Once Kashmir was brought under Indian rule in 1947, everyone suspected of having anti-India leanings was expelled from the state. Even non-Muslims were not spared. Mirwaiz Moulana Yousuf Shah, Chowdhry Ghulam Abbas, Prem Nath Bazaz and scores of leaders became victims of this cleansing operation. Since Muslims of the Jammu Province had been opposing the National Conference and its Pro-India agenda en masse, they were subjected to ethnic cleansing on a large scale. Purpose of this operation was to erase all the traces of resistance to Indian rule from Kashmir.
It was in this situation that Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Kara established Jammu& Kashmir Political Conference in order to resist Indian occupation of Kashmir. Although later on everyone including Sheikh Abdullah joined the band wagon of anti Indian movement yet no one can snatch the credit of being a pioneer of secessionism in post – 1947 era from Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Kara, the founder of Jammu and Kashmir Political Conference. The ranks of freedom fighter continued to inflate upto early seventies. However division of Pakistan in 1971 had a chilling impact upon political activities in Kashmir. Pakistan which was defeated and fragmented as a result of 1971 conflict concluded Shimla agreement with India. Indians interpreted the agreement to have invalidated the UN resolutions regarding Kashmir. Although Pakistan gave it a different interpretation yet to most of the people in Kashmir continuation of the freedom movement was a futile exercise. Sheikh Abdullah and his Mahaze-Rai-Shumari were pursuing for a compromise with Delhi. Jamat-e-Islami had decided to participate in elections. Focus of Awami Action Committee had shifted from Kashmir problem to the problem of securing a passport for Mirwaiz Moulana Muhammad Farooq. It was in this situation that some youth organizations of Kashmir decided to unite under the banner of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples’ league and continue the resistance against Indian rule.
Those groups which merged together to create a new political platform included Islamic Students Organization, Young Men’s League and Youth League. People’s League like Political Conference of Post 1947 era became pioneer of freedom struggle in 70’s. It never compromised with the Indian establishment nor did it ever participate in elections. Most of the political activists who run different political platforms in Kashmir have at one time or other been associated with the Peoples’ League. Before inception of the militancy in 1990, Peoples’ League had the credit of contributing maximum number of young cadres for sacrifices and jails. It is unfortunate that the league could not harvest the crop of its own labour during the on-going struggle. There are two basic reasons for this. The leader follower ratio in the league has always been disproportionate in favour of leaders. It has more leaders than followers. On top of it, every leader within the league considers himself as “The Leader”. This often leads to fragmentation of the organisation and one comes across Rehmani group, Hameed group, Azeez group, Democratic Freedom Party of Shabir Shah and a splinter groups of Fazal-ul-Haque and Musadiq Adil. They all together constitute half a dozen political formations. These groups most of the time remain engaged competing with each other and confuse sympathisers of Kashmir abroad. The party also doesn’t project proper image before masses of the valley.
In spite of these impediments, the greatest achievement of the league is that it kept the aspiration of freedom alive when the society and the major political parties of the state were indifferent towards the freedom struggle. Its workers suffered long periods of imprisonment when everyone was enjoying life in a relaxed manner. On account of these sacrifices those associated with the league perceived it to be their birth right to lead the on going movement. Others managed the show and received tremendous response from the society. They included even those who have been enjoying the bounties of Indian rule. The League workers got irritated and were not ready to reconcile with the new realities that emerged after 1990. Some of them projected Shabir Shah as leader of the insurgency to regain control over the freedom movement. This proved to be one of the greatest misadventures of the League. Sacrifices of a quarter century were invested in projecting him as the sole spokesman of the Kashmir freedom struggle. The role which was assigned to Shabir Shah didn’t suit his caliber. His over inflated image fizzled out once he was released from jail and left to his own self. The “prisoner of conscience” within no time got fossilized and became “dinosaur of conscience”. He did not prove a viable asset neither for his organisation nor for the Kashmiri masses. He was the one who introduced five star culture among the leaders of Kashmir. Until his release, Kashmiri leaders usually used to stay in their offices and ordinary hotels in Delhi and Jammu. Shabir, on his release, straight away went to Delhi with a delegation of 37 members and stayed in a five star hotel, thus initiating a race of competing for a status through availing costly accommodations among Kashmiri leaders.
Some leaders of the Peoples’ League who have a lot of sacrifices to their credit even developed negative attitude towards the new political formations. This led to their own marginilization while the movement continued to proceed on and consolidate at the societal level. They thus had no way except to take shelter under the confused ideology of Moulvi Wahid-ud-Din Khan.
