Book: Kashmir: from 1947 to 1977

Author: Sanaullah Bhat

Translated by: Mohd Tahir Ganie

Chapter16: Peoples’ Convention: A Prelude to New Developments

(pp. 147-168)
Following the negotiations with different leaders, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah
returned to Kashmir on 8th May. After his arrival in Srinagar, Sheikh Muhammad
Abdullah proposed an all-parties convention—which was named as the Kashmir
Peoples Convention. Even though Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah appeared singularly
firm on his stance that the Kashmir issue can only be resolved with a consent of
India, Pakistan, and the Kashmiri leaders—i.e., the three parties—but there was also
a covert attempt underway to find an internal solution, and the Peoples’ Convention
was part of that process.
The question that which leaders should be invited to the Peoples’ Convention became
a source of disagreement for two months; and meanwhile, on 18 June 1968, the
Indian Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi landed in Kashmir. Here, on 20 June, she
inaugurated a session of the National Integration Council, in which all prominent
leaders of India participated.
Sheikh Abdullah and his companions were also invited to the session but they didn’t
participate.
In the last week of June, the list of possible gentlemen who would be invited to the
Peoples’ Convention was agreed upon. Sheikh sahib was elected as the president of
the Steering Committee of the Peoples’ Convention and Prem Nath Bazaz was made
its Convener, and the leaders of different opinions, who belonged to Jammu and
Kashmir regions, were invited to it. Those who were invited for the participation
included the Chief Minister Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq, former Prime Minister
Bakhshi Ghulam Muhammad, Pandit Prem Nath Dogra, Syed Mir Qasim etc.
Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq and Mir Qasim turned down the invitation. However
other leaders, which included Bakhshi Ghulam Muhammad, accepted it. In relation
to calling the Convention, the people’s response was scarcely welcoming, and they
were getting a feeling that the leader of their Movement was deviating from his stance.
Consequently, in Srinagar and other parts of the Valley, voices of opposition began
to rise against the Convention, and the students and youth started a sort of agitation.

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The state administration used force to suppress this agitation, and it arrested many
people, who were sent to jail.
Sometime later of this, on 10 October 1968, the Peoples’ Convention commenced in
Srinagar’s historic building Mujahid Manzil. To inaugurate the Convention, Mr. Jai
Prakash Narayan had arrived in Srinagar on 10 October 1968. Before the start of the
Convention, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah had declared in one of his statements that
the Chief Minister Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq’s decision to not participate in the
Convention was regretful, and said that the Convention might prove a new
experiment in bringing new phase of understanding in the state. Some 250 delegates
participated in the Convention. And in his inaugural speech, while Mr. Jai Prakash
Narayan quite significantly acknowledged that the Kashmir dispute existed,
concurrently, he also offered this suggestion that since the situation has altogether
changed, Kashmiri leaders ought to bring a change in their thinking and approach
as well.
The next day, when Mr. Narayan announced at the Hazuri Bagh public rally that the
plebiscite demand had become obsolete and hence Kashmiri leaders should find a
new way, protests erupted against him in the rally. As a result, Sheikh Muhammad
Abdullah, who had accompanied Mr. Narayan to the rally, had to intervene, and he
declared that no power in the world can keep Kashmiris from their just and basic
right. He also said that Azadi [freedom] is not given in charity, it has to be snatched
and we shall definitely achieve this right of ours. It developed a kind of hiatus at the
rally. The next day, Mr. Jai Prakash Narayan told the newspaper correspondents at
the Kashmir Press Club: “Plebiscite or restoring the pre-1953 position is not possible
now. However, I am trying to initiate a dialogue between the Kashmiri leaders and
the Government of India so that a proper solution to this issue could emerge within
the Indian Union’s constitutional framework, and the Peoples’ Convention can prove
substantially helpful in that regard.”
The pro-Plebiscite elements within the Peoples’ Convention adopted a hard approach.
Those Azad Kashmir delegates, who had been invited to the Convention couldn’t
come; however, two or three Mirpuri people from London took part as the self-
appointed representatives.
In the Convention, to resolve the Kashmir issue, proposals, alternative proposals,
and counter-proposals kept being presented: the eighteen proposals in favor of India,
the sixteen in favor of Kashmir’s self-determination, the six in favor of letting Kashmir
be under the UN supervision, and the eleven in favor of merging Kashmir with
Pakistan were presented. Among those proposals which were in favor of India, one

