Chapter 17
The Rise of Sheikh Abdullah as the British Agent

In order to perpetuate their rule on vast India the Britishers made two matters as the foundation of their entire political activities. First was the "divide and rule" diplomacy which was given constitutional recognition. Secondly, an arrangement for able agents and stooges for implementing the same principle in the political setup conveniently. The principle of "divide" through caste-based political process and reservation received patronage from the Government and in the garb of social reforms an army of the British agents and sycophants was raised through establishment of many institutions.
 
The rulers of the lndian states too played their role in strengthening the second political base. These rulers of the Indian states neither dared nor thought it proper to oppose the foreign power because they remained busy in their entertainment. The freedom struggle of 1857 was a revolt when the Britishers had not strengthened their foothold. Therefore, the Britishers gave importance to the individual ego of the rulers and never tried to interfere in their world of pleasure. That is why the British Government remained unperturbed from their side and it kept on using them as the base for its stability.

One nationalistic ruler

But the British Government was jolted when Kashmir's ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, talked about India's independence in the capacity of the Chairman of the Chamber of Princes during the roundtable conference in London in 1931. Such a talk from the head of the Chamber of Princes was politically a challenge. Those very days the pace of the freedom movement and partition of India were getting sharper. The Muslim League was playing its political cards and the League had the blessings of Lord Mountbatten.

Kashmir was a Muslim majority state and the Maharaja had, by talking in terms of complete independence, struck the caste-based politics announced by the Britishers. Getting angry and alert following the unhelpful attitude of the Maharaja, the viceroy, Lord Mountbetten, started looking for a suitable British Agent in Kashmir. There was need for preparing the Muslim society against the Hindu Maharaj and for diluting the popularity of the Maharaja, for shaking his political base and finally for finishing his existence. For this it was necessary to plant an influential Muslim leader. Therefore, for realising this objective Lord Mountbetten thought the emerging young Muslim, Skeikh Abdullah, as the suitable person and backed him up.

Communalism of Sheikh Abdullah

Sheikh Abdullah was the product of that Aligarh Muslim University which had produced many leaders for assisting the Indian Muslim society in adopting the path of separatism. The founders of the "isms" of Muslim nationalism, Muslim fundamentalism and creation of Pakistan were produced from the same university. Sheikh Abdullah had received M.Sc. degree from the university and was appointed a science teacher in Government High School, Srinagar. From this very place he started his political activities.

In order to establish his political base in Kashmir the Sheikh decided to collect and incite Muslim youths against the Maharaja. He gave up his service to intensify his political activities. However, Dr. Gori Nath Rastogi has, in his book "Our Kashmir", written that the Sheikh was sacked because of immoral behaviour. He had already received, as a gift from the Aligarh Muslim University, the seeds of communalism in his mind and the sacking from the services further inflamed him. His mind was inflammed with hatred against the Maharaja and he started plans for promoting religious passions. The British diplomacy had the need for such a person in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sheikh Abdullah started encouraging communalism openly. He launched a movement on the basis of the demand for Government posts for the Muslims, their share in the administration and religious freedom. Inflammatory speeches from mosques began communalising the entire atmosphere. The Sheikh also succeeded in giving Islamic hue to the entire movement. How was this dye ? Gopinath Shrivastav has given information about this dye in his book "Kashmir".

According to Shrivastav, one Abdul Qadir, a Muslim cook, had come to Kashmir with a European traveller. He too jumped into the movement and on June 21,1931 he delivered an anti- Government speech at a function organised at Shah Hamdan. It resulted in his arrest and trial. The hearing of the trial was going on in the central Jail, Srinagar, when four to five thousand people assembled outside the Jail and attacked the Jail gates. Their demand was withdrawal of the case against Abdul Qadir. The crowd tore the fence, jail inmates got incited and the police opened fire in which 21 persons were killed. Their bodies were carried in a procession and the entire city was gripped by communal tension. Shops of Hindus were looted and three Hindus were killed. The good relations between the Hindus and the Muslims were snapped. The Maharaja set up a committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Justice to enquire into the police firing. The Muslims boycotted the committee. This way Sheikh Abdullah started emerging as a Muslim leader and started getting the base for revolting against the Maharaja.

