Kashmir Martyrs' Day

A leading land-holder in Udhampur Jammu had converted to Islam. The Hindu Tehsildar sanctioned a fresh mutation of his lands, eliminated his name and mutated the same in the name of his brother. He filed a suit that was dismissed with the remarks that unless he re-entered Hindu faith, he was not entitled to any property. This was done in accordance with a decree issued by the Dogra Government on 31 December 1882.

A young man Mir Hussain Bakhsh stood up to defy the ban and addressing the people, told them the Government had been guilty of interference in their religion. The congregation marched to the city’s main Masjid where brief meeting was held condemning the incident. It was resolved to hold a protest meeting in the evening. One of the biggest ever gatherings in the city, it was presided over by Mir Hussain Bakhsh. The Muslims felt deeply hurt, politically suppressed and economically strangulated. The interference in their religious observations aroused deep hatred against the rulers and protest meetings became quite frequent. The Muslims brought a complaint in the court of "Additional District Magistrate" under section 296 Ranbir Penal Code against the Hindu inspector for disturbing a religious assembly, which was dismissed because the Hindu Magistrate held that Khutba was not a part of the prayers. A large crowd of Hindus in the court premises shouted slogans.

This took place on 4 June in the Central Jail Jammu. According to daily "Inquilab" dated 1 July 1931, Fazal Dad Khan, a police constable from Mirpur, was sitting on a cot when a Head Warder, Balak Ram, reprimanded him for being late on duty. In the meantime, Labhu Ram, a Sub-Inspector, threw away Khan's bedding in a fit of recklessness. It contained a copy of Panjsurah (five chapters from the Quran). Fazal Dad approached the Young Men’s Muslim Association.

This took place in Srinagar on 20 June 1931 when leaves of the Quran were found in a public latrine. Moulvi Muhammad Yousuf Shah at a public meeting held at Hazratbal said: "If we are arrested there is nothing for you to fear. If ten of us are arrested, the other ten must be prepared to take our places". In his work "Inside Kashmir" (1941), Prem Nath Bazaz writes: "The driving force behind the mass agitation till the 13th July was the discontent among the rank and file of the Muslims. The attack on the jail was in no way directed against the Hindus, and those who laid down their lives at the jail gate did so fighting against an unsympathetic government … It was a fight of the tyrannized against their tyrants, of the oppressed against the oppressors".[4]

Abdul Qadeer was an employee of an English army officer, Major Butt of the Yorkshire Regiment posted at Peshawar, hailed from Swat (Many versions about his origin). Abdul Qadeer had been attending the meetings and at Kanqah-i-Maula he was unable to suppress his feelings, which resulted in his impromptu address to the crowd. His speech was recorded by the CID and when he returned to Naseem Bagh that night, he was followed and arrested on 25 June from the house-boat of his employer and charged under section 124-A (treason) and 153 of the Ranbir Penal Code. Rashid Taseer in his "Tarikh-i-Hurriyat" (page no 96), recorded his speech as: "Muslim brothers: the time has now come when we should not meet force by great force to put an end to the tyrannies and brutalities to which you are subjected, nor will they solve the issue of disrespect to Holy Quran to your satisfaction. You must rely up on your own strength and wage a relentless war against oppression"; pointing his finger towards the palace he shouted, : "raze it to the ground".[5] He said, "We have no machine guns. But we have plenty of stones and brickbats." When Muslims learnt of his arrest, there was wide resentment across Kashmir.[6]

For his speech, Abdul Qadeer was arrested on 25 June 1931, under section 124-A and 153 of the Ranbir Penal Code. His trial started on 4 July in the Court of the Sessions Judge, Srinagar. During the four hearings on 4, 6, 7 and 9 July, a large number of Muslims gathered in the compound of the Court to witness this trial. Khan’s trial was started in Srinagar Jail. The Deputy Inspector of Police came to the site of the trial with one Inspector, 2 Sub Inspectors, 5 Head Constables and 44 Policemen. Out of this force, 22 policemen were armed with rifles and the rest with hand clubs, while the Inspectors had revolvers. Besides the above, the Jail forces consisted of 119 policemen armed with dandas and 19 policemen with rifles. Thousands of Muslims assembled outside the Central Jail. After the entry of the session Judge, they demanded permission to enter the compound. According to an estimate, four to five thousand people went witness the trial. Before the session began, a group of about two hundred people entered the compound and remained in peace outside the Jail Guard Lines.

At 1:00 pm. Muslims began lining up for their noon prayers. A little later the District Magistrate, the City Munsiff, the Superintendent of Police and the Assistant Superintendent of Police arrived in cars. As soon as they left their vehicles, people shouted slogans, "Allah-o-Akbar- Islam Zindabad" and "Abdul Qadeer Zindabad". When the Judge arrived the people shouted, "Our brother from Raibareli; Release Abdul Qadeer! Our brother from Rawalpindi! We will go to the jail. Imprison us instead". The police charged them with batons and the people fought the police with stones and brickbats, followed by face-to-face fighting between the people and the police. Ghulam Mohammad Halwai, a retired police man bounced upon a police sergeant, Ghulam Qadir Khan, snatching the gun from him. Before he could handle the gun, a police Head Constable shot him dead.

To quell the crowd, the police started firing and continued for fifteen minutes. Governor Turlok Chand ordered the armed police to open fire. According to the evidence officially placed before the Dalal Inquiry Commission, 180 rounds were fired. Seventeen Muslims were killed on the spot and forty received serious injuries, five of whom died later. According to The Hindu, the Daily Tribune dated 28 July 1931 reported the deaths of 21 Muslims in the firing. It is recorded by Chaudhri Ghulam Abbas Khan in his autobiography that "the sky became suddenly overcast with dark frightening clouds and the city witnessed an unusual dust storm, as soon as the procession reached Jamia Masjid, and the government clamped martial law and handed over the city to the army". One of the victims had reportedly told Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah; "I have done my duty and now you proceed ahead!" On the third day, they were buried in the compound of Kanqah-i-Maula, which has since come to be known as "Mazar-i-Shuhada".