Kashmir martyrs’ day

Kashmir Martyrs’ Day is observed on July 13 every year throughout Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir. The day has special significance, because the movement against Maharaja’s atrocities had started about 79 years ago. The day reminds us of the Kashmiri martyrs who laid down their lives to keep the torch of freedom alight. Regardless of the fact that the movement was crushed through State repression and violence, it played a significant role in creating awareness among Kashmiri Muslims. It was, indeed, due to this movement that the British government had appointed Glancy Commission to investigate into the atrocities committed by the Maharaja. Kashmiri leadership, however, realised that they needed to build up an organisation with a view to waging a struggle for their freedom. It was in this backdrop that Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas and Sheikh Abdullah formed All Jammu and Kashmir Conference, and its first meeting was held from October 15 t0 17, 1932, which was later named as Muslim Conference. In 1934, the State’s first elections were held, and the Muslim Conference won 16 out of 21 seats.

After two years in 1936, it succeeded in getting 19 out of 21 seats. Congress was upset with these results, and tried to create division in the ranks of the Kashmiri leadership. In 1937, a meeting was arranged between Jawaharlal Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah and the latter agreed to convert the Muslim Conference into National Conference. When Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas and his colleagues realised that Sheikh Abdullah was toeing Nehru’s line, they revived the Muslim Conference. Historical evidence suggest that Kashmiris have passed through the longest ordeal, and faced repression, death and destruction even before the partition. The British had played an ignominious role in bringing Kashmiris to the present pass, as the British had sold Kashmir to Gulab Singh, former governor of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, for 7.5 million rupees.