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was of Bakhshi Ghulam Muhammad and the four were presented by those Muslims
from the Valley who were associated with the ruling Congress party. Other thirteen
proposals, which were in favor of India, belonged to Dogras of Jammu. Although the
organizers of the Convention didn’t formally announce its failure, it ended up without
any tangible results.
At the end of the Convention, it was said that Sheikh Abdullah would, following the
consultations in light of the Convention’s report with the Indian authorities and the
President of Pakistan Muhammad Ayub Khan, announce date of the next session of
the Convention. When I asked the Chief Minister Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq why he
didn’t join the Convention, he made this strange disclosure that “These people in
New Delhi are strange creatures! During conversations with us, they oppose the
convention, but on the other hand, they are engaging with its organizers in hatching
political intrigues. If Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah has made up his mind to regain
the chair, then I am ready to voluntarily leave the post. But all affairs should be
clear-cut. I am not in favor of telling people one thing but internally deciding matters
with different objectives. I want that Sheikh sahib enter the national mainstream,
and if he does that, then I will be most happy.”
The Kashmiri Muslims felt disappointed with the Convention and the debates within
it, and they became suspicious of the leadership’s intentions. Even strong differences
came to the fore among those prominent leaders who joined the Convention; and for
two days, the Steering Committee members spared over the joint statement, which
was supposed to be issued at the conclusion of the event. That is why no statement
could be issued. However, on the last day, two resolutions were accepted, one of
which was presented by Maulvi Muhammad Farooq and in that resolution, it was
proposed that for Kashmir such a solution should be found which could be
acceptable to the people of the state. And the second resolution was presented by
Moti Lal Misri Advocate, in which it was proposed that attempts should be made to
improve the India-Pakistan relations.
During the same time, when Mr. Jai Prakash Narayan went back from Srinagar to
New Delhi, he suggested to Delhi that concerning the People’s Convention Sheikh
Abdullah should be allowed to travel to Pakistan to meet President Muhammad Ayub
Khan. New Delhi rejected Mr. Narayan’s suggestion. However, it showed willingness
to have negotiations with Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah on internal settlement. Mr.
Narayan informed Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah about it. Afterwards, the Union
Minister and the special emissary of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Mohammad Yunus Saleem
arrived in Srinagar and had parleys with Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah; on account

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of which, on 5 November 1968, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah sent his right-hand
Mirza Afzal Beg to Delhi. Mr. Beg reached Delhi where Mr. Narayan was also present,
and he had lengthy discussions with Mr. Narayan and the leaders of the Indian
government, in which certain matters were settled. After the talks, Mr. Muhammad
Afzal Beg returned to Srinagar and updated Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah about the
whole situation.
Therefore, the State Chief Minister, Mr. Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq, was summoned
to Delhi and there were also discussions with him. On his return from Delhi, Mr.
Sadiq told me: “There is something cooking up between Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah
and his companions and New Delhi, and if everything has been settled among the
parties, then the leadership of the Plebiscite Front is going to accept the accession of
Kashmir with India. And may be as a compensation for this “sacrifice” they will get
the power.” In Kashmir, this pervasive state of dilemma, uncertainty, and misgivings
were becoming a source of disappointment for the people. Thus, to alleviate this
general disappointment, a session of the Plebiscite Front’s working committee was
summoned on 17 November, in which, concerning the Kashmir issue to be resolved
through a plebiscite, a resolution was passed.
On 8 December 1968, a session of the Steering Committee of the Kashmir Peoples’
Convention was summoned in Srinagar; which could continue for only two hours. In
the first week of the December, the Foreign Minister of Britain visited Delhi and he
again offered intercession on the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan, but
Delhi declared it as unacceptable. The British Foreign Minister also visited
Rawalpindi. Before leaving for Rawalpindi, he met Mr. Raj Gopal Acharya in
Madras—and after this meeting, Mr. Raj Gopal Acharya offered a suggestion in his
weekly newspaper “Swarajye” that let Kashmir be put under the international control
for ten years and after the ten years a fair and just solution be found about it.
Afterwards, on 2 January 1969, the Iranian emperor came to Delhi. He stayed for
ten days, and he talked on mediating between India and Pakistan on the issue of
Kashmir. But he didn’t succeed.
Here, on the political front, a complete silence prevailed in Kashmir, and Sheikh
Muhammad Abdullah confined his activities to speaking on organizational affairs at
Auqaf-e-Islamia and, sometimes, the Plebiscite Front gatherings. On the other hand,
in Pakistan, the people rose against President Muhammad Ayub Khan, due to which
the situation in Pakistan turned uncertain, and concurrently, a news arrived that
Chinese and Russian forces were gathering on the Kashmir’s northern borders. On
25 March 1969, President Muhammad Ayub Khan resigned and he handed over the

