Kashmir remembers Rauf who took 32 bullets on chest
Exiled Journalist Mir Abdul Aziz Declared National Hero

Arshad Me’raj

(from greaterkashmir.com)

Srinagar, Nov 23: Abdur Rauf Wani is the heroic young man who took nearly 32 bullets fired from a light machine gun by a paramilitary trooper on his chest, saving scores of lives at Gaw Kadal, Srinagar on January 21, 1990 during a protest march in which 52 people were massacred.

Before he could slip into obscurity as a statistic of the ongoing struggle, the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) awarded him posthumously the annual Robert Thorpe Award. Besides, Khawaja Mir Abdul Aziz, an exiled Kashmiri journalist and resistance leader, was declared as one of the National Heroes of Kashmir.

To award Rauf and commemorate Mir Aziz, a function was organised at a local hotel here on Thursday.

Zulehuma Banday, sister of Rauf, received the award: a trophy and a shawl. In a tearful brief address, she thanked JKCCS for giving recognition to Rauf. She said, “The sacrifice of Rauf is for a bigger cause and Kashmiris have been sacrificing for the past hundreds of years; we should not forget those who sacrificed their lives for that bigger cause.”

Rauf, 24, did his schooling from prestigious Tyndale Biscoe School. As 18-year old boy in 1984 when Sikhs were massacred in Delhi and when riots erupted in the Valley, he jumped the window in second story of his home and saved the life of a labourer who was trying laces of his shoe and was shot at in his head. Rauf had responded to the cries of the labourer when people closed their doors and windows in wake of police firing, said his sister Zulehuma. Rauf was jailed for a month during 1987 for his support to Muslim United Front in the elections that were rigged in favor of National Conference.

On January 21, 1991, thousands of people took out a huge protest march against molestation of women by the troops in Chotta Bazaar locality by paramilitary CRPF troops. The then government headed by Governor Jagmohan allowed the march to proceed for nearly two kilometers, but when it reached Gaw Kadal, the peaceful protesters without any provocation were fired at indiscriminately by paramilitary troopers and police led by DSP Allah Baksh. Fifty-two people including women died and nearly 250 were wounded.

“Rauf rushed towards a trooper who was mowing down unarmed people with a light machine gun and faced the barrel, took all the bullets in the magazine,” said Zahir-ud-Din, one of the protesters and eyewitness of the massacre.

At the award giving ceremony many speakers said the government of India and the state government was projecting “collaborators of occupation” as the real heroes of Kashmir.

“They haven’t projected any person who offered resistance during the resistance movements and didn’t compromise,” said the JKCCS president Pervez Imroz. “The state has been honoring the brutal Dogra rulers who massacred the people of Kashmir; they have established Gulab Singh and Zorawar Singh chairs in Universities, but haven’t done anything for the unsung heroes of Kashmir.”

Imroz said, “The civil society was trying to bring out the lives of heroes from the oblivion and introduce them to the younger generation who don’t know anything about them.”

Peer Ghulam Rasool who deliberated on “Concept of National Hero” said the government of India and the state government have been projecting the collaborators as real heroes for the past 50 years.

“They have also been dehumanizing and denigrating people, like they did to Kabailis. Many of the people who were resisting against the rule of Dogra Maharaja and later the Indian rule and communal Indian parties have been clubbed together with Kabailis,” Rasool said. He said among the internationally renowned leftist thinker and writer Eqbal Ahmad was one of those who have been “denigrated” as Kabaili raiders.

Noted academician Dr Hamida Nayeem while speaking during the function said the enslaved nations have no histories, their histories are written by the occupation and colonial forces. “When a nation becomes free only then can it write its own history and decide who is the hero. Today’s hero can become tomorrow’s devil. During his early life, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah was a hero, but see how we look at him today,” Dr Hamida said.

She said the Kashmir history was being shaped by a huge dominating nation and there was clear demarcation between stooges and those people fighting for the rights of people. “The state machinery has manufactured and concocted our history,” Dr Hamida said, adding the Kashmiris have not been able to write their own history.

“We have produced great scholars and intellectuals who can be designated as national heroes,” she further said while referring to the names of Lallitaditya, Sheikh-ul-Alam (RA), Lalla Ded, Kalhana and others. Dr Hamida said, “Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah succeeded in weakening the autocratic set-up but committed historical and monumental blunders after which he was designated as the collaborator of India.” According to Dr Hamida, Maqbool Bhatt who challenged the Indian domination didn’t compromise despite being tortured severely. “Dr Aga Shahid Ali despite being an apolitical person had become an international hero and a symbol of Kashmir by writing about anguish of people of Kashmir in his book A country Without Post Office’.”

She further said the academia was in the hands of dominant powers and that is why the Kashmir history wasn’t made the part of curriculum. “We are taught world history, Indian history, but our children know nothing about their own history.” She added that the politicians are misinterpreting the saints and poets of our valley.

Dr Sheikh Showkat Hussain, an academic, said the best way to remember heroes is not through awards but to carry forward the mission for which they tried and died. “Mir Khawaja Abdul Aziz proceeded against the tide and led a miserable life. He didn’t cash on his sacrifices, which has become a trend with present leaders,” he said. Dr Showkat said Pakistani authorities had jailed Mir Abdul Aziz for his critique of “erroneous Kashmir policies after the failure of Operation Gibraltar”. Mir Abdul Aziz and Ghulam Nabi Gilkar were each offered 35 acres of land in Islamabad after their release, but they declined saying that they have to go their homeland when the issue would be resolved.

Trade Union Centre leader Sampat Prakash while speaking on the occasion said, the trade union has played a pivotal role in the ongoing freedom struggle. “We have raised the Kashmir issue at various forums and recently at Indian Social Forum and had been able to highlight it as a disputed territory,” he further said. He said the state is involved in sponsoring the terrorism. “SOG personnel are targeting the tourists and the attempt on the life of High Court Bar Association (HCBA) chairman was also made by these personnel,” he further said. Noted civil rights activist from New Delhi, Gautam Naulakha while delivering his presidential address said, “The history of oppressed and occupied is not written by their own people but is provided by the occupiers and collaborators.”

“National heroes are needed during the struggle as they support and inspire the people during the movement when the chips are down,” he said, “51,288 militants were arrested and tortured; they are also the heroes whom we don’t know and they did not surrender. Only 3800 surrendered.” He said freedom movement was because of the people as they aspired for it.

Greater Kashmir Executive Editor Zahir-ud-Din while speaking on the occasion termed the January 21, 1990 incident as a turning point the history of freedom struggle. While quoting the then governor Jagmohan’s statement, Zahir-ud-Din said the Gaw Kadal massacre was a planned one. “The day Farooq Abdullah resigned, Jagmohan issued a statement saying ‘if any one tried to disturb law and order the card of peace will slip out of my hand’. After Jagmohan’s statement people were expecting that something bad was in the offing. The Gaw Kadal occurred after his statement and turned the struggle into mass movement,” he said adding that from that day the youngsters starting going across the Line of Control.

Zarief Ahmad Zarief, Dr Mubarik Ahmed and Dr Altaf Hussain also paid glowing tributes to Khawaja Abdul Aziz Mir and Rauf Wani for their bravery and valour.

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