Sheikh planned riots during Maharaja's birthday

It was Maharaja's birthday on September 24, 1932. The entire city of Srinagar had been decorated. Muslims too were making preparations for celebrating the Maharaja's birthday. The Sheikh did not like all this. His political existence had been endangered by the way the Muslims had assmebled in support of the Maharaja. He, therefore, decided to create hurdles in these celebrations and in generating tension. Two days earlier the Shoba Yatra was stoned, as per the plan. The result was that the entire city was rocked by communalism. The workers of the Muslim Reading Room, a party formed by the Sheikh, supervised the plan. The houses of Hindus were looted and a crowd surrounded the house of Jia Lal Kilam and stoned and ransacked it. The entire attention of the Maharaja and the administraticn was diverted towards the law and order of the city. The Army was deployed in Mirpur and other riot affected areas. This way the Sheikh succeeded in disrupting the birthday celebrations.

Muslim Conference, a platform for antinational activities

In this atmosphere of Muslim bigotry Sheikh Abdullah became the sole leader of the Muslims. The Sheikh and his colleagues organised Kashmir Muslim Conference Party. A three-day convention of the Conference was held under the chairmanship of Sheikh Abdullah from October 14, 1932. The aim of the resolution adopted at the convention was to incite the Muslim society on the basis of religion and force ouster of the Hindu Maharaja in order to establish Islamic rule. Dr H.L. Saxena has given an account of this convention in his book "The Tragedy of Kashmir".

According to Dr. Saxena, one important aspect of this convention was that neither the President, Sheikh Abdullah, nor any other person spoke a word about the atrocities on Hindus in Srinagar and Mirpur. Instead a demand was made for withdrawing the Army from these places which could ensure the annihilation of Hindus and Sikhs. The speeches delivered at the convention further communalised the atmosphere in the entire state. Sheikh Abdullah went to some area in Punjab where he hid himself to evade arrest. The Sheikh, who had left the workers of his party, Muslim Conference, in the current, returned to Kashmir after one month when the atmosphere was calm.

Again the Sheikh started inciting Muslim youths, organised processions and demonstrations and delivered fiery speeches in mosques for inflamming their mind with religious zeal. The situation was again disturbed. Communal riots took place. When the Maharaja tried to enlighten the Sheikh through the Home Minister, Wajahat Hussain, and the British representative in Kashmir, colonel Colvin, Sheikh Abdullah attempted to conceal facts to keep them in darkenss. Wajahat Hussain suggested to the Maharaja to order immediate arrest of the Sheikh. Again the Sheikh escaped afeer getting the reports of his arrest orders in advance. This time he spent four months in Lahore and other places.

After his return the Sheikh again remained busy in communal activities for achieving his goal. As a result of his activities the Muslim society of the State had, by now, become anti-Maharaja. Sheikh Abdullah was now an influential Muslim leader.

Sheikh, a British Agent

In order to utilise the Sheikh in the form of a British Agent the British Government found the opportune time for converting him into a British "stooge". The Sheikh himself wanted to seek blessings of the British Government and the support from a prominent Congress leader for making his campaign and movement a success. His both the wishes were fulfilled by Lord Mountbatten and Jawaharlal Nehru respectively.

A prominent weekly of Bombay, Blitz, in its April 24, 1964 issue published a comprehensive article in which Sheikh Abdullah has been dubbed as a British Agent. In the article, original documents in the form of secret correspondence and letters have been published exposing the antinational activities of the Sheikh. Dr. H.L. Saxena has published the entire article of "Blitz" in his book "The Tragedy of Kashmir". The documents published in Blitz have lifted the thick veil from the initial political life of Sheikh Abdullah. These documents indicate that he had started his political career under the protection and assistance of the British Government. What has the Blitz to say :

"Bombay: Blitz is now in possession of a mass of sensational and scalding documents which lift the heavy veil covering the early political career of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.

On studying them, we are staggered at the amount of evidence-mostly in Abdullah's own language - which could lead to the following conclusion that:

Sheikh Abdullah began his political career in collusion with and with the full patronage of the political service of the then British Government of India.

It is common knowledge that the Anglo-Indian Political Service was mainly the machine of Intelligence Agents. British and Indian - specially trained and recruited by British Imperialism to keep India enslaved.

