Facts about 1931 Agitation

I would like to describe the correct version of 13th July 1931 horrendous commotion because the one portrayed by Munshiji in para 8 of the narrate lacks substance. Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah was not in the picture on the date. Under the advice of the Punjab Muslim League, a group of Muslims (names forgotten but preserved at my adopted home in Jammu) had very quietly formed an organisation of Muslims and meetings under its auspices were held in a "Doonga" at Ali Kadal (then 5^th bridge). It was late Pandit Prem Nath Kanna, a resident of the locality-editor of "Martand" for many years-who smelt something fishy being conspired
in the boat, just near his house on the river Jhelum. He falsely converted himself as a Musalman and entered the Doogan as a Musalman brother.

It was here, that to his astonishment, he found Musalmans hatching conspiracy quite in consconance with the directive from the Punjab Muslim League. Having been exposed, these Kashmiri Leaguers started meeting in the drawing room of a prominent Musalman (name forgotten) at Fateh Kadal, in this process, a programme was approved were under a non-Kashmiri Musalman was to be incorted from Peshawar (NWFP) who would lead the organisation to its goal of Islamisation of the State.
This organisation was named "Muslim Conference" under theleadership of the Mirwaiz of Kashmir-probably Maulvi Ateeq Ullah-Atsaib in Kashmiri or Moulvi Ghulam Rasool."One Abdul Qadeer was imported into the State as a"Khansamas", a sort of domestic servant to an Englishman tourist. Qadeer stayed in Srinagar while his tourist master left the Valley, which act proved that this Qadeer had been imported in disguise to do the job which a Kashmiri Musalman then did not dare do himself. Gatherings were arranged where this Qadeer made speeches that were considered seditious by the contous of law prescribing the behaviour of a subject towards the Ruler. He was, therefore, prosecuted in the appropriate court under the law of the land. On the days of the proceedings in the court, huge congregation of Musalmans would assemble to thwart the proceedings of the case. Thus the court trying the, accused Qadeer was shifted to the jail premises in the foothills of Hari Parbat. July 13, 1931 also was the date of hearing of criminal case against Qadeer which was held in the jail premises under heavy police guard. When proceedings were on, a huge crowd of Musalmans stormed the jail gate trying to enter the jail premises and stall the proceedings. Police warned the mob to behave but the mob to behave but the mob was in a frenzy and ingored the advice of the police with the result that it had to take recourse to the gun. In this sordid state of affairs, eight people fell to the bullets. In this spell mell, the dead were picked up on cots and taken in a procession towards Sri Ranbir Gunj (commonly known as Maharaja Gunj).

There was and still continues a government hospital on the backs of the river Jhelum. As the procession reached the point where the hospital is situated, the incharge doctors of the Hospital, Dr Abdul Waheed-who belonged to Jammu region and left for Pakistan after the partition of India-came out of the Hospital and preached violence to the crowd. The moment dead bodies were put on the road, hell broke out in the entire area of the Ranbir Gunj Bazaar right upto the Ali Kadal bridge where shops of Hindus (KPs and Khatris) were attacked and it was the last point when and where loot cane be regarded as an extreme sign of insanity.

A few days after when calm prevailed in the whole area because of patrolling of the Dogra army, I and my Mamaji, senior to me by a couple of years, in boyish fervour, went out to see what had happened in the Maharaja Gunj. To our astonishment we found the whole market place turned coloured by the turmeric and other spices, bundles of cloth torn into pieces and the entire area strewn with hundreds of consumer goods. This is the truthful story of July 13, 1931.

In this context, I strongly contest the claim of the National Conference that July 13, 1931 is a martyrs day, because the eight Musalmans who died while indulging in unlawful activities, were not martyrs in the real sense of the word. They were in fact hooligans bent upon to disrupt the court proceedings. Let the people who read this piece of information from a man who was witness to the whole sordid happenings, judge for themselves whether the dead were actually the martyrs in the same sense as our great martyrs-Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru and Sukhdev were.