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reins of the country to the Chief of Army Staff General Yahiya Khan. These
developments stimulated responses in Kashmir in that that being disappointed the
Plebiscite Front announced to take part in the State Assembly elections, which
decision New Delhi seemingly welcomed. The Front’s decision didn’t inspire any
favorable response from the Kashmiri people. But despite that, the Plebiscite Front
requested the Chief Election Commissioner of India that it should be given a chance
to prepare for contesting the bye-elections to the five vacant Assembly seats and for
that reason the by-elections should be postponed for three months. The Chief
Election Commissioner set this condition that the Plebiscite Front announce its
acceptance of Kashmir’s accession with Indian and only after such announcement
can its request for election postponement be considered. Due to this, the Plebiscite
Front was compelled to stay away from the elections.
Despite getting this response from the Chief Election Commissioner, Sheikh
Muhammad Abdullah sent Mirza Afzal Beg and Khawaja Ghulam Muhammad Shah
to Delhi, so that discussions on this matter could take place and a way to participate
in the elections could be found. The State Chief Minister Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq
was also summoned to New Delhi. Despite the talks and insistence, the Plebiscite
Front leaders returned empty handed, and the by-elections took place without
participation of the Plebiscite Front.
On 5 May 1969, Dr. Zakir Hussain, the President of India, suddenly died. On hearing
this news, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah and his companions went to Delhi and
participated in Hussain’s last rites. On this occasion, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah
again had a meeting and discussions with Mrs. Indira Gandhi and the deputy Prime
Minister, Mr. Desai; besides, he also had talks regarding Kashmir with the Pakistan
Air Chief, Noor Khan, who had come to attend Zakir Hussain’s funeral. But, these
talks didn’t result in any tangible outcome. After returning from New Delhi, the
Plebiscite Front leadership decided to participate in the panchayat elections. On 15
May, a session of the Steering Committee of the Peoples’ Convention took place, in
which it was decided that a “new path” would be found. Immediately after this
decision, the Home Minister of India, Mr. Chauhan, arrived in Srinagar on 24 May
and he had discussions with the Governor and the Chief Minister of Kashmir about
the Front’s shifting tendency.
On the other hand, America renewed its efforts to get the Kashmir dispute resolved
between India and Pakistan. Therefore, the then Secretary of State, Mr. Rogers, first
arrived in Delhi and then went to Rawalpindi. But New Delhi rejected the American
proposal and Mr. Rogers returned unsuccessful. In the meantime, a session of the