These documents came in our possession on the eve of the Sheikh's departure to Saudi Arabia for his professed Haj pilgrimage. We decided to await his return home before we published them, so as to offer him an opportunity to deny their authenticity and clear his name.

Treacherous

The treacherous tale of Abdullah's exploits with the national enemies during this period is now too notorious to need repetition.

Apart from playing objectively the role of a Pakistani agent, Abdullah transgressed the limits of national loyalty by seeking a secret confabulation with Chou-En-lai and by accepting an invitation to visit Peking - the capital of the invaders of India.

He also tried to throw dust in the eyes of our friends and allies in the Arabic and Islamic countries by posing as a crusader for democracy, self-determination and what not. Under these circumstances, it is a matter of Privilege and National duty for all Indians to expose the career of this opportunist who now wants to dismember the Union by engineering the secession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir with the open and unashamed assistance of the known enemies and aggressors, Pakistan and China.

Indictment

On the basis of these documents which are published for the first time today, we level a four count indictment against Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah as under:

1. That Sheikh Mohammd Abdullah, M.Sc. (Aligarh) contacted sometime in 1953 Sir B.J.Giancy, then Political Secretary to the then Government of India and head of the British Intelligence Service, otherwise known as the Political Service, and offered his services to the British Raj.

 2. That the said Glancy, ICS, passed him on, after checking on his antecedents, to one Lt. colonel L.E. Lang, CIE, MC, a high ranking offioer of the British Intelligence, who was then posted as the British Political Agent in Srinagar.

 3. That the course of his work as a willing collaborator af the enslavers of India, Abdullah received and carried out orders, instructions and wishes of one Col. C.W. Calvin, another member of the British Intelligence, who then acted as the Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

 4. That Abdullah knowingly acted as an agent of the British Intelligence to rouse communal passions of Kashmiri Muslims with a view to fighting the rising tide of Indian nationalism.

Turning point

Now let us present the evidence which takes us back to the turning point in national history. Sheikh Abdullah contacted Glancy some time in 1935. It is important to bear in mind the political situation in the country at that time. Between 1930 and 1934, our people had unitedly waged two satyagrah battles and faced incredibly brutal repression at the hands of the British. The nation was getting ready for one more battle to assert its independence.

However, the most crucial development from the British viewpoint concerned the new awakening of the Pathans, the Baluchis, the Kashmiris and the West Punjabis. These were dominated Muslims who had been kept in reserve by the British to divide and tear the national movement apart. By 1935, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Khan Abdus Samad Khan Baluchi had won them over for the national independence of a united India.

The national spirit had made a deep impact in Kashmir which was strategically the most important outpost of British Imperialism in Central Asia. The Gilgit military base, only a few miles from the Soviet border, had become all important. The British Intelligence service at that time was in desperate need of agents who could rouse Muslim communal passions in Kashmir against the national spirit and weaken the national movement.

Abdullah was then a school teacher who had just returned from the Aligarh University - a hotbed of communal separatists and the most favourable recruiting centre for British agents among oppoitunist, self-seeking Muslim middle class, antinational elements.

It was the British Intelligence which made the first move to recruit Sheikh Abdullah. The initiative was taken by Abdullah himself.

Glancy and Abdullah

How and in what manner Abdullah contacted the alien rulers is a tale still shrouded in mystery. However, it can be stated that he offered his services to the British in a letter dated December 6,1935, addressed to Glancy. On December 17,1935, Glancy accepted Abdullah's offer and wrote to him the following letter.

"My dear Mr Abdullah,

With reference to your letter dated 6th December, 1935, I may say that it is conceivable that there in that state, should be a development to retain work of politics as there are means to preserve the British aim.

The recent information regarding Mr. Lal indicates a tendency towards the point, yet it seems necessary that unless an immediate change in the plan is not made, his removal seems impossible. Apart from the alterations the proposal will remain as originally stated, and as I understand from the various concerns, the proposal in search of his removal will be attempted in near future, Col. Colvin's report assures that prompt and up-to-date arrangements which indicates the survey based on the consequent needs.

I hope you too remember the directions regarding the same and act upon.

