Chapter 15
Rebirth of Barbarism
Invitation to a foreign invader
One learns about the Muslim mind from the way Kashmiri Muslims invited and assisted a demon like Ahmed Shah Abdali to assume power in Kashmir which by itself was an act of antiinationalism. Whether Ahmed Shah was cruel or a foreigner, he was basically a Muslim. It was thought proper to seek help from foreign invaders and plunderers for finishing the existence of basic culture and society in Kashmir in order to establish the Muslim hegemony in the state. It resulted in the occupation of throne in Kashmir by Afghan rulers in 1752. And with it began the era of destruction of Kashmiri Hindus. Kashmir remained under the Afghan rule for 164 years. This era saw total destruction of Hindus. Like locusts the Afghans, reached the verdant and attractive garden of Kashmir. They crushed all the fragrant flowers in this panoramic garden and allowed only the green (Islami) flowers to grow in it. Diversity of the garden was finished.
Plunder of Hindu's wealth
The advent of the rule of Subedar Abdullah Khan Ishq Abbasi, who was appointed by Ahmed Shah Abdali as his first subedar, brought about miseries on people. During his one year rule he crossed all the limits of cruelties. He was adept in amassing wealth. For achieving this aim he made one prominent trader of Srinagar, Mir Maqimkanth, as an accomplice. The two together decided to collect Rs. one crore from the traders. (Rs. one crore of those times is equal to several hundred crores at present). He started summoning big traders and wealthy Hindus who would present themselves with their entire wealth in front of the Subedar. The people of Abdullah Khan would grab the entire property, money and gold. Those Hindus who would resist it, were killed. Such activities of the Subedar created so much terror in Kashmir that Hindus started committing suicide by jumping into the Dal lake. As a result of terrorist attitude of Mir Muqim, terrorised people left Srinagar and settled in other places. Mir Muqim became a toy in the hands of the Subedar and while dancing on his tune got busy in creating terror.
The Subedar and his accomplice sold Hindu lands to the rich Muslims and collected huge amount of money. The houses of Hindus would be set ablaze and their women would be forcibly abducted and included in the harem of the Subedar. In order to protect their honour many Hindu women burnt themselves to death. The same section of the Muslims fully supported the Subedar's inhuman cruel activities, which had assisted Ahmed Shah Abdali in conquering Kashmir. This way within one year Ishq Abbasi collected and looted crores of rupees from the Hindus at sword-point and after handing over power to Abdullah Khan Kabuli he returned to Afghanistan.
Kabuli was not so capable enough to hold the reigns of the Government. Therefore, two Army officers of Abdali, Abul Hassan and Sukhjeevan Malla, revolted against Kabuli and killed him. After some days' of anarchy and conflict Sukhjeevan Malla himself assumed power.
Brave Sukhjeevan and traitor Bakhtmal
King Sukhjeevan declared himself independent soon after assuming power in Kashmir. After snapping all the ties with Ahmed Shah Abdali he declared an open revolt against him for eliminating this Hindu king of Kashmir he launched an armed campaign on Kashmir but Abdali was defeated. During the reign of Sukhjeevan both tlhe Hindus and the Muslims lived a life of peace. Different relief operations were carried out and Hindus were given back the land. Trade and agriculture were encouraged and Sukhjeevan appointed Mahanand Dhar as his Prime Minister. The two worked together and contributed to the development of Kashmir without any discrimination.
But the Muslim supporters of Abdali started conspiracies for ousting this Hindu king. These very Muslims again invited Abduli to invade Kashmir. Under the instructions of Abdali one of his senior Army officers, Noor-ud-Din Khan, attacked Kashmir with his troops. King Sukhjeevan Mal fought with vigour but was defeated because one of Hindu officers, Bakhtmal, deceived him and joined hands with Noor-ud-Din. By associating himself with the troops of the enemy this treacherous Bakhtmal was cause of confusion among the soldiers of Sukhjeevan who, with a small group of troops, fought valiantly against the soldiers of Abdali. He killed many Afghans with his sword and everywhere this brave soldier mauled the enemy soldiers. But he was alone.
