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2 Introduction The Muslims of Jammu province in the state of Jammu and Kashmir have faced sustained neglect and discrimination in various respects. Very little has been written about them and whatever is written doesn t give a clear picture of the issues and concerns that are important to them. It is in this backdrop a study on the Muslims of Jammu was conceptualized with the support of Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation (CDR). This study on the political and socio-economic profile of the Muslims of Jammu province, was undertaken across 2011 12. The primary objective of this study is to address a critical imbalance in scholarship on Jammu and Kashmir which is influenced by the high politics of Kashmir leaving other regions of the state unaddressed. The focus of the present work is with special reference to the Muslims of Jammu province, and while tracing the journey of this community over hundred years this study offers an alternative discourse to understanding the Kashmir conflict. The report aims to understand the political attitudes and socioeconomic profile of the Muslims of Jammu province in relation to conflict of Kashmir by answering the following questions: How were the Muslims placed in undivided, pre-1947, Jammu province, particularly in terms of their relations with the Dogra rulers, other communities within the province and the Muslims of Kashmir province? In the post-1931 popular struggle against the Dogra regime and for establishment of people s rule did Muslims of Jammu share similar interests and political expressions as the Muslims of Kashmir province and also the non-muslims who participated in the struggle? Why the Muslims of Jammu reacted significantly different from the Muslims of Kashmir province and non-muslims of Jammu province in the conflict of 1947 leading to mass killings, migrations, displacements and eventual disintegration of the province? How much and what kind of loss did the Muslims of Jammu actually suffer in 1947 and also in
3 the second India Pakistan war of Kashmir in 1965, particularly the deaths and displacements? Why did the Muslims of Jammu province react significantly different from the Muslims of Kashmir Valley in post-1989 militant campaign and separatist politics? What is the present political status and socio-economic profile of Muslims of Jammu province and how have their conditions remained over past few decades? What is the stake of the Muslims of Jammu province in peace process and confidence building measures between regions and communities within Jammu and Kashmir and also across the Line of Control? Key Factors of Significance Central to the conflict of Kashmir is its Muslims majority character. Most populous of the all regions, the Kashmir Valley has above 98 per cent Muslims, but there is a significant number of Muslims in Jammu province too. The undivided Jammu province accounted for 14.61 per cent area and 49.20 per cent population of Jammu and Kashmir, including the frontier district provinces (Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan). Jammu as percentage of state area excluding frontier province would come to 59.09 per cent. The Muslims of Jammu province accounted for 30 per cent of entire population of Jammu and Kashmir, 39 per cent of entire Muslim population of the state and 61 per cent of total population of Jammu province.
Background Studying the the socio-economic, educational, cultural and political life of minorities has always assumed significance in large and inclusive democracies like India. Unfounded doubts and reservations of the fringe groups from majority communities notwithstanding, the studies into issues of minorities have been an important element for the policy and planning frameworks to remove social and economic inequities and inequalities between the communities. Prime Minister s High Level Committee (Sachar Committee) under chairmanship of Justice Rajinder Sachar was the latest such exercise which presented in 2006 a comprehensive report on status of Indian Muslims. In fact, the Sachar Committee has left a precedence which proved as basic inspiration for this study. The story of the Muslims of Jammu province in the state of Jammu and Kashmir is not entirely different from rest of the Indian Muslims primarily on three accounts first, the Muslims of Jammu went through exactly the same or even more horrible pattern of division and communal violence on the eve of the partition of India; second, being contagious to the post-partition larger Indian reality, the Muslims of Jammu have passed through a social, economic and political stress similar to the Muslims in rest of north India; and third, despite being domiciles of India s only Muslim majority state, the Muslims of Jammu province are a minority for the reasons anchored in geography and history of this province. 1 The present study is the first ever focused approach on the identity and profile of the Muslims of Jammu region looking at their present status as well as the social and political upheavals they have undergone over a period of over hundred years. The decision to have an expanded scope of study over more than hundred years was primarily influenced by the events of 1947: the question of the position of Jammu and Kashmir s between India and Pakistan and subsequently the question of political status and 1 The present Jammu province is a Hindu majority with Muslims making just 30 per cent of population.
