Kashmir: Unsung Heroes Of The World’s First Labour Movement

 

“Not many people know that the first trade union movement in the world has origins in Kashmir dating back to 1865.“

Iftikhar Gilani 

Across the globe, people will observe Labour Day on May 1, falling on Wednesday this year, to commemorate the protests of 1886 at the Haymarket Square Chicago and express solidarity with workers.

But not many people know that much before this incident, the world’s first organised labour and trade union movement had taken place in the streets in Srinagar — the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir on April 29.

Almost 21 years before the Haymarket incident, weavers and workers associated with shawl weaving took to the streets of Srinagar on April 29, 1865, protesting against high taxes.

At least 28 workers lost their lives and hundreds were injured.

Kashmiri Shawls in history

For over centuries, Kashmiri shawls – soft rugs loosely worn over shoulders – have mesmerized the world receiving accolades from even Napoleon Bonaparte, whose ever-extravagant wife, Josephine, is said to have owned as many as 60 Kashmiri shawls that Napoleon had taken from Turkish treasury in Egypt.

Not only was the Kashmiri Pashmina shawl a high fashion in Europe, where it is better known as Cashmere, and elsewhere, but its high cost had also made it a status symbol.

It is said that Mughal emperors were fond of Pashmina shawls and would often gift them to foreign dignitaries, contributing to their popularity in Europe.

Experts say the history of shawl weaving in the region dates back to ancient times.

Historian Zain-ul-Abideen Rahinuma, while listing many things which Hazrat Khadija brought along with her when she married Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in the year 595, also mentions a Kashmiri shawl.

Rahinuma has written an elaborate profile of Hazrat Khadija and has listed the items she carried in her trousseau.

According to the Treaty of Amritsar of 1846 between the British East India Company and the Dogra ruler, Gulab Singh, the latter was expected to annually give the British government three Pashmina shawls.

Article 10 of the treaty states, “Maharajah Gulab Singh acknowledges the supremacy of the British Government and will in token of such supremacy present annually to the British Government one horse, twelve shawl goats of approved breed (six male and six female) and three pairs of Cashmere shawls.”

Plight of Pashmina shawl artisans

Despite the popularity of this loom, historians have recorded that back in Kashmir, the condition of those associated with the production of shawls was pathetic.

According to Mridu Rai, author of Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights, and the History of Kashmir, the system of taxation imposed by Hindu Dogra rulers in the region was such that only the barest margin of subsistence was allowed to the Muslim Kashmiri workers.

The production of silk, saffron, paper, tobacco, wine, and salt was state monopoly. A duty of 85% was levied on all woollen manufacturers. Under these pitiable working conditions, the shawl weaver could, thus, hardly earn seven rupees ($0.092) per month. Out of this earning, the workers had to pay five rupees ($0.066) as tax, as recorded by British army officer Lord Birdwood.

The amount left with workers also included the cost of wool, etc., and they could not afford to buy cereals or vegetables and would eat only water chestnuts to keep a connection with the soul.

“The shawl weavers were allowed neither to leave Kashmir nor change their employment so that they were nearly in the position of slaves. Because there was fear with the Hindu ruler that migration of the weavers will reduce his revenue,” writes a European traveler Andrew Wilson, in his book The Abode of Snow: Observations on a Journey from Chinese Tibet to the Indian Caucasus through the Upper Valleys of the Himalaya. He had visited the region in 1873.

The special taxation department called Daag-e-shawl was known for arbitrarily collecting exorbitant taxes for the ruler and regulate the work of weavers with factory owners or proprietors.

“In case, a weaver left the work, the Daag-e-shawl would arrest his wife, children, and parents and impound his house,” records the book.

Further, a new practice started that the ruler would auction this department to a contractor, who would, in turn, collect taxes. In 1865, the ruler had contracted this department to a wealthy Kashmiri, Raj Kak Dhar, in return of 2 million rupees ($26,402).

“This left Dhar entirely free to realise this amount through arbitrarily fixed tax rates and employing soldiers to fleece workers,” says historian Mohammad Yusuf Saraf.

Nearly 125,000 people in Kashmir were associated with this trade in 1865, which included weavers, washermen, and other skilled labourers. According to revenue records, this industry would annually generate 5 million rupees ($6,594) – a handsome amount in the 19th century.

Day of protest

Their patience was reaching a limit. So, the weavers took out a procession against high taxation, and miserable working conditions and demanded nominal wages on April 29, 1865. They also demanded an end to the ban on their migration as well as bars on opting for another profession. They were also asking for a meeting with Diwan, a representative of the ruler in Srinagar.

But a column of Dogra Army under Col. Bije Singh stopped them at the narrow Haji Pather Bridge over River Jhelum. Historians have recorded that in the stampede 28 improvised unarmed weavers were thrown in the river and scores were injured in bullet shots.

“Next day the dead bodies were recovered from the stream and were paraded by the weavers to drive the attention of the ruler. The organizers of the procession were stopped and arrested and even flogged,” says Rekha Chowdary, a teacher at the University of Jammu.

Protest Leaders

Rasool Sheikh, Ali Pal, Abdul Qudus, and Sona Shah — the leaders, who had led the procession –were imprisoned in Bahu Fort prison in the Jammu region.

They never returned to Kashmir and died in jail. Neither any inquiry was instituted, nor any memorial was ever dedicated to the first trade union movement of the world, which happened much before the Chicago incident or even before the Russian or Chinese communist revolutions, which were a result of workers’ resistance to exploitation.

Ironically, this movement has not even received any recognition from trade unions, global labour movements. This piece of history is also lost to the oblivion in Kashmir region.

—–