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Plebiscite Front’s General Council was called in Srinagar and in there it was decided
that the Front would take part in the elections of the democratic institutions. While
this was happening domestically, Russia, after the unsuccessful bid by the American
Secretary of State, renewed its efforts to get the Kashmir issue resolved. So, on 30
May 1969, the Russian Prime Minister Mr. Kosygin went to Rawalpindi, where he
presented a new formula on the Kashmir issue to the Pakistani leaders. The basis of
this formula was to soften the borders between India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
But such proposal Pakistan couldn’t accept, and the Russian Prime Minister’s
mission failed. And following this unsuccessful Russian attempt, America again
attempted to resolve the Kashmir question. In relation to these efforts, the American
President, Mr. Nixon, carrying a new formula, arrived in Delhi on 31 July 1969, and
he had thorough discussions with the Prime Minister and other leaders of India.
However, New Delhi also turned down the American proposal. After New Delhi,
President Nixon went to Pakistan and there also he had discussions with the
Pakistani leaders on these proposals. But since India had already rejected these
proposals, so it was immaterial whether Pakistan accepted them or not.
After President Nixon’s failure, the Plebiscite Front went further ahead with its efforts
to make amends with New Delhi, and when the prominent members of the party
came to know of this, most of them started opposing it; and some people, who were
led by Munshi Muhammad Ishaq—who, besides being an important figure in the
party, was its two-time deputy President—came to open in opposition. On 7 August
1969, they held a press conference in Srinagar and announced that the Plebiscite
Front leadership was turning away from the basic position and they seek to have
compromise with India. On this, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah and Mirza Afzal Beg
declared Munshi Muhammad Ishaq and his associates as disloyal and dishonest and
they were kicked out of the party. It appeared that since New Delhi was not yet fully
ready for an internal settlement, so the Plebiscite Front leaders didn’t want to
explicitly announce their turning from their basic position yet.
After Haji Muhammad Ishaq’s statement that the Front’s leadership was deviating
from the basic position, the student and youth protests erupted in Srinagar and
other parts of the Valley; very intense protests occurred in Srinagar, in which heavy
use of stone-pelting, tear-gas shelling, and baton-charging happened. To control
these protests, the Sadiq government made large scale arrests and used excessive
force. In Srinagar, 130 students were arrested, and the number of arrested people
was even higher in other parts of the Valley. The student agitation spread throughout
the Valley, and the government had to impose 24-hours curfew not only in Srinagar

6
but also in Sopore and Baramulla. The popular anger and dissatisfaction was
expressed through a powerful hartal [general strike]; people joined the protests, and
besides Srinagar, large scale protest marches were taken out in Islamabad, Sopore,
Bandipora, Baramulla, and Handwara.
On 23 August 1969, strong protests happened in Srinagar, and to control them, the
armed police used excessive force. In Habba Kadal, live ammunition was used which
killed a person on the spot and injured dozen others. A 24-hours curfew was enforced
in the inner-city areas; people had turned violent. Attempt to torch the Zaina Kadal
bazaar was made.
But, ultimately, the Sadiq government, with the help of the Plebiscite Front and other
leaders, suppressed this agitation. In Sopore, the curfew remained in force for
complete 92 hours, whereas in Srinagar, it remained imposed for a week. The
situation deteriorated so much that the Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi,
had to come to Srinagar herself. She stayed in Srinagar for 4 days and suggested her
party’s state leaders that they try forge a concord with Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah,
which suggestion the state Congress leader Syed Mir Qasim readily supported. But,
the State Chief Minister Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq was not ready for this.
During this time, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, in order to keep himself busy in
non-political activities, made a plan for construction of Dargah Haratbal and for that
he started a fund raising campaign; concurrently, he also kept his contacts with New
Delhi intact. So, when on the first September 1969, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan arrived
in Delhi, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah also went there and had discussion with him
on the Kashmir issue. He invited him to Kashmir also. However, when Badshah Khan
came to know that the Kashmiri people were not favorably disposed towards him and
he wouldn’t be welcomed, he didn’t come to Kashmir. However, on 11 October 1969,
Khan sahib said in an interview with newspaper correspondents: “I want for
Kashmiris to have same rights within India which I want for Pathans to have within
Pakistan. However, Kashmiri people also should be consulted about it.” On this
occasion, through joint efforts of Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan and Mr. Jai Prakash
Narayan, a new plan of reconciliation between Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah and New
Delhi was presented. Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah expressed his willingness to have
discussion on this new plan, and New Delhi promised to have a serious look at it.
This plan, too, was based on the proposals of rapprochement between Sheikh
Muhammad Abdullah and New Delhi, and for this, the consent of Kashmir’s Chief
Minister Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq was also secured. However, on this issue, there
were disagreements between the Chief Minister Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq and Syed