The People’s league still has a chance of reviving and re-establishing itself as the mainstream political formation of Kashmiri masses. Its long history of sacrifices, determination for the struggle has made it an indispensable component of Kashmir movement for freedom. The only pre-requisites for this role however, is a statesman like leadership and unity among its different factions.
It was in this situation that Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Kara established Jammu& Kashmir Political Conference in order to resist Indian occupation of Kashmir. Although later on everyone including Sheikh Abdullah joined the band wagon of anti Indian movement yet no one can snatch the credit of being a pioneer of secessionism in post – 1947 era from Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Kara, the founder of Jammu and Kashmir Political Conference. The ranks of freedom fighter continued to inflate upto early seventies. However division of Pakistan in 1971 had a chilling impact upon political activities in Kashmir. Pakistan which was defeated and fragmented as a result of 1971 conflict concluded Shimla agreement with India. Indians interpreted the agreement to have invalidated the UN resolutions regarding Kashmir. Although Pakistan gave it a different interpretation yet to most of the people in Kashmir continuation of the freedom movement was a futile exercise. Sheikh Abdullah and his Mahaze-Rai-Shumari were pursuing for a compromise with Delhi. Jamat-e-Islami had decided to participate in elections. Focus of Awami Action Committee had shifted from Kashmir problem to the problem of securing a passport for Mirwaiz Moulana Muhammad Farooq. It was in this situation that some youth organizations of Kashmir decided to unite under the banner of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples’ league and continue the resistance against Indian rule.
Those groups which merged together to create a new political platform included Islamic Students Organization, Young Men’s League and Youth League. People’s League like Political Conference of Post 1947 era became pioneer of freedom struggle in 70’s. It never compromised with the Indian establishment nor did it ever participate in elections. Most of the political activists who run different political platforms in Kashmir have at one time or other been associated with the Peoples’ League. Before inception of the militancy in 1990, Peoples’ League had the credit of contributing maximum number of young cadres for sacrifices and jails. It is unfortunate that the league could not harvest the crop of its own labour during the on-going struggle. There are two basic reasons for this. The leader follower ratio in the league has always been disproportionate in favour of leaders. It has more leaders than followers. On top of it, every leader within the league considers himself as “The Leader”. This often leads to fragmentation of the organisation and one comes across Rehmani group, Hameed group, Azeez group, Democratic Freedom Party of Shabir Shah and a splinter groups of Fazal-ul-Haque and Musadiq Adil. They all together constitute half a dozen political formations. These groups most of the time remain engaged competing with each other and confuse sympathisers of Kashmir abroad. The party also doesn’t project proper image before masses of the valley.
In spite of these impediments, the greatest achievement of the league is that it kept the aspiration of freedom alive when the society and the major political parties of the state were indifferent towards the freedom struggle. Its workers suffered long periods of imprisonment when everyone was enjoying life in a relaxed manner. On account of these sacrifices those associated with the league perceived it to be their birth right to lead the on going movement. Others managed the show and received tremendous response from the society. They included even those who have been enjoying the bounties of Indian rule. The League workers got irritated and were not ready to reconcile with the new realities that emerged after 1990. Some of them projected Shabir Shah as leader of the insurgency to regain control over the freedom movement. This proved to be one of the greatest misadventures of the League. Sacrifices of a quarter century were invested in projecting him as the sole spokesman of the Kashmir freedom struggle. The role which was assigned to Shabir Shah didn’t suit his caliber. His over inflated image fizzled out once he was released from jail and left to his own self. The “prisoner of conscience” within no time got fossilized and became “dinosaur of conscience”. He did not prove a viable asset neither for his organisation nor for the Kashmiri masses. He was the one who introduced five star culture among the leaders of Kashmir. Until his release, Kashmiri leaders usually used to stay in their offices and ordinary hotels in Delhi and Jammu. Shabir, on his release, straight away went to Delhi with a delegation of 37 members and stayed in a five star hotel, thus initiating a race of competing for a status through availing costly accommodations among Kashmiri leaders.
Some leaders of the Peoples’ League who have a lot of sacrifices to their credit even developed negative attitude towards the new political formations. This led to their own marginilization while the movement continued to proceed on and consolidate at the societal level. They thus had no way except to take shelter under the confused ideology of Moulvi Wahid-ud-Din Khan.
The People’s league still has a chance of reviving and re-establishing itself as the mainstream political formation of Kashmiri masses. Its long history of sacrifices, determination for the struggle has made it an indispensable component of Kashmir movement for freedom. The only pre-requisites for this role however, is a statesman like leadership and unity among its different factions.
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