With the help of Afghans the traitor Bakhtmal surrounded him. But like Abhimanyu he kept on striking with his flashing sword to come out of the siege. After a bitter fight King Sukhjeevan was captured and Bakhtmal took him to Abdali. The eyes of this king, who had carried out development of the state without discrimination, were gouged out with red hot iron rods. The blind king was thrown in the jail where he was famished to death.
People were so much happy during his reign that after him there is a family proverb "Wakti Sukhjoo" (happy days during the time of Sukhjeevan). After the defeat of this king Kashmir came fully under the Afghan rule.
Destruction of Hindus with their wealth
One Afghan sardar, Lal Mohd. Khan became Subedar of Kashmir in 1766 A.D. He was a landlord but he had succeeded in defeating an earlier subedar to occupy the throne. Kashmiri Hindus could not have any leader after the death of Sukhjeevan Mal and after Pandit Kailash Dhar (Minister) left Kashmir. Taking advantage of this situation Lal Mohd. Khan started ousting and repressing the Pandits. After having learnt that the Pandits had become prosperous and wealthy because of the good work done by Sukhjeevan's two associates, Pandit Kailash Dhar and Pandit Mahanand Dhar, Lal Mohd. Khan thought of annihilating Hindus for grabbing their wealth. It did not take time for him to realise that by perpetrating atrocities on Hindus he would be able to secure support from the Muslims.
In order to have wealth he perpetuated this atmosphere of terror. He destroyed Hindus with their wealth. Historian Mohd. Din Fak has compared the curelties of this heartless ruler to the crusade of suppression. According to him, he needed money for this, which he wanted to extort from Pandits. The result was that he started a crusade of suppression against the Pandits. Plunder, arson and killing of Pandits were done freely. They were being tormented under different pleas.
The innuential Hindu leader of Kashmir, Pt. Kailash Dhar, himself acquainted Abdali about the deeds of Lal Mohd. Khan, who had declared himself independent. Abdali appointed Sardar Khurram Khan as Subedar of Kashmir and sent him with the troops. Under the support and guidance of Kailash Dhar Lal Mohd. Khan was defeated and he escaped. Since the new Subedar was lover of luxuries and pleasure the reigns of the Government were in the hands of Kailash Dhar who was the de facto ruler of Kashmir.
But the Muslim society in Kashmir did not tolerate this Hindu ruler. During that time one Muslim Sardar, Mir Faqirullah, son of former Prime Minister, Mir Muqim, revolted against Subedar Khurram Khan, who would run the administration on the direction of Kailash Dhar, and established his control on Sopore area Kailash Dhar and Subedar Khurram Khan encircled him alongwith his troops and when the fight was going on a strange incident took place. Subedar Khurram Khan sighted a sheep. Being a victim of superstition the Subedar treated it a bad omen and ordered the battle to be stopped. He refused to listen to the arguments of Kailash Dhar and left for Kabul leaving the state at the mercy of Mir Faqirullah. The Mir declared himself as the ruler of Kashmir.
Cruelty committed by Bamba community
Faqirullah was wicked and an intriguer but he was a coward. He was the sworn enemy of Kashmiri Pandits. He would not cherish Pandits progressing on the basis of their calibre. In order to bring about annihilation of Hindus he organised a group of converted Muslims and secured help from a band of warriors, living in the nearby mountain areas, by giving them the temptation of women and wealth. One such community of forest dwellers was that of Bambas who were invited for completing the task of destroying Hindus. These Bambas too were Hindus but had been converted to Islam. Backward sections of Hindus had accepted Islam after they had witnessed discrimination from Hindu landlords, traders and so- called top Pandits and this shall remain a dark chapter in the history of Kashmir which deserves condemnation. Insulted by rich Hindus and higher cast Pandits, these Hindus belonging to the backward section and converted to Islam took to arms against these Pandits out of reaction against injustices perpetrated on them. And people belonging to Bamba community also fall in this category. Their bravery and courage now had started annihilating Hindus.