7
Mir Qasim. Syed Mir Qasim also had support among a large constituency in New
Delhi and this constituency wanted Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq to be replaced by
Syed Mir Qasim as the Chief Minister. But the Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi
kept weighing the pros and cons of this big step; and the actual and real reason for
that was that she was displeased with Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. She had this
apprehension that even if rapprochement with Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah
happened, it wouldn’t be long lasting. Mrs. Indira Gandhi was herself facing a strong
discord within her own party, and on account of this internal dissension, All India
Congress split into two parts. One part came under the leadership of Mrs. Gandhi
and the other part was taken under the command by Mr. Morarji Desai and his
associates.
The internal situation in Kashmir and the schism in the ruling Congress provided,
to a large extent, respite to the Plebiscite Front leaders. But people weren’t happy
about it. Besides, the State Chief Minister Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq’s position
regarding New Delhi was also hardening; the differences between him and Syed Mir
Qasim were deepening. The Indian Home Ministry was supporting Syed Mir Qasim
such that when the India’s Home Minister Mr. Chauhan came to Srinagar to try
resolve the Sadiq-Qasim feud, he and the Chief Minister Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq
had heated argument during their discussions at the Guest House. Mr. Chauhan
told Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq: “Differences between you and Syed Mir Qasim are
unacceptable to New Delhi. These differences aren’t in the national interest. So, you
should honorably compromise with Mir Qasim.” Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq was
already upset. On Mr. Chauhan’s this advice, which was synonymous with orders,
he lost his cool and said to Mr. Chauhan: “You are the Home Minister, if you want
to talk on the issue of law and order, I’m ready. On party matters, I cannot have talk
with you.” This made Chauhan angry and he said to Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq:
“You better listen to me, otherwise you should resign.” On this, Ghulam Muhammad
Sadiq stormed out of the room, and when he was coming down the stairs, his feet
trembled. Overcome with indignant anger, he stomped heavily towards his car, and
jumping inside, he went back to his residence. Mr. Chauhan, afterwards, had an
hour and half long meeting with Syed Mir Qasim. The next day, he left for New Delhi.
During those days, fire incidents were occurring on a large scale and no one, whether
in rural or urban areas, was feeling safe. These fire incidents were happening by
design, but the government was strictly drawing a veil over it. On the other hand,
when Mrs. Indira Gandhi, in the wake of the Congress split, consolidated her
authority, and with her support, Mr. V. V. Giri was elected as the new President of

8
India, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah travelled to New Delhi on 21 January to start
negotiations with the new President on the issue of Kashmir. During his stay in New
Delhi, Sheikh sahib also had several meetings with Mrs. Indira Gandhi and Mr. Y.B.
Chauhan. Regarding these meetings, Mr. Afzal Beg said: “We are talking about the
upcoming elections.”; and their wish was that they should be permitted to take part
in the elections. On this matter, the President of the Plebiscite Front also had a long
discussion with the Chief Election Commissioner of India, Mr. Verma. The Plebiscite
Front was simultaneously being adopting two stances. However, to remove the
impression among the people that the Plebiscite Front was turning away from its
basic stance, the Front’s general secretary, Khawaja Ghulam Muhammad Shah,
issued a statement, in which he openly announced that “The Plebiscite Front wants
to take part in the elections so that the Kashmir issue could be resolved with the
consent of the Kashmiri people.”
On the other side, Pakistan was keeping a watch on this whole situation. Therefore,
on 29 January 1970, the Pakistani President General Muhammad Yahiya Khan sent
a letter to the Indian Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi in which he said that the
Kashmir dispute can only be resolved on the basis of the Tashkent Declaration and
Pakistan was not ready to accept anything else. In Kashmir, the Plebiscite Front
announced its partaking in the election campaigns, but the people didn’t show much
support. When Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah sensed this, he held a press conference
in New Delhi in which he announced that “I cannot turn away in any way from the
Kashmiri people’s issue of the right to self-determination. In the view of the sacrifices
given by the Kashmiri people for their right, I cannot give up their just demand.” The
Front’s decision to take part in the election campaign had provoked a strong reaction
from the other side of the Ceasefire Line and the speculations ran rife there that the
Plebiscite Front was turning away from its basic stance. Consequently, in February
1970, the forces movements on the Ceasefire Line increased and the armed
skirmishes started to occur. In the meantime, two emissaries from Azad Kashmir
stealthily came to Srinagar and here they had talks with Maulvi Muhammad Farooq
at the Mirwaiz Manzil, and he was advised to try keep the Kashmiri people away from
the elections. So, on 20 February 1970, Maulvi Farooq called for election boycott
during his speech at a rally in Jama Masjid Srinagar. This announcement from
Maulvi Muhammad Farooq gave a further jolt to the Plebiscite Front’s political
position. Just a day after Maulvi Farooq’s announcement, Mrs. Indira Gandhi invited
Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, who was in Delhi at that time, for a lunch. On this
occasion, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah and Mrs. Indira Gandhi had a two and half

