Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah (5 December 1905 – 8 September 1982) was an Indian politician who played a central role in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir. Abdullah was the founding leader and President of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (later renamed Jammu and Kashmir National Conference). He agitated against the rule of the Maharaja Hari Singh and urged self-rule for Kashmir.Guha, Ramachandra. "Opening a window in Kashmir." Economic and Political Weekly (2004): 3905-3913. He is also known as Sher-e-Kashmir ("Lion of Kashmir") and Father of the State of Jammu & Kashmir ("Baba-e-Qaum").
He served as the first elected Prime Minister of the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir and Jammu & Kashmir as a State and was later jailed by Indian government citing his support to insurgents. He was dismissed from the position of Prime Minister on 8 August 1953 and Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad was appointed the new prime minister. The expressions 'Sadr-i-Riyasat' and 'Prime Minister' were replaced with the terms 'Governor' and 'Chief Minister' in 1965. Sheikh Abdullah again became the Chief Minister of the state following the accord with Indira in 1974 and remained in the top slot till his death on 8 September 1982.Rakesh Ankit, "Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah of Kashmir, 1965–1975: From Externment to Enthronement." Studies in Indian Politics 6.1 (2018): 88-102 online. His grandson Omar Abdullah is currently the chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir.
Early life Sheikh Abdullah was born on 5 December 1905 in Soura, a suburb on the outskirts of Srinagar, two weeks after the death of his father Sheikh Mohammed Ibrahim. As claimed by him in his autobiography Aatish-e-Chinar, his great-grandfather was a Kashmiri Hindu Brahmin of the Sapru clan, who converted to Islam after getting influenced by a Sufi preacher. His father had been a middle class manufacturer and trader of Kashmiri shawls. Abdullah was the youngest of six siblings.
He was first admitted to a traditional school or maktab in 1909, when he was four, where he learnt the recitation of the Quran and some basic Persian texts like Gulistan of Sa'di, Bustan and Padshanama. This was followed by a primary school run by the Anjuman Nusrat-ul-Islam, however the low standards of education resulted in Abdullah shifting to the district school at Visrarnaag. After five grades here he shifted to Government High School, Dilawar Bagh. He had to walk the distance of ten miles to school and back on foot, but in his own words, the joy of being allowed to obtain a school education made it seem a light work. He passed his matriculation (standard 12) examination from Punjab University in 1922.
Higher studies After matriculation he obtained admission in Shri Pratap (S. P.) College, a leading college of Kashmir. His aim was to go into the medical profession at the time. However, circumstances not permitting, he decided to try to study general science at Prince of Wales College in Jammu. He was denied admission. Then he took admission in Islamia College, Lahore and graduated from there. In 1930, he obtained an M.Sc. in Chemistry from Aligarh Muslim University. The political exposure in Lahore and Aligarh would inspire his later life.
Political activism
As a student at Aligarh Muslim University, he came in contact with and was influenced by persons with liberal and progressive ideas. Among them were prominent academicians such as Professor Mahmood (Syed Mahmood Hossain) and Marxists and left oriented freedom fighters such as Siddiq Hossain. He became convinced that the feudal system was responsible for the miseries of the Kashmiris and like all progressive nations of the world Kashmir too should have a democratically elected government.
Reading Room Party In the 1920s there were a couple of 'reading rooms' in Srinagar which consisted of the educated youth of the area and could only be formed after acquiring the permission of the government. Forming political associations at that time was banned. In 1922, G. A. Ashai set up the Islamia School Old Boys Association (a reading room) with 20 members as part of the leadership, including Sheikh Abdullah. At this time Abdullah was still in college.
Permission to open the Fateh Kadal Reading Room Party was given in 1930 and Sheikh Abdullah became the Secretary of the party. During Abdullah's time the reading room party was located in the house of Mufti Ziauddin. For Abdullah, "the establishment of reading room(s) was an excuse"; rather it was an opportunity to get together to discuss different issues.
One of the first incidents which led Abdullah's Reading Room Party to gain wider recognition was after writing a letter to the government related to government recruitment policies. Subsequently they were called to present their views in front of the Regency Council headed by G. E. C. Wakefield in October 1930. This was one of the first interactions of Sheikh Abdullah with the government and the favourable impression that Abdullah had left on Wakefield helped push his name into the public limelight.
Muslim Conference Sheikh Abdullah and his colleagues were greatly influenced by the lectures of a Kashmiri polymath and lawyer Molvi Abdullah. Molvi Abdullah's son Molvi Abdul Rahim, Sheikh Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Gilkar were the first three educated Kashmiri youth to be arrested during the public agitation of 1931.
Kashmir's first political party the Muslim Conference with Sheikh Abdullah as president, Chaudhary Ghulam Abbas as general secretary, and Molvi Abdul Rahim as Secretary was formed on 16 October 1932. In his presidential address Sheikh Abdullah categorically stated that the Muslim Conference had come into existence to struggle for the rights of all oppressed sections of the society and not Muslims alone. It was not a communal party and would struggle for the rights of the oppressed, whether Hindu, Muslim or Sikh, with the same fervor. He reasserted that the struggle of Kashmiris was not a communal struggle.