Yours sincerely,
B.J. Glany ICS

Patriot attacked

Glancy's letter clearly indicates that Abdullah had proposed a political movement in Jammu and Kashmir which was aimed at the preservation of the British raj. He had already done some work in that connection, a plan had been prepared, which had been later slightly altered, and Abdullah had received his instructions. Further the plan was to dislodge from office one Mr. Lal.

Who was this Mr. Lal ?

Hari Kishan Lal was a fervent Indian patriot who in 1935 was the head of the Sericulture Department to Jammu and Kashmir. Highly qualified for his work, Mr. Lal developed the sericulture industry in the State and refused to compromise his political views. He had been a nationalist of long standing; having attended the 34th annual session of Indian National Congress in 1919, the year of the Jalianwala Bagh massacre.

Glancy personally knew him. But when in the wake of the Swedeshi Movement, Mr. Lal banned the purchase of the British goods for his department, he became a thorn in Glancy's flesh. Further, Mr. Lal, with his nationalist views, became an example for others in Kashmir. Glancy used Abdullah in the first stage to seek dismissal of Mr. Lal from the post of the Director of the Sericulture Department. The weapon to used to secure this aim was the division between Hindus and Muslims. Abdullah was to rouse the Muslim workers to boot out the Hindu Mr. Lal.

Secret Meeting

That Abdullah got to work immediately, preaching hatred against the "Hindu" Director and praising the British, is clearly indicated from the following letter which he wrote on February 4, 1936 to Col. Lang, the British Resident, who was then camping at Sialkot.

"As requested before, I have not been favoured with the important directions regarding the Director of Sericulture. Will you please pay an immediate attention towards this rough scrawl and let me know how to proceed with.

A secret meeting of the Executive body was called upon. Resolution of no confidence against H.K. Lal, the Director, has been unanimously passed. You will note with great pleasure that it was done accordingly.

It has finally been decided that this disease in the Sericulture Department requires drastic remedy and when this remedial measure appears, we give our support.

The members of the meeting were made more excited and they preferred to bring the factory under British control. The situation and circumstances will not be more severe than necessary. Rest assured".

Now the Sheikh started working as British agent in Kashmir. According to Dr Gourinath Rastogi, the Sheikh had the biggest desire to become the Sultan of Kashmir. For this he could do anything. In the beginning of 40's he engineered violent revolts in Kashmir under the instructions of the Britishers and forced Maharaja Hari Singh to set up the Glancy Commission for reforming the administration ? Glancy had remained Chief of the British Intelligence in India. In the name of the administrative reforms he forced the Maharaja to give Gilgit on lease for 60 years. He killed two birds with one stone. While on one hand Gilgit came under the British rule, on the other he succeeded in establishing Sheikh Abdullah as a political figure in Kashmir. Prior to this, Sheikh Abdullah could not establish his foothold in Gilgit, being a Muslim majority area, because of the influence of the Maharaja.

The mask of National Conference

Now Sheikh Abdullah decided to wear on his face a mask of natioalism. He wanted the support and blessings of some Indian leaders and Hindus for seeing his dream of becoming the sultan of Kashmir fulfilled. He succeeded in receiving guidance, support and blessings of influential national leaders like Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan in order to reach the level of national leaders. Prof. Balraj Madhok has given information about this dramatic act of the Sheikh in his book "Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh".

According to Prof. Madhok, Sheikh Abdullah converted the Muslim Conference into the National Conference in 1939. By doing this in the interest of his political ambition he wanted to secure the support of the Indian National Congress and the Indian Press. Khan Abdul Gaffar too played a pivotal role in this. The Khan had explained to the Sheikh that since 95 per cent population of the valley was that of Muslims he would get the power, whenever and howsoever, as a leader of the Kashmiris. This strategy paid him dividends. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru started taking interest in him and his politics. He appointed hirn President of the All India States Peoples Conference. This gave him an opportunity to come to the national stage.

This way Sheikh Abdullah, a regional leader, highly communal and a British Agent, succeeded in coming to the all India stage with the support and blessings of Pandit Nehru.

