullah.S.M, Flames of Chinar; An Autobiography, Veking Penguin Publishers, New Delhi Yasin. Madhavi, Mysteries and Glimpses of Kashmir, Raj Publications, Delhi Koul.Pyarelal, Kashmir-Trail and Travail, B. Publications, Delhi VOL. 4 ISSUE 7 JULY

NATIONAL MOVEMENT AND MAHATMA GANDHI

NATIONAL MOVEMENT AND MAHATMA GANDHI M E T H O D S A D O P T E D B Y G A N D H I I N T H E N A T I O N A L M O V E M E N T [ S A T Y A G R A H A & S W A D E S H I ] T H E C A U S E S F O R T H E N O N