Post by Jagga on Oct 4, 2008 14:22:01 GMT 5.5
Shere Kashmir was Gujjar. Here is the news written about his family by Khushwant Singh.
THE MAN WHO LOVED KASHMIR
This Above All
Khushwant Singh
Patriotic soul
If we have to name a Muslim who was the touchstone to test the secular pretensions of India, it would be Sheikh Abdullah without doubt. Not Maulana Azad, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Asaf Ali or any other but only Sheikh Sahib, popularly known as the Lion of Kashmir. I had the privilege of meeting him many times, being instrumental in publishing the English translation of his autobiography, Aatish-i-Chinar (Flames of the Chinar), and in the course of the meetings, getting to know his gracious wife, Begum Akbar Jahan, affectionately known as Madar-e-Meherban (kindly mother) Madar-e-Millat (mother of the community), as well as their daughter, Sourayya, and her daughter, Nyla Ali Khan. I also had the privilege of knowing his eldest son, Farooq Abdullah, who later became the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. I assumed I knew all that was worth knowing about Sheikh Sahib. I was wrong. There were many gaps in my information. They have been filled by reading the thoroughly researched biography written by Ajit Bhattacharjea, titled Sheikh Abdullah: The Tragic Hero of Kashmir.
Some biographical data should be kept in mind when judging Sheikh Sahib’s career. He was born in 1904 in the village of Sayra, now a suburb of Srinagar. His father was of the Gujar stock engaged in the weaving and marketing of Pashmina shawls. The family was well-off and its members were devout Muslims following the Sufi tradition of looking upon people of other faiths with respect. Young Abdullah started his education in a maktab (school) where he memorized the suras of the Quran. He was endowed with a rich melodious voice and much sought after in religious gatherings to chant verses from the holy book. This faculty became a great asset when he addressed the mammoth gatherings of Muslims. From the maktab, Sheikh Abdullah went to another school and then to colleges in Srinagar, Lahore and Aligarh, and passed the MSc examination. Back in Srinagar, he could not get the job he deserved with this qualification — good jobs were monopolized by Pandits and Dogras — Muslims had to be content with whatever remained. They were contemptuously referred to as hattos. Abdullah took up teaching with a measly salary. His fortunes turned when he married Akbar Jahan in 1933.
He was a strapping, 6’4” tall, handsome young man; she the beautiful daughter of the owner of Nedous Hotel — an Austrian, Harry Nadou, who had converted to Islam to marry a Gujar beauty. (An aside information which is of interest is that Akbar Jahan had been earlier married to T.E. Lawrence of the British Intelligence in Lahore. He was the author of the classic, Seven Pillars of Wisdom. He had organized Arab rebellion against the Ottomans, was captured by them and brutally sodomized. He was a homo-sexual. After a few months, he agreed to divorce Akbar Jahan.) Her marriage to Abdullah was a happy one. They had five children of whom Farooq was the eldest.
Sheikh Abdullah was greatly impressed by the writings of Allama Iqbal and the views of Muhammad Ali Jinnah till they came out in support of the two nation theory. He was convinced that religion should not divide people. In Kashmir, he stood for Kashmiriyat, comprising Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. He came to admire Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi. He wanted Kashmir to be made a neutral state like Switzerland, with both India and Pakistan guaranteeing its autonomy. An Urdu couplet sums up his ideals:
Farishtey bhee aiyein/To ijaazat
say aayeein
Yeh meyra vaatan hai / Koee
jannat nahin hai
Even if angels want to come / They get my permission before they come
This is my homeland /Not just any
kind of paradise.
Abdullah’s convictions were put to test when the British agreed to let India to decide its future. Jinnah and a majority of Muslims wanted a country of their own. Gandhi, Nehru, Maulana Azad and other Congress leaders reluctantly agreed to a partition, hoping it would be peaceful.
Maharajah Hari Singh hoped to retain his dominions as a sovereign state without acceding either to India or Pakistan. At this critical juncture, Indian leaders were sharply divided over the fate of Kashmir. On one side were Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the home minister. On the other side were the Maharaja, his home minister, Ram Chand Kak, Mehr Chand Mahajan and B.N. Mullick, the head of the intelligence bureau. All of them distrusted Abdullah. Matters came to a head when Pathan tribesmen, aided by Pakistan, invaded Kashmir, plundering and ravaging the towns through which they passed. They were within a few miles of Srinagar. The Maharajah’s troops put up no resistance. The Maharajah made a last minute decision to accede to India and to step down and have Sheikh Abdullah sworn in as the prime minister. Indian troops were flow in at the nick of time. Assisted by Abdullah’s supporters, they drove back the marauding tribesmen and saved a divided Kashmir for India.
However, Sheikh Sahib’s problems were far from being over. Militant Hindu revivalism, fuelled by massacres of Hindu and Sikhs during the Partition, raised its ugly head. Abdullah was accused of anti-Indian activities. He and his wife were arrested and put on trial. The trial fizzled out. Nehru stood by Abdullah. He invited Abdullah to stay with him, sent him with the Indian delegation to the United Nations and allowed him to visit Pakistan. Nothing helped. Abdullah was so disillusioned with Nehru’s inability to crush Hindu fundamentalism that he openly came out for Azad Kashmir. Nehru had him arrested.
Abdullah was in detention for eleven long years. But he did not bear any grudge against Nehru. When he heard of Nehru’s death, he flew back from Rawalpindi, where he was on an official visit and bade his friend a tearful farewell. Later he accepted a reduced chief ministership from Indira Gandhi. He died a broken man.
This is a very rough summary of Sheikh Abdullah’s life. For a complete, unbiased account you can read Bhattacharjea’s book. Abdullah was not only the “tragic hero of Kashmir” but also the paradigm of a patriotic Indian.