According to Hassan, Bambas completed their work so successfully that even now people shudder while recalling cruelties perpetrated on Kashmiri Pandits by Bambas. These Bambas would enter into the houses of Pandits with the advent of dawn and after ransacking their houses and after arresting them they would set ablaze the houses. The arrested people were either killed or converted to Islam. About 2,000 Pandits were converted forcibly to Islam through such ways. A big number of Pandits was killed. In short the anti-Pandit attitude and cruelties of the Mir and his Bamba soldiers are matchless.
Faqirullah was cruel besides being a coward and dull headed. He ramained in the company of greedy sardars. He would remain drunk. This sardar was fond of wine and women and forgot to look after the problems of the people in his make-believe world of colourful functions and in the tinkling of the ear-rings of the dancers. He almost rejected people under the influence of the sardars.
Islamic imperialism and murder of Kailash Dhar
Kashmir was once again entangled in anarchy and because of the wisdom of Kailash Dhar, his friendly relations with Ahmed Shah Abdali and his successful diplomacy and policies Sardar Khurram Khan became the Subedar of Kashmir again. On both the occasions Kailash Dhar played his part in making Khurram the Subedar of Kashmir. Kailash Dhar used to protect the Kashmiri Hindu society against the demonic clutches of Afghan subedars with his efforts and adroitness. This resulted in fundamentalist Muslim sardars being jealous of him. They thought that without his elimination their Islamic desires would not fructify and started poisoning the ears of Khurram Khan against him.
Subedar Khurram Khan too was a loyal broker of the Islamic world. When Muslim sardars tickled his Islamic bent of mind, the administrative calibre of Kailash Dhar, protection of Kashmir and people's happiness paled into insignificance in front of his bigotry. He had two options before him, the nation and religion and he opted for the latter. He appointed Mir Hassan Khan, a known fundamentalist, as Prime Minister in place of Kailash Dhar. Mir Hasaan was an old enemy of Kailash Dhar. He initiated a conspiracy for eliminating Kailash Dhar.
This attitude of Khurram Khan reveals his political ambition besides lifting the veil from the real intentions of the Muslim sardars. Their ambition was proliferation of Islam and not Kashmir and its people. That is why these Muslims sardars received greater respect than those social leaders who would prove beneficial for Kashmir and its people. And when these sardars utilised their strength in revolts, the same Subedars, who used to patronise them, would flee from Kashmir leaving it in the hands of these cruel sardars. For them Kashmir was a centre for luxury and pleasure. And when the same Kashmir was swept by trouble and turmoil they would leave it throwing it in the flames of religious conversion.
Kailash Dhar too became a victim of this dirty plan and attitude. His old friends, who had progressed because of his efforts, got him killed through an intrigue. Right from the beginning the misfortune of Kashmir has been that nationalist and patriotic people always have became victim of conspiracies and anti-national forces were rewarded. The trend of ousting nationalists and handing over power to the anti-national elements continues even now.
Invention of different ways of cruelties
In 1776 A.D. Afghan Subedar, Haji Karimdad Khan, occupied the throne of Kashmir with pomp and glory. With the coming of the new Subedar the people of Kashmir felt as relaxed as one feels when the monsoon clouds appear in the sky in midsummer But this delight of Kashmiris was shortlived and were battered by miseries and misfortunes when these very clouds emitted flames of lightning, instead of rain, causing ruin in Kashmir.
Haji Karimdad Khan was an expert in devising new ways of torture of people. An expert in terrorism this subedar seemed to people a socialist. Irrespective of caste, sex, status, age and relations all were battered in the mill of destruction. During his reign many ways were devised for recovery of tax and imposition of fines. Heavy taxes, insults, abduction, rapes, plunder and death punishment became daily routine of life.
Taxes were imposed on different communities and on different trade practices and classes of people. "Zariniyaz" named tax was imposed on big landlords. Similarly "Zariashkash" and "Zari Haibut" taxes were imposed on traders and agriculturists respectively. These taxes were imposed to keep the people in the clutches of the Government. According to hiatorian, Fak, the taxes were so heavy that orchardists felled their fruit trees and sold them as fuel. The entire system of imposing these heavy and illegal taxes and their recovery was organised by one Muslim sardar, Aslam.