9
hours long discussion and both reached a consensus on the need to facilitate
Peoples’ Convention to have a tangible outcome. Therefore, the Government of India
also agreed with the proposal that Pakistan-based Kashmiri delegates should be
allowed to come to Srinagar for the second session of the Peoples’ Convention so that,
in Kashmir, the Convention’s decision could become politically significant. Moreover,
those officials of the Plebiscite Front, who had been incarcerated, were being
gradually released. Mrs. Indira Gandhi wanted to kill two birds with one stone: on
the one hand, Sheikh Abdullah was, in the negotiations, being motivated to abjure
his basic demands, and, on the other hand, a no-confidence motion had been
initiated against the Chief Minister Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq in the Jammu and
Kashmir Assembly. Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq was well aware about the whole
situation. Using his powers, he adjourned the Assembly session sine die. When the
Assembly session was postponed, the Chief Minister told me on telephone in the
same night: “Now, for New Delhi, only two ways are left. One, that I am dismissed
the same way as Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah was in 1953 and, two, that the current
Assembly is dissolved and the Governor rule is imposed.” The next day, Mrs. Indira
Gandhi sent for Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq and Syed Mir Qasim to come to Delhi,
where Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah was already present.
Sensing an opportunity, the Plebiscite Front also presented its demand for the
dissolution of the Assembly. This demand made the Assembly members uneasy
because they hadn’t been elected by the people and they didn’t have any hope that
they would be elected again. On 16 March, thirty-two members met the Prime
Minister Mrs. Gandhi in New Delhi; these Assembly members were led by Syed Mir
Qasim. When all these people presented Mrs. Gandhi a proposal that they should be
allowed to elect a new party leader in place of the incumbent Chief Minister Ghulam
Muhammad Sadiq, Mrs. Gandhi rejected their proposal. Congress’s Mr. Abdul Ghani
Lone, who was then supporting Syed Mir Qasim and was one of the 32 Assembly
members, told me after returning from Delhi that on their suggestion that they
should be permitted to elect a new party leader, the Prime Minister Mrs. Gandhi
severely humiliated them. And when Mrs. Gandhi told them that she knew how you
all got elected to become the members of the Assembly, a silence descended on the
meeting and “we were awfully ashamed!”. Lone sahib told me that Mrs. Indira Gandhi
gave them a severe dressing-down and said: “Whom you represent? Who among you
is the one who has been elected through a people’s vote to become a member of the
Assembly? So, it is up to us to see who stays as the Chief Minister in Kashmir. You
all, go back the way you came.” Therefore, disappointed, these 32 Assembly members

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returned back. Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq and Syed Mir Qasim also had separate
meetings with Mrs. Indira Gandhi. On their return, when the State Assembly session
was summoned again in Jammu on 28 March 1970, a vote of confidence secured
Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq’s leadership and the budget for the new financial year
was passed.
Following these events, the Plebiscite Front intensified its election campaign in the
Valley and the people were told that the participation in the elections should be
understood as a part of the larger effort to resolve the Kashmir issue. The Front
leaders also started off a series of discussions with the Chief Minister Ghulam
Muhammad Sadiq, and at the same time they announced that they would partake
in the local bodies elections. Due to this announcement by the Plebiscite Front, the
student and youth in Srinagar started a kind of agitation, and incidents of rioting
and vandalism ensued. About these incidents of rioting, a government spokesperson
told the press in Srinagar that the government had received reports of wide-scale
cases of rioting. The spokesperson revealed that the fire incidents that had taken
place in different parts of the Valley had set ablaze 2500 houses, and several villages
had been completely burnt down. In the meantime, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah,
who had returned from New Delhi to Srinagar just 10 days before, went to New Delhi
again on 17 April 1970. There, he again started negotiations with the Prime Minister
Mrs. Indira Gandhi and other leaders. Following these negotiations, it was revealed
that the Government of India had gone back on its word that it would permit people
from Pakistan or Azad Kashmir to travel to Srinagar for attending the next session
of the Peoples’ Convention. However, back from New Delhi, Sheikh Muhammad
Abdullah, while starting the election campaign for the Plebiscite Front in Doda,
announced that the Plebiscite Front’s participation in the elections had no connection
with the basic issue of Kashmir; that this issue could only be resolved on the basis
of the right to self-determination.
Afterwards, on 13 May in Srinagar, under the President-ship of Sheikh Muhammad
Abdullah, a meeting of the Steering Committee of the Kashmir Peoples’ Convention
took place, in which it was said that Kashmir’s political situation had deteriorated.
Hence, the current government ought to be dismissed. Around the same time, on 26
May 1970, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah also summoned an all-parties conference
at Mujahid Manzil, in which mutual consultations on the internal situation of
Kashmir took place. After this conference, it was informed that in the on-going fire
incidents more than 3000 houses have burnt. A week later, a second complete
session of the Kashmir Peoples’ Convention was also summoned in which different

