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'''Kashmir Conspiracy Case''' was the legal case filed by [[Government of Jammu and Kashmir|Government of Kashmir]] and Investigations Department of the [[Government of India]],<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?ei=iZ1wTrnPNZDIrQeu9eijBw&ct=result&sqi=2&id=xrPtAAAAMAAJ&dq=kashmir+conspiracy+case+was+filed+by+government+of+india&q=investigations+department+#search_anchor] Perspectives on Kashmir: the roots of conflict in South Asia by Raju G. C. Thomas</ref> by which [[Sheikh Abdullah]] and others were arrested and jailed. Abdullah along with [[Mirza Afzal Beg]] and 22 others, who were accused of conspiracy against the state for allegedly espousing the cause of an independent Kashmir. The case was framed in 1958, for which the trial began in 1959 but was withdrawn in 1964 as a diplomatic decision.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/StoryPrint.aspx?ID=NEWEN20080064233&ch=633623065596223750 |title=NDTV.com: Kashmir the bone of contention |website=www.ndtv.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008235936/http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/StoryPrint.aspx?ID=NEWEN20080064233&ch=633623065596223750 |archive-date=2012-10-08}} </ref><ref name=c>[http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2010/08/05/negotiations-on-kashmir-a-concealed-story/?wpmp_switcher=desktop The activities of the Plebiscite Front eventually led to the institution of the ‘Kashmir Conspiracy Case’ in 1958 and two other cases Having put Abdullah behind bars on 8 August in "Kashmir conspiracy case"]</ref><ref name=a>[http://kashmir-truth-be-told.blogspot.com/2008/06/1953-pivotal-year-in-kashmirs-history.html Sheikh Sahib was charged with treason and conspiracy against the state and the infamous "Kashmir Conspiracy Case" unfolded with the Lion of Kashmir spending the next eleven years behind bars. His closest comrades including Mirza Afzal Beg, and 22 other NC loyalists were sent to jail as well by Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad.]</ref><ref>[https://openlibrary.org/books/OL2918M/The_Kashmir_conspiracy_case The Kashmir conspiracy case]</ref><ref name=b>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kashmir-information.com/ConvertedKashmir/Chapter20.html# |title=Kashmir Conspiracy Case |access-date=14 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918050529/http://www.kashmir-information.com/ConvertedKashmir/Chapter20.html# |archive-date=18 September 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name=z/>

==History of the case==

On 8 August 1953 Sheikh Abdullah was dismissed as Prime Minister by the then [[Sadr-i-Riyasat]] (Constitutional [[Head of State]]) [[Karan Singh|Dr. Karan Singh]] son of the erstwhile [[Hari Singh|Maharajah Hari Singh]] on the charge that he had lost the confidence of his [[Cabinet (government)|cabinet]]<ref>Sheikh Abdullah; M.Y.Taing (1985), p593-594</ref> He was denied the opportunity to prove his majority on the floor of the house,<ref>Sheikh Abdullah; M.Y.Taing (1985), p607</ref> and [[Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad|Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed]] was appointed as Prime Minister. Abdullah was arrested soon after in year 1953 for anti-national activities.<ref>Sheikh Abdullah; M.Y.Taing (1985), p600</ref>

Following the dismissal of Sheikh Abdullah, his lieutenant [[Mirza Afzal Beg]] formed the [[Plebiscite Front]] on 9 August 1955 demanding a [[plebiscite]] to decide the accession of the state and the unconditional release of Abdullah. Abdullah meanwhile was released for a short time and later again re-arrested on charges of conspiracy against the state. The legal case initiated in 1958 came to be known as the Kashmir Conspiracy Case.<ref name=c/><ref>Sheikh Abdullah; M.Y.Taing (1985), p711-717</ref>

