The Riots of 1953 — Page 4
4 nity was elected as President of the Committee and realising the great distress in which the Muslims of Kashmir were placed, he with considerable reluctance, agreed to accept the responsibility of that office and used all his resources for assisting them. The Ahrar felt that the situation provided an opportunity to them to secure control of Muslim masses and established direct contact with them. They were fully conscious of the fact that the militant element among the Muslims will not be attracted by constitu- tional and peaceful means. As trained political workers the Ahrar appealed to the masses of the Punjab to rally round them and pre- pared a a m bitious programme of civil [dis]obedience, which they thought, would bring them in direct conflict with the authorities. Undoubtedly the ostensible object was to secure to the Muslims of Kashmir the rights which were denied to them. Their unconsti- tutional activities, however, resulted in thousands of people going to jail and in the complete dislocation 6 of life of thousands of other Muslims. Business in Sialkot, which was the premier com- mercial town in pre-partition Punjab, reached a very low ebb. The Muslim artisans suffered the most. 5. The success of the All India Kashmir Committee exasper- ated the Ahrar. The Muslims of India soon realized that the road to which they were being led by the Ahrar would bring them to ruin. The All India Kashmir Committee gained the confidence of the masses. 7 Its constitutional methods bore fruit and the State was finally forced to see reason and the measure of success achieved b affled the calculation of all political parties. The Ahrar rightly felt that the Committee, under the able guidance of the Head of the Ahmadiyya Community, had given such a set-back to their party 6 The “Dawn” Delhi, 2. 12. 45 & ‘Nai Roshni, 9. 7. 53. 7 Inqilab, 30. 11. 31 and Siyasat, 1. 3. 32.