Kashmiri Pandits had already been overburdened by these taxes, still Aslam and Karimdad were eager to impose special taxes on Pandits. In this respect a plan had been formulated and Karimdad circulated a rumour blaming Pandits for having murdered Aslam. In reality Aslam had been kept in a secret place under the plan. As this rumour went round in the city Muslim sardars turned violent and in the atmoshpere of communal tension houses of Hindus were looted and later set on fire.
According to Mohd. Din Fak, one day Karimdad hid Aslam and made a pretext that the Pandits were responsible for his murder. This was a signal for the arrest of all prominent Pandits. They were arrested and deprived of all facilities. Not only this: they were locked in a room where they were forced to smell and inhale the smoke of the cow dung. Kailash Dhar's brother, Pandit Prakash Dhar, was also killed. And after agreeing to pay an annual tax of Rs. 50,000 the Pandits were let off. This tax was called "Zari-dud" (smoke-wealth).
Bravery of Dilaram
The above event indicates not only the mental setup of the Subedar but it is also a measuring rod of his activities of atrocities. As a result of these administrative measures agriculture, industry, horticulture and the famous Kashmiri shawl industry were destroyed. While mentioning about the downfall of the Shawl industry historian Birbal Kachroo, has written that many times taxes were imposed on shawls. Till the time a shawl found its buyer any officer would impose any tax at any time. Traders stopped manufacturing shawls after the actual cost of the shawl registered three-fold increase because of the heavy taxes. Hindu owners of the shawl industry had to suffer because of being Pandits. Karimdad did one right deed by appointing Pandit Dilaram as his Prime Minister. Pt. Dilaram abolished all these illegal and heavy taxes imposed by the Subedar. He provided amenities to shawl manufacturers for carrying out their trade independently. As a result of his efforts the administrative setup was systematised. Though this Pandit Prime Minister reduced the pace of religious conversion, he could not stop it totally.
A Subedar who feels pleasure in others' woes
After Haji Karimdad his son, Azad Khan, became the Subedar of Kashmir and he immediately decided to give new direction and strength to his ancestral practice of exploitation of Hindus. Hassan, while describing his character, has written that the new Subedar, Azad Khan, had been cast in the mould of his father. More than his father, Azad Khan had the thirst for creating new misfortunes and miseries for his people. He was a saddist and would delight in seeing others in misery. And the day he did not get any such opportunity, he would kill a couple of persons to satiate his saddistic tendencies.
Many events took place in his life which made him a cruel ruler. He did not even spare his mother. After accusing her of loose character, she was thrown out of the palace. Similarly he beheaded one of his wives because she had roamed about in the garden for a longer time during one night which delayed her arrival in the Subedar's bedroom. One more incident; the Subedar awarded death penalty to a group of people because they had blocked the passage of the Subedar while passing on a wooden bridge. All these were Hindus who were supervising arrangements for the Shobha yatra.
There was one more pecularity about the character of Subedar Azad Khan. He was, at times, fond of carrying out armed campaigns. He was equally fond or bringing with them slaves from the conquered areas and subject them to torture. Mohd. Din Fak has made a mention of such campaigns of the Subedar.
According to Fak, soon after occupying his father's place Azad Khan invaded the neighbouring Poonch state. He achieved victory but by subjecting people to unlimited cruelties he eclipsed his victory. He plundered the entire Poonch town and indulged in arson for seven days. And after killing Pt. Govind Dhar and other Pandits he returned to Kashmir.
Sacrifice of Pt. Dilaram
SubedarAzand Khan installed former Prime Minister, Pt. Dilaram, as Prime Minister. In the presence of Dilaram in the court, the Subedar would feel easy in handling the court activities. Dilaram was not only a political leader and a Prime Minister for implementing the orders of the Subedar, he was also a clever diplomat. Through his clever manipulation he prevented the Subedar from issuing orders for merciless killings. It was through Dilaram that many public welfare schemes were launched. He also succeeded in keeping under check the demonic instincts of the Subedar.