5 constitutional relationship of the state on the east of ceasefire line 2 with the rest of India cropped up in 1947 and at this point of time the regional political attitudes in triggering the future conflict assumes great significance. In 1947 the political situation of the Muslims of Jammu province was entirely different from those of Kashmir Valley. The fact that 70.07 per cent of the area of Pakistan administered Kashmir is carved out of the former Jammu province is evidence that developments in 1947 were highly significant for this province and Muslims must have played a role. Therefore, a study into social and political position of Jammu Muslims, decades before defining events of 1947, becomes more essential. We have, in fact, taken the scope of this investigation as far back as 1890s when the first socio-political organisation of Muslims is reported to have come up in Jammu. Beyond the reasons and justifications of studying the issues of minorities for building holistic approaches to social equality, a study into socio-economic and political profile of the Muslims of Jammu province assumes a far larger significance in context of the regional dynamics of Jammu and Kashmir. Political and academic approaches to understanding the issue of Kashmir have not been able to do enough to navigate through a critical element of confusion around the land and people in question. Is Kashmir issue about the land and the people of the Valley of Kashmir alone or about the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir that lost its original map in 1947? This lack of clarity, often deliberate, has been a key obstruction in evolving a regional consensus on political options in Kashmir. The Dogra state of Jammu and Kashmir, as it came into being in 1846 and remained more or less like that until 1947, was comprised of five regions Jammu, Poonch, the Valley of Kashmir, (Greater) Ladakh and Gilgit (Agency) and other smaller areas aligned to or attached with these regions. Few internal territorial realignments in 101-year Dogra rule notwithstanding, in 1947 the state of Jammu and Kashmir lost its 2 The line that divides the former Princely State into Jammu and Kashmir and Azad Kashmir or Pakistan occupied Kashmir since 1 January 1949; renamed as Line of Control in 1972.
6 original regional composition forever through, what many have called, unnatural division. The areas of the state on eastern side of the divide later became a single administrative entity known as Jammu and Kashmir, which has since been regarded as one of the federal states of India. However, the parts on the western side of divide falling under the control of Pakistan have been regarded as two separate units Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Pakistan occupied Kashmir, as officially known in India, or Pakistan administered Kashmir, as referred to by many in the civil society) and the Gilgit-Baltistan region (officially known in Pakistan as Northern Areas until 2009; in India this region is still officially referred to as Northern Areas of the Pakistan occupied Kashmir). Therefore, the contemporary Jammu and Kashmir stands divided into two parts between India and Pakistan and further divided into three administrative units one on Indian side and two on the Pakistani side. However, at the smaller level, in terms of geographical divisions, ethnic and linguistic identities and more importantly the political behaviour, the contemporary Jammu and Kashmir is usually understood as a composition of five regions: the Valley of Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh on Indian side and Pakistan administered Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan on Pakistani side. With constant focus on Muslims of Jammu province over a period of hundred years, we have also dealt with some corresponding developments elsewhere in the Princely State, the British India and the post-1947 India and Pakistan. However, the frontier district provinces later, Ladakh on Indian side and Gilgit-Baltistan on Pakistani side have not found sufficient mention in this study as developments in these areas were of less impact in Jammu province. In context of addressing the question of land and people at the core of political debate, there are two ways of looking at Kashmir issue: one way is to limit the whole focus to the Valley of Kashmir alone. May it be in the context of 1931 uprising, 1946 quit Kashmir movement, 1947 division, the post-1989 scenario or the historical events of 1846 Treaty of Amritsar or 1586 invasion by Mughals, the Valley of Kashmir its aspirations, attitudes and politics has remained entirely different from
7 other regions of erstwhile as well as the contemporary Jammu and Kashmir. The second way of understanding this question is by looking at the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir as it existed before 22 October 1947. 3 The historical background and present political status of no other region anywhere in India or Pakistan is as intensely contested as every aspect pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir is. Despite all these intensely competitive perspectives in India and Pakistan as also within various regions and communities in Jammu and Kashmir, there is a near total unanimity on one aspect: seeing entire state of Jammu and Kashmir as a single political entity whose organic unity stands divided between India and Pakistan. There is also a subtle consensus on the fact that the Valley of Kashmir is at the heart of the conflict where entire political, diplomatic and strategic focus is engaged in. This view mostly stems from an approach which is reconciliatory to the history and is focused on the present state of affairs. That said, the rest of the four regions on both sides of the divide Jammu and Ladakh on Indian side and Pakistan administered Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan on Pakistani side have long been presenting a case of their neglect. On Pakistani side, the collective public opinion in Pakistan administered Kashmir points to life in perpetual abeyance 4 pending final settlement of Kashmir issue. 5 Gilgit-Baltistan has campaigned hard in the last many decades forcing the federal government of Pakistan in 2009 to announce a massive package of political and economic reforms. 6 The region is still struggling for a better and stable political future which everyone feels is subject to the resolution of Kashmir issue. On Indian side, there is a near unanimity in Ladakh region for organising itself as a separate political and administrative entity in the shape of a Union Territory to be directly 3 The day of tribal raid, an external aggression which contributed to division of the state. 4 Interview with Sardar Attique Khan, then Prime Minister of Pakistan administered Kashmir, in 2011. 5 The Pakistan administered Kashmir is more anxious about the political settlement as Muzaffarabad s constitutional relations with Islamabad are still fluid. 6 The Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self Governance Order 2009 provided, among other things, a legislature and right to vote.