In March 1933 the Muslim Conference constituted a committee which included Molvi Abdullah and nine other members for the purpose of establishing contacts with non-Muslim parties and exploring the possibility of forming a joint organisation. Those nine members were Khwaja Saad-ud-din Shawl, Khwaja Hassan Shah Naqshbandi, Mirwaiz Kashmir, Molvi Ahmad-Ullah, Mirwaiz Hamadani, Agha Syed Hussain Shah Jalali, Mufti Sharif-ud-din, Molvi Atiq-Ullah and Haji Jafar Khan. According to Abdullah Sheikh this effort was not successful because of the unfavourable reception of the idea by the non-Muslim parties. Sheikh Abdullah campaigned to change the name of the Muslim Conference to National Conference, under the influence of among others Jawaharlal Nehru. After a prolonged and vigorous campaign a special session of the Muslim Conference held in June 1939 voted to change the name of the party to National Conference. Of the 176 members attending the session, 172 members voted in favour of the resolution. According to Sheikh Abdullah the support of Chaudhary Ghulam Abbas of Jammu was very important in motivating the members to vote for this change.
Electoral politics As a result of the 1931 agitation, the Maharajah appointed a Grievances Commission with an Englishman B.J. Glancy as president who submitted its report in March 1932.Justice A.S. Anand (2006), p28 Subsequently, a Constitutional Reforms Conference also presided over by B.J. Glancy recommended the setting up of an elected Legislative Assembly (Praja Sabha). Consequently, a Praja Sabha with 33 elected and 42 nominated members elected on the basis of separate electorates for Hindus and Muslims was established in 1934.Regulation No1. of Samvat1991 (22 April 1934) Women and illiterate men without sufficient property, or title, or annual income of less than 400 rupees did not have the right to vote. Roughly less than 10% (according to Justice Anand only 3%) of the population were enfranchised.Justice A.S. Anand (2006), p30
Even after the formation of Praja Sabha in 1934 as recommended by the Commission real power continued to remain in the hands of the Maharajah.Justice A.S. Anand (2006), p36
Seventeen years later in 1951, the government of Kashmir with Sheikh Abdullah as prime minister held elections to a constituent assembly on the basis of universal adult suffrage. Sheikh Abdullah's Government had been accused of rigging in these elections to the constituent assembly.APHC: White Paper on Elections In Kashmir
Sheikh Abdullah was introduced to Jawaharlal Nehru in 1937 and as he too was a leader of the Indian National Congress was demanding similar rights for people of British India and had formed The All India States Peoples' Conference for supporting the people of princely states in their struggle for a representative government the two became friends and political allies.
National Conference He introduced a resolution in the working committee of the Muslim Conference for changing its name to National Conference on 24 June 1938 to allow people from all communities to join the struggle against the autocratic rule of the Maharaja. Meanwhile, he along with his liberal progressive friends, many of whom were not Muslim like Kashyap Bandhu, Jia Lal Kilam, Pandit Sudama Sidha, Prem Nath Bazaz and Sardar Budh Singh drafted the National DemandsRasheed Taseer (1973) vol2, p29 the forerunner of the famous Naya Kashmir (New Kashmir) Manifesto (which was a charter of demands for granting a democratic constitution committed to the welfare of the common people of Kashmir).Rasheed Taseer (1973) vol2, p314-383
He presented these demands to the Maharajah in a speech on 28 August 1938.Rasheed Taseer (1973) vol2, p25 The Maharajah was not willing to accept these demands and so he along with many of his companions was arrested for defying prohibitory orders and sentenced to six months imprisonment and a fine. His arrest provoked a public agitation in which volunteers called Dictators (so called because they had the authority to defy laws that was forbidden for normal law-abiding party members) courted arrest. This agitation was called off on the appeal of Mohandas K. Gandhi. He was released after serving his sentence on 24 February 1939 and accorded a grand reception by the people of Srinagar on his return. Speeches were made at the reception stressing the importance of unity among Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.Rasheed Taseer (1973) vol2, p25-40 Subsequently the resolution for changing the name of Muslim Conference to National Conference was ratified with an overwhelming majority by the General Council of the Muslim Conference on 11 June 1939 and from that date Muslim Conference became National Conference.
Quit Kashmir agitation In May 1946 Sheikh Abdullah launched the Quit Kashmir agitation against Maharajah Hari Singh and was arrested and sentenced to three years imprisonment but was released only sixteen months later on 29 September 1947.
Head of Government Head of emergency administration
Maharaja Hari Singh appealed to Lord Mountbatten, the Governor-General of India for Indian military aid. In his accession offer dated 26 October 1947 which accompanied The Instrument of Accession duly signed by him on 26 October 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh wrote "I may also inform your Excellency's Government that it is my intention at once to set up an interim Government and ask Sheikh Abdullah to carry the responsibilities in this emergency with my Prime Minister."Maharaja Hari Singh's letter requesting Indian Assistance against tribal raids. Satp.org (26 October 1947). Retrieved on 7 December 2018.Accession Of Jammu And Kashmir State To India. Text Of Letter Dated 26 October 1947 From Hari Singh, The Maharaja Of Jammu & Kashmir to Lord Mountbatten, The then Governor General of India.