But this very successful Prime Minister had to become victim of the political greed of the Muslim behaviour. The conspirators became active in eliminating this Hindu Prime Minister who had held the reins of the Government effectively and protected the throne against many controversies. As a result of these intrigues Dilaram had to adopt the path of sacrifice which deprived the people, especially the Hindu society, of the services of a seasoned leader.
Pandits were packed in sacks and drowned in Dal lake
One more cruel Afghan Sardar, Mir Hajjar Khan, occupied the throne of Kashmir in 1772 A.D. He also launched his bloody campaign for either annihilating Kashmiri Hindus or for converting them to Islams as to complete the task left unfinished by his forefathers. Kashmir has witnessed one cruel king after another, one heartless sardar after the other and one wicked subedar after the other. But Mir Hajjar Khan was known for his separate identity. He set aside all the previous records in mass destruction of Hindus.
He decided to break all such restrictions on him in the task of subjecting Hindus to cruelties and in forcing them to adopt Islam. First of all he declared independence in order to free Kashmir from the control of Kabul. Conscious of the strength of Mir Hajjar Khan, the Sultan of Kabul, Juman Khan, recognised the independent existence of this Subedar. But he requested the Subedar to continue paying the annual grant. At that stage the Kabul administration was in the grip of severe uncertainty. Therefore, the Mir, turned down the request for payment of annual grant and declared himself as a full fledged king, Mohd. Din Fak has given an account of the inhuman and demonic ways of Mir Hajjar Khan in his boak "History of Kashmir".
According to Fak, there was advent of state terrorism in Kashmir. In 1793 A.D. the brother of Pt. Dilaram at Khanyar was its first victim. After that a planned strategy was adopted for the destruction of all Hindus. He packed Kashmiri Pandits in sacks and drowned them in the Dal lake as part of the destruction of the Pandits. Those who survived were so much tormented and tortured that they forgot the cruelties of Faqirullah. Many prominent Pandits of Baramulla were arrested and tormented. And after keeping them in jails they were drowned in the river Jehlum. When he realised that it is foolishness to carry out total destruction of the entire community, he made life of the living Pandits miserable and impossible. Taxes were reimposed on the entire community.
After throwing the Pandits out of the state administration Mir Hajjar Khan issued an order under which Pandits were deprived of learning, studying and speaking the Persian language. The state language was Persian but the local Muslims were incapable and helpless in having enough knowledge of Persian. Pandits were more capable and intellectual because of their community trait. As a result of their being well versed in the language, the Pandits rose to high posts in the state administration. In order to remove Pandits from the administration for good, the Mir imposed ban on Pandits for learning the Persian language. The outcome of this ban was that once again Kashmiri Pandits were forced to become helpless, poor and supportless.
The Kabul rubr, Juman Khan, got worried on learning about the dictatorial deeds of the so called independent ruler of Kashmir. But instead of carrying out any military campaign he sent Sardar Mirza Khan, father of Hajjar Khan, to Kashmir to prevail upon his son to stop all his inhuman deeds. But Hajjar Khan arrested his father and sent him to prison. The father had come to give advice to his son on the need for controlling his demonic and inhuman plans but the result was quite the opposite. The son jailed his father and put the rope in his nose.
Highly hateful deed
There was no other alternative left for the king of Kabul except for launching a military campaign. The troops of Kabul entered into Kashmir under the leadership of a senior Army officer, Ahmed Khan. These troops halted at Baramulla. With his troops Hajjar Khan tried his best to defeat the Kabul troops but because of lack of support from the people of Kashmir he was defeated. Instead of accepting death while fighting, this coward fled from the battlefield and hid himself in the shrine of Shah Hamdan in Srinagar. Kabul soldiers followed him and after arresting him was imprisoned. He was kept in the same cell in which he had kept his father and thus the reunion between the father and the son took place.