8 governed by Government of India outside the administrative purview of the government of Jammu and Kashmir. The Jammu region presents more interesting case of internally contested political aspirations. An influential section of the vast Hindu majority is opposed to special status 7 of the state as provided through Article 370 of the Constitution of India. Some groups out of this section have campaigned, at several points of time, for formation of a separate Jammu state and its full integration with the Union of India without any special status. The Muslims of the region who constitute nearly a third of the total population have always opposed this idea seeing this as a communal demand. While there is a dire need of separately understanding the historical background, socio-economic challenges and political behaviour, vis-à-vis Kashmir issue, in all five regions, the present work attends to Jammu region with particular focus at the Muslims. Following are some of the compelling reasons for an independent study on Jammu and its Muslim population: Whether seen in the larger geographical and political composition of the erstwhile Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir or in context of contemporary status of one of the two administrative provinces in today s Jammu and Kashmir state, the Jammu region makes a separate case of study which might offer some clues to understanding of Kashmir tangle. There was sizeable population of Muslims in Jammu, invariably 60 per cent, during the Dogra rule; there are some prominent names of Muslims in the Maharaja s administration but there are not enough evidence of a healthy socio-economic profile of Muslims in the province. With various degrees of confrontation Kashmiris of the valley resisted the Dogra rule and always considered the Treaty of Amritsar as an unnatural and disgraceful sale deed of human beings. However, there is very little substantiation in favour of any major Jammu Muslim revolt in initial 75 years of Dogra rule. They started consolidating their 7 Separate constitution, flag and quantum of internal autonomy provided by Article 370 of Constitution of India; contours of autonomy further defined in the Delhi agreement of 1952.
9 position only by second decade of the twentieth century. By that time the dissent of Kashmiri Muslims against the Dogra rulers had started running much deeper. In early 1930s the Muslims of Jammu fought together with the Muslims of Kashmir against autocratic rule but just in a matter of few years they started drifting apart. Were the Muslims truly comfortable with the Maharaja s administration or there is lack of research of that period? This work attempts to answer some of these questions. The division of Jammu and Kashmir that took place in 1947 48 was mostly through Jammu province (or Jammu Division) of the then Princely State with a trigger for immediate rebellion coming in from Poonch Principality. 8 The largest number of families left divided between Indian and Pakistani side were in Jammu region. In 1965 there was a second wave of migration to Pakistani side. There was no significant migration from the valley in 1965. There is no evidence of any major pro-independence or separatist movement in Jammu province post 1965. The people of Jammu province have not significantly identified themselves with the post-1989 movement in Kashmir Valley neither during the heightened armed insurgency of early 1990s or during the civil unrest post 2008. Exceptions of sharing some concerns are there but there is no evidence of any movement germinating from the ground. The key question here is what led the Jammu Muslims to take another stand in 1947 and what closed the chapter in 1965. The present study has attempted to dig into these pivotal events. The present day Jammu and Kashmir (on Indian side) is the only Muslim majority state in India, therefore always a subject of debate and discussions in context of the roots of conflict of Kashmir and also in context of political engagements in modern day India. Despite all the complaints against failure of Indian democracy in Kashmir and strong urge for changing status quo notwithstanding, a section of Muslims of the valley feel some sense of empowerment in terms of manning all 8 Traditionally a semi-autonomous principality, later designated as Jagir and then finally as district.
10 important positions in the government. Even if many Muslims of the valley dismiss this sense of empowerment with the argument that the government of the state is allegedly remotely controlled by authorities at the centre, the regions of Jammu and Ladakh have traditionally alleged lack of proper representation at any level of decision-making process. The purportedly dominant narrative in Jammu and Ladakh positions itself in the Indian mainstream discourse and looks at Kashmir as dominating the political and administrative affairs of the state with an allegedly Kashmir centric exclusivity. Under the garb of regional discrimination the dominant outcry in Jammu is of religious prejudice as Hindus feel they are inadequately accommodated by the Muslims. The key question here is whether Muslims of Jammu also look at the Kashmir through same regional prism or identify themselves with the Muslims of the valley, particularly in terms of political influence and manning the state s affairs. Importantly, how fair is the representation of the Muslims of Jammu in political and other decision-making affairs of the state, is another question this study looks into. Another important point to understand here is the general behaviour of the plains of Jammu as an extension of India and not as part of a special status state which still continues to be a subject matter of conflict with the Union of India. With this dominant feeling, the urban plains of Jammu have demonstrated at all occasions a proven tendency of a self appointed defender of India in Kashmir and have described the so-called special status as an ingredient for the separatist tendencies among the Muslims. How do Muslims of Jammu, as part of the Muslim majority state, adjust themselves to this behaviour is also major area of investigation in this study. In a particular demographic set-up, the Muslims of Jammu feel isolation on both counts first, within Jammu as being Muslims who the majority community of the region sees as essential part of a Muslim hegemony biased against them, and second, as residents of Jammu province who are seen by the valley as people outside the definition of Kashmiri nationalism.