In the clutches of communists

A person who is influenced by the interest of assuming power, any type of anti-national activity can be expected from such a person. Communists too ensnared him. When in 1942 the Quit India movement was at its peak, all prominent congress leaders were in jails, and the people of India were struggling for ousting the Britishers by supporting Mahatma Gandhi, the communists by dubbing Gandhi as a stooge of imperialists engaged themselves in the condemnable act of stabbing him in the back. These communalists tried and succeeded in using the Sheikh in weakening the Quit India movement.

The Quit Kashmir Movement launched by Sheikh Abdullah was a part of the conspiracy of the communists. Sheikh Abdullah wanted that before the Bntish quit India, the Maharaja should quit Kashmir. The Sheikh was active, since 1931, in giving practical shape to this objective. This was also the wish of the British Government which had projected the Sheikh as a Kashmiri leader. The Sheikh, the communists and the British Government together launched the "Quit Kashmir Movement" at a time when the people of entire India were busy in the freedom struggle and were raising slogans like "Britishers, quit India". Maharaja Hari Singh too was a supporter of India's independence. That is why the Britishers had formulated a long-term plan for finishing the Maharaja, and the Sheikh was implementing this plan. But unfortunately Pt. Nehru kept on siding with the Sheikh.

Naya Kashmir, a political stunt

The National Conference under the leadership of Sheikh Abdullah adopted Naya Kashmir campaign as a manifesto. Behind the political stunt of Naya Kashmir three forces were playing their cards. Mountbatten wanted to keep away nationalist elements of Jammu and Kashmir away from the Indian freedom movement, through this, the communists were trying to project it as independent socialist republic and the Sheikh wanted to use it as a cushion for assuming the throne of Kashmir. The manifesto of Naya Kashmir, contained a declaration for the establishment of a responsible Government besides the high ideals of reformation in social, educational and economic fields alongwith a provision for independent judiciary and parliamentary democracy. According to Sheikh Abdullah, all these things were possible when the Maharaja was ousted from power.

Quit Kashmir movement against the Maharaja

With full religious zeal the National Conference launched its Quit Kashmir movement on May 10, 1946. The entire Muslim society in Kashmir was made to follow the path of rebellion. This movement was directed against the Hindu Maharaja and the Dogras of Jammu. The Sheikh and his colleagues were arrested on May 20, 1946. This pained Pt. Nehru. He immediately wrote a letter to the Maharaja demanding immediate release of the Sheikh. Nehru did not limit himself to only making a demand, he decided to go to Kashmir for pleading the case of the Sheikh. He even rejected suggestions of senior congress leaders in this context. The Maharaja requested Pt. Nehru not to support the Sheikh because the Sheikh's movement had the blessings of the British Government and was against the interests of India.

Blessings of Pt. Nehru

It is a matter of ridicule that a national leader like Pt. Nehru could not stop his ego of being a Kashmiri and a friend of Sheikh Abdullah. Seeing that his appeal to Nehru had no impact, the Maharaja banned entry of Pt. Nehru into Kashmir. And when Nehru violated the ban and entered into Kashmir, he was arrested. This incident sowed the seeds of hatred in the mind of Nehru against the Maharaja. This unilateral decision of Nehru generated anger among the Congress leaders. The then President Acharya Kriplani, described this movement untimely, condemnable, ugly and opportunist.

When in 1947 Kriplani visited Kashmir as the Congress President, he repeated this opinion. In reply to a question of a newsman he said that the Britishers were foreigners and had to quit India but Maharaja Hari Singh was the son of the soil and how could he be told to quit the Jammu and Kashmir state. Kriplani had thought Sheikh Abdullah could not merge Kashmir with India. As a result of being a sole legal authority, Maharaja Hari Singh alone could accede or not. Even a one time guide of the Sheikh, Mr. M.A. Jinnah, too had criticised the movement saying that it was a revolt by some dissidents to create disorder in the state. The Maharaja too tried to suppress it.

The result was that Sheikh Abdullah was compelled to withdraw the movement. He had feared his arrest and thus displaying his old cowardice he planned to flee Kashmir. But this time the vigilant police arrested him near Uri on May 21, 1946. Under the instructions of the Maharaja he was jailed in Badami Bagh cantonment in Srinagar. This way the "Quit Kashmir" movement was completely crushed.

But the result of this incident was that hatred and animosity between Nehru, who sided with the antinational Abdullah, and the Maharaja, who ordered arrest of the Sheikh, further deepened.