The extent of his animosity for Hindus can be gauged by the incident in which he, before marching for the battle at Baramulla, brought out all Pandits from the jails and got each one of them killed and their heads ware dragged and kicked to be thrown in river Jehlum. Both Mohd. Din Fak and Birbal Kachroo have given an account of this highly hateful and inhuman deed. According to them, before starting his armed campaign Hajjar Khan brought out learned and prominent Pandits from the jail, where they were suffering great difficulties, and after awarding death penalty to them, their bodies were thrown in river Jehlum.
Though Hajjar Khan was defeated in the battle and one more Subedar occupied the throne, the course of this change hinted at the coming of still deeper misfortune and turmoil instead of bringing about a healthy atmoshphere.
Assad Khan - the storehouse of cruelty
One officer of the East India Company wrote memoirs after his tour of Kashmir. He made a mention of his experiences in his letters to some of his friends. He describes the cruelties of Subedar Assad Khan in the following way. "The cataract in one eye of Assad Khan had placed the surgeons in a dilemma. He had become restless because of the eye problem not getting cured. He had threatened the last surgeon telling him that his abdomin would be cut if his eye was not cured within some days. The surgeon failed in his treatment. Assad Khan implemented his threat". The doctor's abdomin was dissected.
Historians have dubbed Assad Khan as the "mine of cruelty". During his reign learned Hindus belonging to the upper caste were tormented for refusing to accept Islam. They were dragged naked from their houses and after holding them guilty of fictitious charges they would be jailed to rot. And Hindus had only one option left with them for shielding themselves against these cruelties and that was conversion to Islam.
Further step in Barbarism
With the installation of Attah Mohd. Khan as the Subedar of Kashmir in 1807, Kashmir witnessed another era of hateful and inhuman deeds and conspiracies in its history. Taking advantage of political instability in Kabul, Subedar Attah Khan declared himself independent and for satiating his demonic and inhuman hunger he adopted peculiar style. After defeating all the efforts of the Sultan of Kabul for keeping him under check, Attah Mohd. Khan adopted highly corrupt practices of torturing women.
Inflamed by passions the Subedar launched a campaign for including Kashmiri fairies in his harem. The Hindu women became victim of depravation. Any beautiful Hindu woman sighted by his messengers would be kidnapped. These crying and weeping women would be made a prey of the lust of the Subedar. In order to protect their honour and womanhood thousands of girls committed suicide either by consuming poison, or by jumping into the wells or by stabbing one another. Gopinath Shrivastav has given an account of these atrocities in his book "Kashmir''. According to him, Attah Mohd. Khan was such a Subedar that during his reign Kashmiris would shave off the head of their beautiful daughters, they would cut their nose, so that they looked ugly and were saved from the clutches of Attah Khan.
Murder of Pt. Har Dass
The last Afghan Subedar to rule Kashmir in l813 A.D. was Azim Khan. At that time one Hindu Sardar, Pt. Sehaj Ram, was the Chief Administrator in the state. Prior to his rule, the ruler of Punjab, Ranjit Singh, invaded Kashmir twice but was defeated. The Muslim landlords of Kashmir hatched a conspiracy charging Kashmiri Hindus with inviting Maharaja Ranjit Singh to invade Kashmir. They tried to explain to the Subedar that these Pandits wanted to oust the Muslim ruler and install Maharaja Ranjit Singh in his place. This trick of the landlords and their tale was treated as a challenge for Islam.
The Subedar was taken in by these rumours. The slogans "Islam in Danger" in Kashmir were shouted. Conspiracies were being hatched for forcing Pandits to leave Kashmir after they were dubbed as stooges of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The Pandits were teased, their estates were usurped, taxes were imposed on them and they were removed from the Government services. In order to tease, torment and insult them many charges were levelled against them and as such many were forced to adopt Islam.
One dreaded Sardar, Noorshah Diwani, was entrusted with the task of inciting people against the Hindus, forcing them to adopt Islam and for terrorising them. Pt. Hardas, a prominent Hindu officer, became the first victim of this conspiracy. He was summoned to the court and was killed deceptively. Pandit Sehaj Ram, who was the Chief Administrator, tried his best to change the atmosphere but the slogan of "Islam is in danger", raised by the Muslim sardars, and its powerful propaganda made even the Subedar blind and a bigot.