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and alternative proposals—that were presented from various quarters—for resolving
the issue of Kashmir were brought under discussion. Inaugurating the session,
Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah announced that the objective of this Convention was
to hammer out a unanimous solution to the Kashmir dispute and present that to
India and Pakistan. At the Convention, a document sent by the leaders of Azad
Kashmir was read publicly, in which making Jammu and Kashmir an independent
country was proposed. It was evident from the proceedings of the Convention that a
unanimous solution wouldn’t be found, because there were people of different
ideologies in it. Some people favored joining Kashmir with Pakistan, others pressed
for integrating it with India and yet some advocated keeping Kashmir independent.
In the last session of the Convention, differences on the interpretation of secularism
intensified, and on account of the ideological contradictions, it fractured. And
eventually, the attempt to forge a consensus—which process was named as the
Peoples’ Convention—among the people of diverse opinions, and find a political
solution to the Kashmir issue, didn’t succeed.
After this, on 14 July, the Indian Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi came to Srinagar
and here she held discussions with the government leaders on the internal affairs of
Kashmir. On the second day after Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s arrival, a big protest of
students and youth took place in Srinagar and they violently demonstrated against
curtailing of the civil freedoms and delaying the resolution of the Kashmir issue. The
police resorted to ruthless baton-charge, and besides beating several students, they
arrested dozens of them. Mrs. Gandhi returned to New Delhi and summoned the
Chief Minister and other high-ranking government officers to Delhi. And there,
regarding the internal situation of Kashmir, a new strategy was decided.
Here in the Valley, the agitation of the students and youth spread, and there was
outbreak of public disorders. In the meantime, a former Prime Minister Bakhshi
Ghulam Muhammad dissolved his party National Conference and offered to join the
Congress. Sensing some new changes in the Indian policies, Sheikh Muhammad
Abdullah again went to Delhi on 15 August 1970, where he participated in a
convention named Human Brotherhood—this convention was organized by Mr. Jai
Prakash Narayan. Addressing the Muslims of India in his speech there, Sheikh Sahib
advised them against trying to revive the Muslim League. In this Convention, Mr. Jai
Prakash Narayan was made the president and Sheikh sahib was made the vice-
President—the purpose of this convention was to strengthen the secular forces. On
the other hand, in Kashmir, the Plebiscite Front started preparations for the elections,
and on 23 October 1970, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, during the first election rally

