Role of Communist couple BPL Bedi and Freda in anti-Maharaja doctrine, “Naya-Kashmir”

In Kashmir, the communist party had a negligible base and drew its support and sustenance mainly from Kashmiri Pandit intellectuals who had a strong tradition of education enabling them to measure new ideological trends and waves shaping out on international arena. The potent and only factor that impeded and nearly stifled the steady growth of communist ideology in Kashmir was the hide-bound Muslim mind, indoctrinated and deeply steeped in narrowness of the spirit shaping out into an absolute abhorrence to everything that is not Islamic.

 

 

Sheikh Abdullah, founder and leader of National Conference, despite his cynical malign and open hatred towards the Pandits, craftily used them to invest his anti-Maharaja campaign with a veneer of secularism and liberal political content. Muslim communists from Lahore and elsewhere descended upon Kashmir to add vigour to the communist ideology by roping in and forming contacts with the leaders of National Conference. The study circles where they flaunted their learning of the Marxist texts and the tactical line pursued by the Communist Party were largely attended by the Kashmiri Pandit converts to Marxism.

 

 

 

 

 

With its agenda of Pakistan as the destiny of Muslims, the Muslim League had emerged on the political scene of India, communally besmeared Ideological content was provided to the National Conference to fight out the Maharaja as representing the decadent feudal system, but not a word was said about the Muslim League as representing the same feudal and parochial interests. The strategy and socio-political framings as chalked out by the Muslim communists from the Punjab for political action was not “the people of Jammu and Kashmir versus British Imperialism” but “the people of Kashmir versus Maharaja Hari Singh”. Fazal Illahi Qurban and Abdullah Safdar pursued the same strategy in Kashmir with trappings of fixation as they felt satisfied that the ends of revolution were better served by pitting the Muslims against the Hindu Maharaja in particular and Hindus in general.

 

When Communists Baba Pyare Lal Bedi with his European wife, Freda Bedi travelled to Kashmir in 1930s from Lahore, the duo got involved in the progressive nationalist movement in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. In the next 10 years, the Bedis played an influential role in Kashmir’s turbulent politics and the defining events of the 1940s. However, the police wanted Freda Bedi to leave Kashmir though she stayed in the Valley in spite of deportation orders and would meet ‘underground Kashmiri nationalists’. Freda’s secret meeting was to pass on messages between National Conference leaders in Lahore and Srinagar.

 

Bedi, the committed Marxist associated with CPI was very influential in Srinagar and became a confidante of Sheikh Abdullah. Bedi’s Kashmir connection started some time in 1936 in Lahore when he was also a coordinator of government policy and author of key speeches. While BPL Bedi claimed that it was he who prevailed upon NC leadership not to join Quit India movement in 1942, he was merely following line of CPI which then had collaboration with British Govt. And National Conference movement had no anti-colonial content, its main objective was to make local Muslims as ruling class. Sheikh Abdullah was using informal alliance with Congress to counter Muslim League and reliance on Communists was to gain leverage against Congress.

 

 

 

In the spring of 1946 when Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah launched the ‘Quit Kashmir Movement’ against the Dogra Maharaja rule, BPL Bedi was in Lahore while Freda Bedi, was in Kashmir. There is no evidence to back this claim that BPL was real author of Naya Kashmir document as is claimed.

 

After passing of Pakistan resolution by Muslim League many princely states felt alarmed about splitting of the country. Maharaja Hari Singh too opened communication channels with NC leadership in early 1940. In early 1943 Maharaja had sent feelers to Sheikh Abdullah, asking him if NC had any concrete programme in mind if they joined administration at some stage.

 

 

Sheikh Abdullah passed on the task to his delegates asking to give it a local flavour with changes in accordance. Renowned lawyer Daniel Latifi performed this task, Freda Bedi typed the manuscript and gave choice for cover illustration. Sheikh Abdullah’s introduction was possibly written by BPL Bedi himself that he gave entire credit for ‘Naya Kashmir’ document to Bedi, which is far from true.

 

How unreal was Naya Kashmir document is best explained by Dr.NN Raina, one of the founders of Communist movement in Kashmir, “One thing that is difficult to understand is that the programme was not produced in a high tide of mass upsurge. On the contrary political activity in 1943-44 had fallen to its lowest ebb when the document was published. Later, it was formally adopted as the goal of the movement in the annual session of NC in 1944 at Mujahid Manzil. The lack of resistance to its adoption at that time can be attributed to the apathy and scepticism of the cadres rather than the high tide of militancy in the state. There was an air of unreality about the whole operation.”

 

 

 

However, of immense political significance was Bedis’ arrival in Kashmir, because they as communists pioneered a new communist Manifesto for Kashmir in the form of New Kashmir document, a pious statement of Marxist cliches, supposed to concretise the goals that were sought to be achieved through the force of a struggle against the Maharaja.

 

The role of two prominent Kashmiri Pandit communists Dr. NN Raina and late Moti Lal Misri was highly laudable in drafting the document, but was diluted and never recognised for their Hindu credentials by the National Conference which was principally a Muslim organisation preserving and battling for the Muslim interests at the expense of other ethnic and religious groups.

 

The document of New Kashmir apparently egalitarian with an accent on minority rights was supposed to pave the way for and establish a rational democratic order. With that end in view the communists organised and held study circles to acquaint the lumpens with the social and political content of the document. Much to their dismay the Sheikh swooped on them, de-legitimised them, got the study circles stopped on the plea that they were propagating communism among the Muslim youth though the fact was that the Muslims by and large detested and shunned communism for its atheistic approach and premise.

 

The Kashmiri Pandit communists glued to the pursuit of guidelines issued out by party bosses deft in doling out cliches and off-ground phantasies were absolutely lacking in Hindu lore and orientation and passed for extreme liberals which trait of theirs was mix-understood, never swallowed and appreciated by orthodox Muslims mired in illiteracy and obscurantism. Liberalism as a cornerstone of Hinduism flaunted in an extremely backward society propped upon the tenets of bigotry encouraged an elusive mutual concourse weakening the resisting barriers that could have saved the Pandits from the Muslim onslaught. The rapport that developed thick and fast in the wake of Nehru's intervention dizzied the Muslims from an oblivion into an identity which till then was a missing quantum.

 

The Pandit communists and many Pandits in National Conference without any commitment to the community, thus rootless, surrendered the will of the community to the Muslim majority and also through their closer inter-face with Muslims appeared to have contributed to the growth of pernicious trends which compromised and diluted the Hindu position of Pandits.