Opening a Window in Kashmir Ramachandra Guha
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REC•NSIDERATI•NS Ramachandra Guha is a historian living in Bangalore. His books include Environmentalism: A Global History and A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a British Sport. He writes the fortnightly “Past and Present” col- umn for The Hindu of Chennai. Opening a Window in Kashmir Ramachandra Guha We here recall a forgotten incident Other visitors were more celebrated, but in the history of India-Pakistan rela- no other visitor—at least no other male tions, the visit of Sheikh Abdullah to visitor—had such an intense, emotionally Rawalpindi and Muzaffarabad in 1964. charged relationship with his host. Once a The story is of interest to the historian, close friend of Nehru’s, this guest had spent and to the policymaker as well. Forty much of the past decade in an Indian prison, years on, the contours of the Kashmir having been accused of plotting the breakup dispute have scarcely changed. Now, as of the Indian union. Now he was free, and then, its solution must satisfy the con- had come to visit the prime minister whose ditions laid down in 1964 by Sheikh government had put him behind bars. Abdullah: namely, that it must not lead The visitor was Sheikh Abdullah, the to a sense of victory for either India or Lion of Kashmir, among the most enigmatic Pakistan; that it must make the minori- figures of modern Indian history. He was at ties more secure in both countries; and various times a student leader, peasant mo- that it must satisfy the aspirations of bilizer, worker for interfaith harmony, and the people of Kashmir themselves. crusader for international peace. But this —The Editors rebel had also held office. From 1947 to 1953, he ran the government of Jammu and I Kashmir (as he would again from 1975 to The grandest residence in New Delhi is 1982); ran it, it must be said, in less-than- Rashtrapati Bhavan (formerly the Viceregal democratic ways. He was both greatly loved Lodge); the second grandest is Teen Murti and much derided; a hero to many Kash- House. Once occupied by the commander in miris, he was also defamed as an Indian chief of the British Indian Army, it became agent by Pakistan, and as a Pakistani agent the home of the founding prime minister of by India. free India, Jawaharlal Nehru. In the 16 years There is still no biography of a man who that Nehru lived there, many distinguished for half a century personified the “Kashmir visitors stayed in Teen Murti House, not problem.” We know far too little about the only heads of state but also writers, musi- key incidents in his political life, which cru- cians, scientists, and artists. cially affected the history of Kashmir, and Helping Nehru play host was his of India and Pakistan as well. This essay daughter, Indira Gandhi, and a well-trained focuses upon one such forgotten incident, staff. Of the hundreds of their guests per- which unfolded during a few weeks in haps the most special was the prominent 1964. It is also of topical interest since In- Kashmiri who came in the summer of 1964. dia and Pakistan have commenced a “com- I suspect that his arrival made Nehru, and posite dialogue” on the matters that divide even Indira, rather more nervous than usual. them: namely, trade, the movement of peo- Opening a Window in Kashmir 79 ple, and above all, Kashmir. The mood now tribal raiders entered Kashmir, hoping to recalls the halcyon summer of 1964, the last galvanize support for Pakistan, but Maha- time India and Pakistan talked seriously raja Hari Singh instead chose accession to about the prospects for peace in Kashmir. India. Wisely, he also released Sheikh Abdullah. II Abdullah and his followers played a cru- Born in 1905, the son of a shawl merchant, cial role in keeping the peace as the raiders Sheikh Abdullah took a master’s degree in were repulsed. His National Conference science from the Aligarh Muslim University. took the lead in promoting amity between Despite his qualifications, he was unable to Kashmir’s religious communities in Srina- find a government job in his native Kash- gar. A journalist writing from the Kashmiri mir. He became a schoolteacher and, soon capital expressed the common view: “Hin- enough, a political activist. In 1932, he was dus and Sikhs moved about with complete a mover behind the Jammu and Kashmir unselfconsciousness among Muslims who Muslim Conference, which aimed to chal- constitute the vast majority of the popula- lenge the rule of Maharaja Hari Singh, a tion of the town; they marched shoulder to Hindu who was excessively autocratic even shoulder with them down Srinagar’s streets by princely standards. Six years later, the as volunteers engaged in a common task.... I sheikh changed the name of this organiza- could scarcely believe my eyes when I saw tion to the National