THE MAN WHO LOVED KASHMIR
This Above All
Khushwant Singh
Patriotic soul
If we have to name a Muslim who was the touchstone to test the secular pretensions of India, it would be Sheikh Abdullah without doubt. Not Maulana Azad, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Asaf Ali or any other but only Sheikh Sahib, popularly known as the Lion of Kashmir. I had the privilege of meeting him many times, being instrumental in publishing the English translation of his autobiography, Aatish-i-Chinar (Flames of the Chinar), and in the course of the meetings, getting to know his gracious wife, Begum Akbar Jahan, affectionately known as Madar-e-Meherban (kindly mother) Madar-e-Millat (mother of the community), as well as their daughter, Sourayya, and her daughter, Nyla Ali Khan. I also had the privilege of knowing his eldest son, Farooq Abdullah, who later became the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. I assumed I knew all that was worth knowing about Sheikh Sahib. I was wrong. There were many gaps in my information. They have been filled by reading the thoroughly researched biography written by Ajit Bhattacharjea, titled Sheikh Abdullah: The Tragic Hero of Kashmir.
Some biographical data should be kept in mind when judging Sheikh Sahib’s career. He was born in 1904 in the village of Sayra, now a suburb of Srinagar. His father was of the Gujar stock engaged in the weaving and marketing of Pashmina shawls. The family was well-off and its members were devout Muslims following the Sufi tradition of looking upon people of other faiths with respect. Young Abdullah started his education in a maktab (school) where he memorized the suras of the Quran. He was endowed with a rich melodious voice and much sought after in religious gatherings to chant verses from the holy book. This faculty became a great asset when he addressed the mammoth gatherings of Muslims. From the maktab, Sheikh Abdullah went to another school and then to colleges in Srinagar, Lahore and Aligarh, and passed the MSc examination. Back in Srinagar, he could not get the job he deserved with this qualification — good jobs were monopolized by Pandits and Dogras — Muslims had to be content with whatever remained. They were contemptuously referred to as hattos. Abdullah took up teaching with a measly salary. His fortunes turned when he married Akbar Jahan in 1933.
He was a strapping, 6’4” tall, handsome young man; she the beautiful daughter of the owner of Nedous Hotel — an Austrian, Harry Nadou, who had converted to Islam to marry a Gujar beauty. (An aside information which is of interest is that Akbar Jahan had been earlier married to T.E. Lawrence of the British Intelligence in Lahore. He was the author of the classic, Seven Pillars of Wisdom. He had organized Arab rebellion against the Ottomans, was captured by them and brutally sodomized. He was a homo-sexual. After a few months, he agreed to divorce Akbar Jahan.) Her marriage to Abdullah was a happy one. They had five children of whom Farooq was the eldest.
Sheikh Abdullah was greatly impressed by the writings of Allama Iqbal and the views of Muhammad Ali Jinnah till they came out in support of the two nation theory. He was convinced that religion should not divide people. In Kashmir, he stood for Kashmiriyat, comprising Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. He came to admire Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi. He wanted Kashmir to be made a neutral state like Switzerland, with both India and Pakistan guaranteeing its autonomy. An Urdu couplet sums up his ideals:
Farishtey bhee aiyein/To ijaazat
say aayeein
Yeh meyra vaatan hai / Koee
jannat nahin hai
Even if angels want to come / They get my permission before they come
This is my homeland /Not just any
kind of paradise.
Abdullah’s convictions were put to test when the British agreed to let India to decide its future. Jinnah and a majority of Muslims wanted a country of their own. Gandhi, Nehru, Maulana Azad and other Congress leaders reluctantly agreed to a partition, hoping it would be peaceful.
Maharajah Hari Singh hoped to retain his dominions as a sovereign state without acceding either to India or Pakistan. At this critical juncture, Indian leaders were sharply divided over the fate of Kashmir. On one side were Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the home minister. On the other side were the Maharaja, his home minister, Ram Chand Kak, Mehr Chand Mahajan and B.N. Mullick, the head of the intelligence bureau. All of them distrusted Abdullah. Matters came to a head when Pathan tribesmen, aided by Pakistan, invaded Kashmir, plundering and ravaging the towns through which they passed. They were within a few miles of Srinagar. The Maharajah’s troops put up no resistance. The Maharajah made a last minute decision to accede to India and to step down and have Sheikh Abdullah sworn in as the prime minister. Indian troops were flow in at the nick of time. Assisted by Abdullah’s supporters, they drove back the marauding tribesmen and saved a divided Kashmir for India.
However, Sheikh Sahib’s problems were far from being over. Militant Hindu revivalism, fuelled by massacres of Hindu and Sikhs during the Partition, raised its ugly head. Abdullah was accused of anti-Indian activities. He and his wife were arrested and put on trial. The trial fizzled out. Nehru stood by Abdullah. He invited Abdullah to stay with him, sent him with the Indian delegation to the United Nations and allowed him to visit Pakistan. Nothing helped. Abdullah was so disillusioned with Nehru’s inability to crush Hindu fundamentalism that he openly came out for Azad Kashmir. Nehru had him arrested.
Abdullah was in detention for eleven long years. But he did not bear any grudge against Nehru. When he heard of Nehru’s death, he flew back from Rawalpindi, where he was on an official visit and bade his friend a tearful farewell. Later he accepted a reduced chief ministership from Indira Gandhi. He died a broken man.
This is a very rough summary of Sheikh Abdullah’s life. For a complete, unbiased account you can read Bhattacharjea’s book. Abdullah was not only the “tragic hero of Kashmir” but also the paradigm of a patriotic Indian.
