Khilafat Centenary Souvenir 1908-2008 — Page 65
territories of Ladakh, Poonch, Gilgit and Hunza. . . . This was the beginning of a century of the most savage tyranny of which history furnishes a record anywhere. . . . The valley had a population of roughly four million, more than 90 per cent of whom were Muslims. . . The people of Kashmir, as is well known by now, are part of the lost tribes of Israel. From the very beginning of his rule, Maharaja Guiab Singh imposed a body of the harshest regulations upon the people of Kashmir and reduced them in effect to a state of humiliating bondage. . . . Within a year of the treaty of 18 46, Lord Lawrence was compelled to address a severe remonstrance to the Maharaja on the harshness and severity of his regime, warning him that if he persisted in the course that he had adopted, the Paramount Power would refuse to lend him support against any uprising of his subjects against his tyranny. The remonstrance had little effect upon the Maharaja. . . . By the mid-1920s demonstrations were made and processions were taken out in protest against measures of the government which bore harshly upon the people. . . . Matters came to a head by 1930 when a series of riots took place which were mercilessly suppressed entailing considerable loss of life. . . . Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih n ra had started taking a keen interest in the welfare of the people of Kashmir in early 1931 and wrote several articles in the Al-Fazl in April, June and Jul y of that year, drawing attention to the pitiable condition of the Kashmir Muslims and inviting the Muslims of the Punjab to take some practical step towards providing relief for the Muslims of Kashmir and designed to persuade the government of Kashmir to introduce practical and effective reforms in its policies and in the administration of the State with the view of securing substantial improvement in the condition of the Muslims of the valley. In the meantime, the situation in the va lley deteriorated rapidly and on 13 Jul y it became so critical, that it was sought to be resolved by the use of massive force, in consequence of which seventy- two people were killed and a large number were wounded. When the Khalifatul Masih ra learnt the details of the tragic events, he invited a dozen or so leading Muslims who were deeply interested in the situation in Kashmir to meet him at Simla on 25 Jul y 1931 for consultation over the situation in Kashmir. When they got together the Khalifatul Masih ra felt that there was a general air of despondence, mainly due to the fact that there was little hope of anything effective being achieved as the Viceroy of India, as the representative of the King Emperor, was bound to shield and support the Maharaja by virtue of the treaty relationship between the Maharaja and the Paramount Power. The Khalifatul Masih ra felt that despite all this some practical step must be taken which should convince the people of Kashmir that a body in British India was taking sympathetic interest in their affairs, and the Maharaja and his advisers should be compelled to recognize that the people of Kashmir in their struggle for securing their basic human rights had the support of a strong and active organization across the borders of the State. Finally it was decided that an All India Kashmir Committee should be formed which should take all appropriate and feasible steps to secure their basic rights for the people of Kashmir, and that the Committee's activities should not cease till the full achievement of this purpose. . . . Dr Sir Muhammad Iqbal, who was himself an eminent Kashrniri, proposed that the Head of the Ahmadiyya Movement should be elected President of the Committee. His proposal was seconded by Khawaja Hasan Nizami Sahib and everyone present acclaimed it. . . . The Khalifatul Masih '• was most reluctant to assume a position which in several respects would be inconsistent with his position as Spiritual Head of the Ahmadiyya Movement, but in view of the insistence of the members of the Committee and the strong urge towards going to the rescue of a people held in bondage, he overcame his reluctance and signified his assent to the proposal of Sir Muhammad Iqbal. . . Judged by the almost revolutionary results that were achieved by the committee and its devoted workers over the short period of two years its performance was nothing short of miraculous, the greater part of the credit for which must go to the Khalifatul Masih'•. In his three Friday addresses on 23 and 30 November and 7 December 1934, the Khalifatul Masih ra set forth a scheme before the Community with regard to which he had already alerted it, which made nineteen demands from the members of the Movement. He named the scheme Tahrik-e:Jadeed (New Scheme). To finance the scheme, he appealed to the Com- muni ty to provide Rs 27,500 for the expenses of the