Loyalty of a Muslim employee
Though the Muslim Subedar emerged victorious during the two invasion of Maharaja Ranjit Singh on Kashmir, he had realised the power of the neighbouring Hindu state. He had also realised that the Maharaja enjoyed the support of Hindus in Kashmir and Kashmiri Hindus could not breathe peacefully and could not perform their religious rites and customs freely. Even their womenfalk were not safe. But in Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh had curbed all such activities of the Muslims. And Punjab experienced re-emergence of Hindu nationalism and at that time there was no difference between the Sikhs and the Hindus.
It is a fact that some Kashmiri Pandits had gone to Maharaja Ranjit Singh and there were many Pandits in the administration of the Maharaja. Its impact on the politics of Kashmir was natural. Subedar Ajim Khan was scared of the power and strength of the neighbouring Hindu state. He therefore, stopped massacre of Hindus. But plans continued to be made for killing them deceptively. Noorshah and Subedar Ajim Khan prepared a blueprint of a plan which could serve this purpose without any damage.
The author of "History of Dhar", Krishan Dhar, has written that it was decided that Noorshah would invite Mirza Pandit, brother of Sehaj Ram, and other prominent Pandits to his house and made them sit in the Hamam which would be so hot that they get suffocated. Ajim liked this plan, but he said the work should be done when he was not present in the city. This unfortunate conspiracy continued for sometime but on the day of the incident a personal attendent of Ajim Khan informed Sehaj Ram about the plan of Noorshah and the Subedar. The servant also informed him that at that very time Noorshah had conveyed the message to the Subedar about the assembly of the Pandits in his house. Under the plan the Subedar had left the city far Shalimar Bagh. Sehaj Ram too ferried to the house of Noorshah and wrote on paper in Kashmiri language "the island on which your house is built has been washed away in floods". This piece of paper was sent to Mirza Pandit through a ]oyal boatman, Hayat. With that message Hayat stood on the side door of the Hamam. On seeing Hayat, Mirza Pandit could understand that some event was to take place. While trying to set right the wicker of the lamp Hayat passed on the message to Mirza Pandit. He read the message, waited for a minute and then leaving his shawl enquired about the toilet. Under this pretext he escaped alongwith Hayat to meet his brother on the other bank.
Noorshah was highly dismayed over the escape of Mirza Pandit and ordered his trusted men to hunt for Mirza Pandit and get him dead or live. By then Mirza Pandit had gone away from their reach. When Noorshah's men were busy in capturing Pandits, Mirza Pandit's other associates managed to escape. This way the conspiracy of Noorshah and Subedar Ajim Khan failed because of the cleverness and alertness of one of their servants. This patriotic work done by a simple domestic servant clearly indicates that patriotism, nationalism and social work are not a legacy of a particular community.
The patriot was a Muslim servant. The boatman who conveyed the secret message to Mirza Pandit too was a Muslim. It also indicates that a simple and a common Muslim is a nationalist and a patriot. It is the Molvis and the Mullahs and big leaders who convert Muslims into bigots and rebels for their political ends. Thus the slogan of "Islam is in danger" is shouted not for the genuine protection of religion but for playing the political cards. There is no scope for doubting the patriotism of simple Muslims. The patriotism in young Hayat and domestic servant who performed their duties deserve great welcome.
The next day Sehaj Ram and Mirza Pandit went to meet subedar Ajim Khan who had been out of the city on the day of the incident. The Subedar was amazed on seeing the two alive. Sehaj Ram narrated the details of the incident to the Subedar who felt ashamed and expressed his regrets. Pandit Sehaj Ram informed the Subedar about crores of rupees Noorshah had collected from the people. On hearing about the big loot of Noorshah the Subedar sent Mirza Pandit with a company of soldiers to arrest Noorshah. Mirza Pandit surrounded the house of Noorshah and the entire house was searched, the roof was removed and the entire looted money and ornaments were recovered. Noorshah was arrested but he could not stand the arrest and fainted and died. Thus bravery and loyalty of a simple Muslim employee saved the lives of thousands of scholars.
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