Jalil
Andrabi, Justice Rizvi given Robert Thorpe
Award
K H Khurshid, Srinagar born
president of Azad Kashmir- remembered as
national hero
Srinagar, Jan 1: The annual
Robert Thorpe Award ceremony is the occasion to
remember the Kashmiri heroes who have been
obscured in the pages of repressed histories and
whose contribution to the Kashmiri awakening
hasn’t been allowed to percolate into the
collective consciousness of Kashmiris. This was
the theme of the ceremony organised on 1st
January 2005.
Noted human rights lawyer Jalil
Andrabi and Justice Syed Mustafa Rizvi were
awarded the Robert Thorpe award posthumously for
their services to oppressed Kashmiri nation.
On the occasion Srinagar-born K H
Khurshid, the first elected president of Azad
Kashmir was remembered for his selfless
sacrifice for the people of two Kashmirs.
Distinguished speakers
highlighted the contribution of the three
personalities in the context of the six-decade
long political turmoil in the state.
Parvez Imroz, the President of JKCCS, paid
homage to Jalil Andrabi and complimented his
family for rejecting the compensation offered by
the government. For 11 years the government is
saying that they are unable to trace the
murderer of Jalil Andrabi, Major Avtar Singh,he
said.
Mian Qayoom, president Jammu Kashmir Bar
Association: We have to know why Khurshid Sahib
went into exile, why he visited Kashmir in 1948
and was imprisoned by the authorities here? He
was a multifaceted personality and tried to
portray the suffering of Kashmiris as a
journalist and a politician. Our leaders should
have the gusty determination like him.
Justice Rizvi was the rare face in judiciary who
stood for principles and didn’t flow with the
tide. In 1990 when Jagmohan banned the use of
loudspeakers in mosques, which were dishing out
cries for freedom, Rizvi Sahib restored the use
of loudspeakers and wrote the order himself
after I filed the petition that I wrote at his
residence.
We need people like Jalil today. The division
bench of high court offered his family any
amount of compensation but they declined.
The so called adoption of 550 Kashmiri children
by Pune based Jain Sangathan is a conspiracy to
Indianise Kashmiri children. Jain Sangathan is
the wing of Shiv Sena.
Dr Altaf Hussain: Khurshid Sahib was
academically brilliant and incorruptible, which
is a rare combination in the sub-continent. One
of the important facts mentioned by one speaker
here is that intellectuals were purged from
Kashmir. The lumpen elements in politics here
wanted to get rid of morally upright,
pro-people, and intellectually brilliant people.
It was a measured conspiracy to castrate the
Kashmiri people morally and intellectually. They
wanted Kashmiris to be leadersless but it won’t
work, no matter how hard they try. Khurshid
Sahib was jailed by the authorities here in 1948
for visiting his homeland. One interesting fact
is that he was jailed across too because he
didn’t want shackles on Kashmiris. He wanted
that Kashmiris should decide their fate. Despite
being a barrister, he died a poor man. He never
owned a house. He couldn’t be purchased.
Noor Ahmad Baba, head department of Political
Sciences, Kashmir University: The JKCCS is doing
commendable job and in a way recreating history
where there are many unsung heroes. We need to
give every character in the history his due. How
can one say that in 1947 we gained freedom when
at the same time many Kashmiris were thrown out
of their homeland.
Dr Sheikh Showkat Hussain: The essence of career
of K H Khurshid regarding Kashmir can be summed
up in what he told Field Marshal Ayub Khan was:
he can’t be made sacrificial goats for strategic
interests of your nation.We are in a similar
situation today. Everybody is seeking pretext
for making compromises in the name of strategic
interests of some nation.
He gave up the chair of president of Azad
Kashmir for he wanted Azad Kashmir to be the
base camp for liberation of Kashmir.
G N Hagroo, prominent lawyer: It is unfortunate
that we couldn’t buy the tapes in which the
voice of Jalil Andrabi was recorded in the
interrogation centre because the family of Jalil
had no money to pay those persons who offered
the tapes.
Khurshid Sahib was a figure apart. He died a
poor man and lived in a rented house throughout
his life. Here if someone remains a politician
for two weeks, he makes a fortune. Are our
leaders willing to sacrifice like K H Khurshid.
Zarif Ahmad Zarif, satirist, poet, social
activist: Justice Rizvi Sahib chose the call of
his conscience over everything else.
We are confronting a force that is a beast
behind a human mask. We must be on our guard and
remember those who have been confronting this
beast.
P G Rasool, columnist: It is unfortunate that
history has been obliterated and obfuscated. In
this context the efforts of JKCCS to bring out
the obscure heroes from history is worth
praising. A petty and condemned thief like
Sherwani has been projected as a Kashmiri heros
and I don’t think It would long before the
notorious murderer Kuka Parray is also thrust
upon Kashmiris as hero.
Prof Syed Asad on phone from Mirpur. Khurshid
Sahib not only highlighted the political
struggle of Kashmir but also the interests of
Kashmiris living abroad. He was against the
division of the state or its people.
Arshad Andrabi, who accepted the award on behalf
of his murdered brother Jalil Andrabi said:
Inshallah, the freedom movement would be taken
to its logical conclusion. We are under
occupation because our leaders and people lack
the character despite offering countless
sacrifices. Before his murder, Jalil gave the
photographs of government gunmen, who threatened
to kill him, to then advocate general. The then
IG Police had told BBC correspondent that
government would provide security to Jalil after
the correspondent told him about the threat
perceptions. But only a month later he was
killed.
People who are fighting for us with guns are our
heroes. They die obscure deaths, unsung, in
obscure places.
Zahida, a young girl of Dooru, Islamabad who
embraced death when a soldier tried to rape her,
is our heroine. We have to renew the sentiment
of resistance.