[[Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad]], who was installed as Prime Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, said in his radio broadcast that :-
{{cquote|"A fraud was being committed on the interests of the country. The slogan of independence was dangerous. Under the control of an imperialist power an independent Kashmir would have been a serious danger for the people of India and Pakistan...."}}<ref name=a/><ref name=b/>

Before his dismissal, arrest, brief release and re-arrest under the case, the intelligence agency had collected ample proof regarding the Sheikh's links with Pakistan and of his speeches and activities to these affect, after which Bakshi rearrested Sheikh Abdullah. The entire matter relating to the alleged conspiracy of the Sheikh for joining hands with [[Pakistan]] was submitted to Nehru along with documentary evidence and recorded tapes of his public speeches. [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] was taken aback while listening to the tapes and going through the letters of Sheikh Abdullah. He approved launching of a case against the Sheikh, his one time very close friend. Thus, the Kashmir conspiracy case was launched against Sheikh Abdullah, Mirza Afzal Beg and 22 other people on charge of having conspired with Pakistan for making of an independent Kashmir.<ref name=b/>{{Dead link|date=March 2017}}

The counsel of Government, between 9 August 1952 and 29 April 1958, in his several briefs before the court, stated that the accused and their accomplices both inside and outside the state collaborated with Pakistani officials to overthrow the Government with violence. Their intention was to overthrow the Government and to annex the state with Pakistan through the process to spread hatred in the masses against the Government.<ref name=b/>{{Dead link|date=March 2017}}
The court was shown that, while Sheikh Abdullah was in jail his wife [[Begum Akbar Jahan Abdullah]] and allies, Mirza Afzal Beg, Ghulam Mohammad Chikan, Mir Ghulam Rasool, Pir Maqbool Gilani, Khwaja Ali Shah and others, received large amount of money from Pakistan for this purpose. They also received type-writers and [[Lithography|litho-machines]] and literature for propaganda purposes. Besides explosives were received from Pakistan for blowing up bridges, factories, military installations, mosques, temples and [[Gurudwara]]s in [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu & Kashmir]], so that the Government machinery may be paralyzed. People were trained in Pakistan to come and create havoc here.<ref name=b/>{{Dead link|date=March 2017}}<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xTBWAAAAYAAJ&q=Chikan+kashmir+conspiracy+case&dq=Chikan+kashmir+conspiracy+case&hl=en&ei=wWJwTsPDMcvKrAfNoaX6Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&sqi=2&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ] Link, Volume 6, Issues 26-52, 1964</ref>

The trials began in 1959 and were heard over several years, when in 1962 the special Magistrate, transferred the case to higher court that all the accused be tried under [[Indian Penal Code]], under sections for which punishment was either death or life-imprisonment. But certain later developments like [[Hazratbal disappearance episode]] in Kashmir, lead to Nehru's decision to drop the case.<ref name=z/> Sheikh Abdullah spent almost eleven years behind bars from 1953 till 1964 (six years after being accused under the case), while others were held from 1958 till 1964. In 1964, when whole nation was eagerly awaiting the outcome of the case and the judgement of the court, the case was withdrawn and all the accused were released as a part of controversial and sudden diplomatic decision taken by Jawaharlal Nehru, the erstwhile [[Prime Minister of India]] and [[Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq]], the erstwhile [[Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir]].<ref name=c/><ref name=b/><ref name=z>[https://books.google.com/books?id=C8h_VjG4ucsC&pg=PA239&dq=kashmir+conspiracy+case+began+in+year&hl=en&ei=bV1wTq38Aor5rQe4wq2aBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=kashmir%20conspiracy%20case%20began%20in%20year&f=false] The clash of fundamentalisms: crusades, jihads and modernity By Tariq Ali, page 239</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Politics of Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:1950s in Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:1960s in Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Nehru administration]]
[[Category:Indian case law]]
[[Category:1958 in India]]
[[Category:1964 in India]]

Kashmir Conspiracy Case - Revision history

UpdateBot at 23:26, 26 March 2022