11 One of the offshoots of prolonged conflict of Kashmir is the feeling of competitive victimhood among the regions and the communities. The popular feeling in Kashmir Valley is about Jammu and Ladakh as one of the factors blocking a political settlement. On the contrary, Jammu and Ladakh present themselves as victims of Kashmiri hegemony as well as New Delhi s allegedly Kashmir obsessed policy. The present study traces the position of the Muslims of Jammu, both in historical and contemporary context, to fill in the long-standing gap in understanding regional and community dynamics in Jammu and Kashmir.
12 Methodology and Rationale for Chapterization Given the multiplicity of aspects dealt with, there could not have been a single methodology to approach this entire research about Muslims of Jammu province. For better understanding of the various phases of change that the Muslims of Jammu province have gone through the study can be divided into three sections: SECTION I: Pre-1947 In this section we look at how were the Muslims placed within Jammu province and how was Jammu province placed in the larger Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir before 1947. This section deals with Jammu province and its Muslims in the undivided Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir. SECTION II: Between 1947 and 1965 The chain of events that led to the division of the province in 1947, the corresponding violence and migration is discussed in this section. Based in the post-1947 geographical, demographical and political realities, this section looks at the challenges the Muslims of Jammu province faced until 1965 when unpleasant security and political developments led to another wave of migration to Pakistani side of the divide. SECTION III: Contemporary Profile How the aftermath of the events of 1965 changed the position of Jammu Muslims in relation to Kashmir conflict is investigated in this section which also offers cue to their cold response to the post-1989 political and security atmosphere. This section also investigates the contemporary political, social and economic profile of the Muslims of Jammu province. The study is based on written and oral sources and analyses of both to arrive at as objective understanding as possible of any particular event or process. Looking at three decades before 1947 and the years up to 1965 was the most difficult task in dealing with both kinds of sources written and oral due to contradictory views and political positions. While very few oral sources were available for first-hand
13 information on the political scenario of decades of 1930s and early 1940s, a good number of eyewitnesses of 1947 and years after that have helped in making the historical accounts as authentic as possible. In the course of this study we have noticed that no two pieces of scholarly research, books or statements said the same thing about the events of 1947 48 in Jammu province. Most responsible and highly researched accounts have differed like this: Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah has said in his memoirs Aatish-e-Chinar that at one point he contemplated charging Maharani Tara Devi (and Prime Minister Mehar Chand Mahajan) for inciting violence against Muslims and encouraging abductions of their women. Justice Yusuf Saraf, as also Pervez Dewan, puts Maharani in very high esteem for prevention of violence and rehabilitation of abducted Muslim women. Such diametrically opposite views do not offer even middle path. The process of separating the wheat from chaff has, therefore, been tried and made possible by corroborating the written literature with oral inputs and then putting it in context of all possible situations. The impact on Jammu Muslims of events related to 1965 India Pakistan war is, in fact, the most essential part of this study which helps us locate the Muslims of Jammu province in contemporary map of Kashmir conflict. Sadly, we have not come across any piece of literature, official or independent, that deals with the aspects of 1965 war other than the military engagements. This part of study relies, therefore, entirely on the oral sources, though oral input has been corroborated by the military accounts of India and Pakistan, wherever possible. As many as 68 persons corroborators, victims, sufferers or mere eyewitnesses of 1965 events have been interviewed across different areas to make this account as authentic as possible. In the section dealing with 1965 events and elsewhere also some definite statements have been given but not attributed to the respondents by their names to protect their identities. While talking about the events of 1947 and 1965 almost all respondents, barring two, agreed to frank discussions on condition of protecting their identities as the events under investigation were in entirely different political and security scenarios than the present. The reference to Jammu province in pre-1947 circumstances is about the undivided region including Mirpur district and parts of Poonch district which now make most part of the Pakistan administered Kashmir. Any reference which comes about
14 Poonch district before 1968 also includes the Rajouri district, unless specifically stated otherwise. Rajouri was a tehsil of Reasi district until 1948 and then a tehsil of Poonch district until 1968 when this was declared as a separate district. For understanding economic position of the Muslims of Jammu we have tried to localise the research to specific districts with Muslims majority. In view of impossibility of reaching out to every Muslim household or village we have instead restricted the scope to three districts Doda, Poonch and Rajouri which make 76 per cent of total Muslim population of Jammu province and 46 per cent of geographical area both indicators are for the present day province. All population figures used anywhere in this study are from the official census data unless stated otherwise. Figures of all developmental and economic indicators have been taken from official data of Government of India or state government of Jammu and Kashmir. Figures pertaining to the voting patterns are from the Election Commission of India.