Conference, to make the miracle the Sheikh had wrought.”1 An- plain that it represented all Kashmiris, re- other reporter was struck by the the cordial gardless of religion. relationship between the National Confer- At six feet, four inches in height, Ab- ence and the military, as characterized by dullah was an imposing presence. He was the automobile drives conspicuously taken also a witty and compelling orator. And together by Sheikh Abdullah and the army’s outspoken: in the 1930s and 1940s, he was divisional commander, Major General frequently in and out of the maharaja’s jails. Thimayya.2 In 1946, he called on the ruler to “Quit Otherwise, the turbulence in 1947–48 Kashmir,” and was duly imprisoned on implacably divided Kashmir. Its predomi- charges of sedition. From New Delhi, Jawa- nantly Muslim northern and western regions harlal Nehru, then leader of the Congress came under Pakistani control when a cease- Party, rushed to his defense, only to be fire line was demarcated. India retained con- barred from even entering Kashmir by the trol of the Hindu-dominated Jammu dis- maharaja’s border officials. trict, the high mountains of Ladakh, with Nehru had first met Abdullah in 1938. its Buddhist peasants and pastoralists, and Despite the difference in age (Nehru was 16 the Vale of Kashmir, often referred to sim- years older) the two hit it off instantly. Both ply as the Valley. Of all these regions, the were charismatic and impulsive, both com- Vale proved the most contentious. Under mitted socialists who also despised chauvin- the logic of partition, it should have gone to ism of all kinds. From the beginning, Neh- Pakistan, since a majority of its population ru looked upon Abdullah as his man in was Muslim. But these Muslims were in the Kashmir. main followers of Sheikh Abdullah, a secular In August 1947, the British departed politician who abhorred the idea of a theo- India, leaving behind two sovereign nations. cratic state. Under the terms of partition, Kashmir’s ma- After the maharaja chose accession to In- haraja was given the authority to decide dia, Nehru asked him to turn over the ad- whether to join India or Pakistan, but ini- ministration of the state to Sheikh Abdul- tially he equivocated. That October, Muslim lah. “He is obviously the leading popular 80 WORLD POLICY JOURNAL • FALL 2004 personality in Kashmir,” insisted Nehru. who was visiting Kashmir. The content of “The way he has risen to grapple with the these conversations was not disclosed, but crisis has shown the nature of the man. I Indians assumed independence was the sub- have a high opinion of his integrity and ject. A Bombay journal known to be sympa- general balance of mind. He has striven thetic to America reported that Stevenson hard and succeeded very largely in keeping had assured Abdullah of more than moral communal peace. He may make any number support. A loan of $15 million could be of mistakes in minor matters, but I think available if Kashmir became sovereign; be- he is likely to be right in regard to major sides “the Valley would have a permanent decisions.”3 Shortly afterward, Abdullah population of at least 5,000 American fami- took over as head of Kashmir’s administra- lies,” houseboats and hotels would be filled tion. He stayed in that post from the end to capacity, Americans would buy the crafts of 1947 until the middle of 1953. In view output of dexterous Kashmiri artisans, and of the state’s special status under the Indian within three years every village in Kashmir Constitution, he was called “prime minis- would be electrified, “and so on and so ter,” rather than “chief minister.” In this forth.”4 period, he joined the Constituent Assembly Rumor had it that Abdullah would de- of India and represented India at the United clare independence on August 21, 1953— Nations. New Delhi needed the sheikh in the day of the great Id Festival, following the event that a U.N.-proposed plebiscite which he would seek the protection of the to determine Kashmir’s status was con- United Nations against “Indian aggression.” ducted. But Nehru apart, the Indian politi- New Delhi took this seriously enough to cal establishment did not trust the sheikh, move preemptively. On August 8, Abdullah and he certainly did not trust it. He par- was deposed as prime minister and jailed. ticularly worried about the strength of The coup was carried out with the complic- Hindu communal forces in India. So long ity of his erstwhile deputy, Bakshi Ghulam as Nehru was in power these could be kept Mohammed. The bakshi now assumed the in check, but what might happen after his post of prime minister, and a majority of departure? Abdullah’s former cabinet colleagues chose The sheikh feared that India would be- to serve alongside him.5 come a Hindu Pakistan, its polity and poli- cies dominated by the wishes of its religious III majority.