Kashmiris today are no better off than they were in 1924-25. Harassed and repressed always at the hands of the authorities. The story of pain has not changed even after sixty three years of India’s independence. As a matter of fact, peaceful Kashmiris are presently suffering a double whammy, being victims of their government as well as their ‘own’ leadership (or lack thereof).
Continuous hartals and curfews, confining people indoors, have given me an occasion to rummage through some of my old family papers. Interestingly, I stumbled on a copy of a letter of protest written by my esteemed father Khwaja Muhammad Maqbul Pandit in 1925 to Sheikh Mubashir Hussain Kidwai, Barrister-at-Law and an Urdu poet of repute, resident of Lucknow, in regard to certain remarks made by him in the preface to his anthology of poems entitled ‘Nala-e-Mubashir’,  using superlatives for the beauty of Kashmir, while talking derisively about the character of Kashmiris, insinuating, inter alia, lack of  courage and rectitude on their part. In his reply dated 6th July, 1925, the barrister-poet had expressed apology at the hurt unwittingly caused by him and he had also stated that he was intensely pained by the sufferings of the people.
 Khwaja had pointed out in his letter that it was unfair to paint the entire Kashmiri community with the same brush and even if the visiting barrister had noticed some undesirable traits among some of the people he had come in contact with, he ought to have viewed these in the background of oppression and repression and rampant corruption which had been prevailing in the valley during the last three centuries. He had further, articulately, described the harassment and oppression heaped on Kashmiris following the agitation launched by the workers of Kashmir Filatures (Resham Khana)  in 1924, demanding fair wages and an end to corruption at the hands of the management. This included the use of the armed forces and armoury, for gagging the protests, at various places in the valley, which had come to be gripped by the agitation.  These atrocities had found expression in the memorandum submitted by the people’s representatives through Khwaja Saad-ud-din Shawl to the erstwhile Viceroy in 1924. Incidentally, Khwaja had played an important role in the preparation of this memorandum, as mentioned in the “Kashmiris’ Struggle for Freedom”, authored by Muhammad Yosuf Saraf.
Dignity and security of life continue to elude us even after having suffered the loss of over 100,000 precious lives during the last two decades alone, the economic and other losses apart. Ironically, we do not fail to ritually mourn, every year, the massacre of 21 protesters martyred in 1931. It is high time for all of us to ponder as to why we continue to suffer and suffer and suffer and how we can come out of the quagmire we are in.

Muhammad Shafi Pandit
Former Chairman
Public Service Commission
shafipandit@gmail.com  

Lastupdate on : Sun, 18 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
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