Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad

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Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad (1907–1972) was an Indian politician belonging to the

Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad was born in 1907 in a lower middle class family in the Safakadal area of Srinagar (in the then princely state of Jammu and Kashmir). His father, Abdul Ghaffar Bakshi, was said to have been unemployed. Bakshi had six siblings, four brothers and two sisters.^[2]

He was educated at C.M.S Tyndale Biscoe School upto eighth grade, which was considered a reasonable qualification at that time. He started his career as a school teacher in Christian missionary schools in Skardu and Leh. He was exposed to the ideas of Indian National Congress and Mahatma Gandhi during this time. Due to family pressure, he returned to Srinagar and got married. Later he served in the Kashmir branch of the All India Spinners' Association and as a salesman in a Khadi store. He earned the epithet of "Kashmiri Gandhi" for his calls to boycott British goods.^[3]

Politics in the princely state

In 1927 Bakshi joined

By 1938, people of all communities had joined the demand for responsible government, which had spread all over the state and the Muslim Conference's name was altered to National Conference. Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad worked underground during this period, keeping a step ahead of the state police. In 1946, during the "Quit Kashmir" movement, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad escaped to British India when a warrant was issued for his arrest. He visited many places, mobilizing public opinion in favour of the Kashmir agitation. After Mahatma Gandhi's visit to Kashmir in August 1947 the warrant against him was withdrawn and he returned home after seventeen months.

Politics

On 30 October 1947,

In August 1953, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah was dismissed and arrested, and Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad became prime minister of the state and also president of the National Conference by majority vote of the State Cabinet. The famous Kashmir Conspiracy Case against Abdullah and others was started during his tenure.

Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad proved to be an able administrator and is remembered as the "Architect of Modern Kashmir" because of his constructive work in the state. He set Kashmir on the road to progress, gave a practical shape to the ideal of "Naya Kashmir", and earned fame and goodwill at home and outside Kashmir. He had a unique knack of establishing a direct rapport with people at grass-root level land gained tremendous popularity among people of all regions.

On the political front, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad had to face a stiff challenge from the

In May 1963, after the loss of three Parliamentary

The eleven years of the Bakshi's tenure have been the longest continuous stint by any prime minister or chief minister and are generally acknowledged as a period of stability in the state's post-independence history.^[citation needed] Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad had steadfastly resisted any attempt to undermine Jammu and Kashmir's special status within the Union of India.

In the opposition (1964–1965)

In 1964 Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad headed the opposition to the government of Chief Minister Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq. In the late summer of the same year the majority of the legislators compelled him to move a vote of no-confidence against the government but he was arrested and detained under the Defence of India Rules despite the support of the majority of MLA's in the State Assembly which was prorogued by the governor. Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad was released on health grounds in December. In June 1965 he made an announcement that he had decided to retire from politics.

Indian Parliament (1967–1971)

In 1967 Bakshi was elected to the Lok Sabha on a National Conference ticket defeating the ruling Congress nominee, Ali Mohammed Tariq, by a big margin. He remained a member of the Lok Sabha till 1971.

Death

Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad died on 9 July 1972.

References

Bibliography

• Das Gupta, Jyoti Bhusan (1968), Jammu and Kashmir, Springer,
  ISBN 978-94-011-9231-6
• Kanjwal, Hafsa (2017), Building a New Kashmir: Bakshi Ghulam Muhammad and the Politics of State-Formation in a Disputed Territory (1953-1963) (Thesis), The University of Michigan,
  hdl:2027.42/138699
• Hussain, Shahla (2021), Kashmir in the Aftermath of the Partition, Cambridge University Press,
  ISBN 9781108901130
• Puri, Balraj (2015), "Jammu and Kashmir", in Myron Wiener (ed.), State Politics in India, Princeton University Press, pp. 215–246,
  ISBN 978-1-4008-7914-4
• Wani, Aijaz Ashraf (2019), What Happened to Governance in Kashmir?, Oxford University Press India,
  ISBN 978-0-19-909715-9

• "Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed- A Life Sketch". www.kashmirnetwork.com. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
• Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed: Biography, Kashmirnetwork.com, retrieved 26 March 2019.