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| Bhim's formulations on Sheikh Abdullah flawed, misleading | | "Draconian" NC | | Rustam
Jammu, Sept 9: JKNPP chairman Bhim Singh urged the Kashmiri Muslims yesterday to get rid of what he called the "draconian rule of the NC abetted by the Congress party". He expressed the view that such an exercise on their part "shall be the greatest tribute to late Sher-e-Kashmir" (Sheikh Abdullah). He, in addition, accused NC president and Union Minister for Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah and his son and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of "betraying Sher-e-Kashmir's legacy" and asserted that "Sher-e-Kashmir stood for non-violence and communal harmony". So much so, Bhim Singh asserted that "sheikh Abdullah prevented the exodus of Pandits in 1947, rejected Pakistan and opted for India". The main grouse of Bhim Singh against Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah was that they had "challenged state's accession to Indian Union" and that they have handed down to the people a highly corrupt administration.
One can agree with Bhim Singh when he denounced the stand of the NC president and the Chief Minister on the state vis-a-vis India. One can also share his view that the NC-Congress coalition government is corrupt to the core. But any objective student of Kashmir history and any investigator with secular and nationalist credentials would reject outright Bhim Singh's formulations and views on Sheikh Abdullah.
Sheikh Abdullah, for instance, had no love for India. He wanted join Pakistan but the Pakistani President and Prime Minister didn't pay any heed to the Sheikh's suggestions. It was, in fact, the mortal fear of death at the hands of the Pakistani President and Prime Minister that made him to turn towards Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru, who was number one enemy of Maharaja Hari Singh, cultivated the Sheikh to avenge his 1946 arrest at Kohala at the behest of the Maharaja. Nehru not only obliged the Sheikh but also made him a party to the accession overlooking the fact that the latter had no locus standi.
That the Sheikh was never for India became clear in 1952, when Nehru had to bemoan and say "Kashmir is lost to us." Again, that Sheikh was not for India could be seen from his hobnobbing with the United States. He was, in fact, for a "Switzerland-type independent Kashmir" and it was because of this that Nehru had to get him dismissed and arrested on August 9, 1953. Why did Bhim Singh distort these well-known and documented facts? What was his motive? He alone could explain away.
Bhim Singh asserted that the Sheikh "prevented the exodus of Pandits in 1947". It means Bhim Singh is not aware of the fact that the Kashmiri Hindus did not migrate from the Valley during the Sikh and the Dogra rule (1819 and 1947) because their life, religion and culture was secure during that period. In fact, thousands of Kashmiri Hindus who had migrated from the Valley before 1819 to escape their physical liquidation and save their religion and culture had returned to their original habit. The process of migration restarted with the emergence of the NC rule. Hundreds and hundreds of Kashmiri Hindu families migrated to Jammu and other places. He should remember that the Sheikh had contempt for this minority community. He considered them fifth columnists". It would be better if Bhim Singh goes through the Sheikh's autobiography Aatish-e-Chinar.
Bhim Singh has not only distorted and murdered history but he has also suppressed another very vital aspect. The case in point is the refusal of the Sheikh's government to settle the Hindu and Sikh refugees from the so-called Azad Kashmir in the Valley. Leave aside a few dozen Sikh families who did settle in the Srinagar's Rambagh area and a couple of other places. It would have better had Bhim Singh referred to the settlement of and grant of all citizenship rights to the Uighur Muslims in 1952. They had come to Srinagar to escape the wrath of Communist China. The settlement in Kashmir of Chinese Muslims with full citizenship rights and the creation of an environment in the Valley that forced the Sikhs and Hindus to migrate to Jammu and elsewhere to seek shelter should clinch the whole issue and establish that what Bhim Singh said yesterday was not based on historical facts.
It is not necessary to conclude this story. For, the story is self-revealing and self-explanatory. Will Bhim Singh muster courage and say what is right and what is wrong? He must remember that he has done injustice to the Dogras who have been fighting against the Sheikh and his successors to preserve the identity and personality and seek justice. He should first read his Agenda 2011 and then make statements. |
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