Kashmiri Imamis Protesting Against Genocide in Gilgit-Baltistan
By Dr.Mazhar Naqvi
The emergence of Imami influence in Kashmir can be attributed to Mir Syed Muhammad.
He was worthy son of famous Sufi Mir Syed Ali Hamadani, popularly known as Shah-E-Hamadan
in Kashmir. Mir Syed Ali had arrived in Kashmir in 1393 and remained there for about three years.
He left behind a number of Iranian Sufis and scholars. It is recorded that Mir Syed Muhammad
stayed in Kashmir for more than a decade. Under his influence, Suha Bhatt, the prime minister of
the ruling Sultan, embraced Islam and a number of inhabitants converted to Imami faith.
According to Shaheed-E-Salis Qazi Nurullah Shustari, the arrival of Mir Shamsuddin Iraqi in
Kashmir in 1502 gave further impetus to Mazhab-E-Haqqa. Mir Iraqi was a descendant of seventh
Imam Musa Kazim besides being a disciples of Shah Qasim, son of Syed Muhammad Nur Bakhsh.
He was an expert in Nur Bakhshiya teachings based on love and devotion to Hazrat Ali and
Ahle-Bait-E-Athar. He was assisted in propagating the message of Hazrat Ali and his successors
by another prominent Sufi of Kashmir Baba Ali Najjar. Mirza Haidar Doghlat, who was asked to
carry out an expedition into Kashmir in 1540 by Mughal emperor Humayun mentions:
“The people of Kashmir were [formerly] all Hanafi, but in
the reign of Fath Shah, the father of this Sultan Nadir (Nazuk) , a man of the
name of Shams came from Talish in Iraq who gave himself out as a Nur Bakhshi…….It
appears that during this period, the Imamis of Kashmir preferred to call
themselves Nur Bakhshis.”
In 1591,
Qazi Nurullah Shustari was sent to Kashmir to look into the complaints about revenue administration. He reported, according
to Abul Fazl, as follows: “Most of the
soldiers (there), for example the group (giroh) of Duna, Magriyan (Magre) and
Dangar (Wankar?) etc. are totally Imamis . In the city (Srinagar), the
inhabitants of Muhallas (quarters) Hasanabad and Zadibal are all Imamis. The
tomb and hospice (khanqah) of Mir Shams (Shamsuddin) Iraqi are situated in the
latter (Zadibal) quarter. Likewise, among the progeny of Baba Ali (Najjar), a
khalifa of Mir Shams and his disciples (murid), a very large number are Imamis.
Among the qasbas (towns) of that place (Kashmir) , qasba Shihabuddinpur is one
of the best, and all the inhabitants are followers of Imams. Among the
parganas, the inhabitants of pargana Basuka, comprising 208 villages, are all Imamis.
In other parganas (also), there are other villages whose inhabitants are also Imami,
but their details are still awaited and not (at the moment) known.”
Qazi
Nurullah then goes on to discuss two other neighboring regions the Tibet-i Buzurg (Laddakh) and Tibet-i
Khurd (Baltistan).He mentions “ while the
former was predominantly non-Muslim, the latter was under the Imami influence.
Since the said Mir Shams reached Tibet,
the inhabitants of this place i.e. the rulers, soldiers and the peasants have
embraced the Imamia faith….. Although they live in the vicinity of Empire of
India (Saltanat-i Hindustan) they recite the Khutba in the name of the
(Safavid) rulers of Iran.”
Qazi has
attributed the growth of Imamia faith in Kashmir to endeavors of Syed Raju bin
Syed Hamid-Al-Hussaini of Bukhara. He
further mentions that a large number of
Bukhari Syeds had migrated to India along with mystic Syed Jalal Bukhari
Makhdum Jahaniya . In India, they
settled in various cities like Multan, Lahore, and Delhi. They followed
life of dissimulation to protect their interests.. It was Syed Raju who
initiated a movement against this policy of dissimulation and exhorted Imamis to openly declare their faith and remain busy
in promoting the Imami teachings.
The report
of Qazi Shustari reveals as to how quickly Imami faith had spread in Kashmir
since the days of Shah-e-Hamadan. The views of Qazi is further authenticated by
Firishta and Emperor Jahangir. Farishta writes “according to reports received
from 'highly educated travelers, the Kashmiri peasants were Hanafi, while the
majority of the soldiers were Imami. Farishta also mentions Imami influence
over this region but perhaps confuses Laddakh with Baltistan, saying: “The friendship with Kashmiri soldiers has
made the ruler of Laddakh, who is a neighbor of Kashmiris, such a fanatical Imami
that if a stranger happens to visit his country and does not curse the
anti-Ahle-Bait elements, they turn him out of Laddakh. The Chaks claim that Mir
Shamsuddin Iraqi was an Imami and his contemporary heretics and rulers became his
disciples and as per his orders recited the Khutba in the name of the Twelve
(Imams).”
By the middle of 16th century, Chaks or Tschaks
who had professed Imami faith under the influence of Mir Iraqi were able to ascend
the throne of Kashmir. The Chaks were brave and good soldiers and it was
because of their patriotism and martial spirit that the Mughals had to wait a
hundred years after conquering India to lay their hands on Kashmir. The first
of the Chaks was Badshah Ghazi Chak.
He was a wise and able ruler. In him, after a long time, Kashmir got
a stable and efficient administration. Badshah Yaqub Chak was the last of the Chaks and last
independent Muslim King of Kashmir.
Jahangir,
who was declared king of Hindustan after Akbar’s death in 1605, too mentions about
Nur Bakshi order but says that majority
of Kashmiri soldiers were Imamia. However, according to him, the merchants and
artisans in Kashmir were mostly not professing Imamia faith. Things did not
remain rosy for Imamis in Kashmir for long. Their persecution started after
occupation of Kashmir by Mughals. In subsequent years , followers of Ahle-Bait
had to pass through the most atrocious period of their history. Plunder, loot, massacres
and attacks on Imambaras literally devastated the community. History records 10
such massacres in 1548, 1585, 1635, 1686, 1719, 1741, 1762, 1801, 1830 and 1872.Such
was the reign of terror that the community once again went into dissimulation to
protect their lives. Village after village disappeared, with community members
either migrating to safer places in north Indian cities or dissolving in the
majority faith.
During Dogra rule, Imamis remained by large and secure and
they openly professed their faith. Dogra Kings even patronized Muharram
ceremonies. The independent India also allowed Imamis to freely profess their
faith without any restriction, and Ashura
is a observed as a national holiday. However, some degree of persecution
remains in Kashmir
region because of ban on Ashura Procession. But
this persecution is nothing as compared to ongoing atrocities being committed
on followers of twelve Imams and Sufism in Gilgit –Baltistan in Pak occupied Kashmir.
Anti-Imami militants have outsmarted every one and killed Imamis in the most
barbaric manners since 1988.The history of persecution is simply repeating
itself in Gilgit-Baltistan as admirers of Ahle-Bait have no other option but to
leave their motherland in the same manner as was witnessed during the Mughal period.
(References available on request)
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