For 80 years now, the Abdullahs have influenced the destiny of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, writes Haroon Reshi
This is the valley that the ‘Lion of Kashmir’ once walked, free and fearless. That was when, in the 1930s, Sheikh Abdullah, the ‘Sher-e-Kashmir’, fought for Kashmiris then under Dogra rule. Ganderbal was his lair.
Sheikh Abdullah, the venerated father of Farooq Abdullah, and Omar Abdullah’s grandfather, found his following leading his people against Maharaja Hari Singh during the ‘Quit Kashmir’ movement, a cause for which he founded the Muslim Conference, later converted to National Conference (NC), to give it a more liberal, cosmopolitan face. Ganderbal continues to be the Abdullahs' stronghold for over 35 years now.
“I have seen the cruelty of Dogra rule,” says 85-year-old Peer Noor ud din, a staunch follower of the Abdullahs. “Muslims were not just denied political and religious rights, they were subjected to begaar, a forced labour system that reduced them to a starved lot.” For people such as Noor ud din, Sheikh Abdullah was the saviour. “He was a great leader and the people of Kashmir remember that. And that is why they still vote for the Sheikh’s heirs,” he says.
History, though, was to take its twists and turns before the people were to once again find their leaders in the Abdullahs. At the end of Dogra rule, Sheikh Abdullah initially became Emergency Administrator, and later prime minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Things hit an abysmal low when he was arrested for demanding an independent Kashmir. The political incarceration lasted 11 long years. “An independent Kashmir was his dream; the politico-economic programme of the Sheikh Abdullah, known as the document of 'Naya Kashmir' was adopted by him in 1944, but could not be implemented entirely in Sheikh’s lifetime,” says Noor ud din.
The lion's roar was to be heard only 22 years later when Sheikh Abdullah returned to electoral politics in 1975. The political terrain of Kashmir had by then changed, and new trails had been trekked by leaders of the valley. The sitting Congress legislator of Ganderbal, Muhammad Maqbool Bhat, left his seat to make way for the Sheikh. He won the bypoll and became chief minister with Congress support. Two years later, at the end of his tenure in 1977, he again chose Ganderbal to contest the polls and won. The lion was to be chief minister till his passing away in 1982.
This is the valley that the ‘Lion of Kashmir’ once walked, free and fearless. That was when, in the 1930s, Sheikh Abdullah, the ‘Sher-e-Kashmir’, fought for Kashmiris then under Dogra rule. Ganderbal was his lair.
Sheikh Abdullah, the venerated father of Farooq Abdullah, and Omar Abdullah’s grandfather, found his following leading his people against Maharaja Hari Singh during the ‘Quit Kashmir’ movement, a cause for which he founded the Muslim Conference, later converted to National Conference (NC), to give it a more liberal, cosmopolitan face. Ganderbal continues to be the Abdullahs' stronghold for over 35 years now.
“I have seen the cruelty of Dogra rule,” says 85-year-old Peer Noor ud din, a staunch follower of the Abdullahs. “Muslims were not just denied political and religious rights, they were subjected to begaar, a forced labour system that reduced them to a starved lot.” For people such as Noor ud din, Sheikh Abdullah was the saviour. “He was a great leader and the people of Kashmir remember that. And that is why they still vote for the Sheikh’s heirs,” he says.
History, though, was to take its twists and turns before the people were to once again find their leaders in the Abdullahs. At the end of Dogra rule, Sheikh Abdullah initially became Emergency Administrator, and later prime minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Things hit an abysmal low when he was arrested for demanding an independent Kashmir. The political incarceration lasted 11 long years. “An independent Kashmir was his dream; the politico-economic programme of the Sheikh Abdullah, known as the document of 'Naya Kashmir' was adopted by him in 1944, but could not be implemented entirely in Sheikh’s lifetime,” says Noor ud din.
The lion's roar was to be heard only 22 years later when Sheikh Abdullah returned to electoral politics in 1975. The political terrain of Kashmir had by then changed, and new trails had been trekked by leaders of the valley. The sitting Congress legislator of Ganderbal, Muhammad Maqbool Bhat, left his seat to make way for the Sheikh. He won the bypoll and became chief minister with Congress support. Two years later, at the end of his tenure in 1977, he again chose Ganderbal to contest the polls and won. The lion was to be chief minister till his passing away in 1982.