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at Pampore, properly appealed to the people to vote for the Plebiscite Front in the next
elections. Concurrently, Maulvi Muhammad Farooq started a kind of election boycott
campaign. At the international level, the Prime Minister of India Mrs. Gandhi had
consultations, on the issue of Kashmir, with the Russian leaders in Moscow, and the
President of Pakistan Yahiya Khan reached Washington and had discussions with
the President Nixon on this issue. In the Valley, besides the Plebiscite Front, the
Congress also started off its election activities, and the leaders of both parties started
attacking each other from their respective political rallies. The Congress leaders were
saying to the people that at the Plebiscite Front rallies the Front leaders were
continuously reassuring the people that the objective of their struggle was not to
attain the power but to get the referendum implemented! When the discontent grew
among the people, then on 12 November 1970, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah went
to Pulwama, where, at a pubic rally, he said: “Even though I have grown old now,
but you should always remember one thing that till I am alive I will keep fighting for
the truth and justice and for the Kashmiri people’s birth right, the right to self-
determination.” In the same rally, he announced: “I am working on the
reconstruction of Dargah Hazratbal for which I need 5 lakh rupees and I hope that
the people will provide this amount.”
For the upcoming elections, New Delhi was worried. So, it tried to bring Ghulam
Muhammad Sadiq, a former Prime Minister Bakhshi Ghulam Muhammad and Syed
Mir Qasim and all the pro-India leaders together under a united front. On the other
hand, General Yahiya Khan held general elections in Pakistan, due to which the
People’s Party won in the West Pakistan and the Awami League succeeded in the
East Pakistan. These election results didn’t inspire much positive response within
Kashmir, and this apprehension arose that these results could become a cause of
Pakistan’s disintegration. The situation was rapidly changing, and in the whole
subcontinent was spreading tension, uncertainty, and restlessness. What was going
on behind the scenes, no one had the slightest inkling, and all of a sudden was
announced that the Indian Prime Minister was coming to Kashmir. And with that,
the news about dissolution of the Indian Parliament and the mid-term polls started
going around. On 22 December, the Indian Prime Minister flew in a military plan
from New Delhi to Ladakh, where she stayed for a day. And on the day next, she
reached Jammu, where in a press conference, she announced that “Until the
Plebiscite Front does not change its stance, it won’t be allowed to contest elections.”
This announcement was received with certain disappointment by the leaders of the
Plebiscite Front and they announced that “We cannot give up the demand for the

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right to self-determination and we have also decided to contest the election, to which
we stand by.” On 23 December, Mrs. Gandhi came to Srinagar and announced here:
“I am speaking as the Prime Minister of India and this is the opinion of whole India
that we will not tolerate any talk against our territorial integrity. Some people in
Kashmir are saying that they will take an oath of loyalty to the constitution to enter
the Assembly and in the Assembly they will speak of breaking the constitution! We
will not allow this to happen.” She also said that to prevent the Plebiscite Front’s from
contesting the elections, everything that needs to be done will be done.
On Mrs. Gandhi’s return to New Delhi, it was announced that the Indian Lok Sabha
had been dissolved and the elections for it would be held on the first March 1971.
The Plebiscite Front announced its decisions to take part in the parliamentary
elections, and it was also said that the Front’s President Mirza Afzal Beg, Khawaja
Mubarak Shah, and Khawaja Ghulam Muhammad Shah would contest the elections
from the constituencies of, respectively: Islamabad, Baramulla, and Srinagar. Sheikh
Muhammad Abdullah went to New Delhi to talk on the new development. The Chief
Minister Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq was sick and under treatment in a hospital in
Bombay. In the meantime, at sharp 12 noon on 2 January 1971, a dramatic incident
occurred at the Jammu and Kashmir Bank’s Kashmir University branch: a group of
4 uniformed armed youth entered the bank and took possession of all its money. The
uniformed men—apparently as police officers—got 1 lakh rupees at the gun point
from the bank manager, and also abducted the treasurer and the manager. Later,
after travelling a mile or two, the abductors let them go, and the 4 uniformed men
rode the same vehicle back in which they had come, and fled. The bank treasurer
had recognized one of the uniformed youth, because he had been his class fellow in
the college.
When nothing came of Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah’s talks with the Indian leaders,
so he, on 8 January, sat in a plane at the Palam Airport to come to Srinagar. Ten
minutes after his sitting in the plane, its flight to Srinagar was stopped and,
ostensibly, the reason was given that a bomb had been planted in the plane. Later,
mysteriously and significantly, the flight was cancelled without a reason, and the
passengers were told that they can go tomorrow only.

Note:
About author: Sanaullah Bhat was the editor of a weekly newspaper “Kashmir”, which he
founded in 1952 in the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. After being exiled, he started, in 1957,
daily “Aftab”, a popular Urdu newspaper from the Indian-controlled Kashmir. He remained

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its editor till his death in November 2009. Bhat’s book Kashmir: From 1947 to 1977 is a
political history, first published in 1980 by Ali Mohammad and Sons (Srinagar).

About translator: Mohd Tahir Ganie is a doctoral researcher at Dublin City University, Ireland,
where he is researching the Kashmiri youth accounts on the Kashmir conflict.

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