shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.inshodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/32990/7/07_chapter 2.pdf · of the twenteeth century, when changes began to take place owing ... observance of

CHAPTER — 2N0 (SOCIAL £n*NCIP*TION\

SOCIAL EMANC1P AT IQN»

Kashmiri society was afcerse to change until the beginning

of the twenteeth century, when changes began to take place owing

to the developed means of communication and transport* Despite

conservatism of the masses, a section of enlifhtened people taskU'p

ttve against the worn out traditions and customs*

Both the Hindus* *nd the Muslims of the Valley have an

elobrate code of rituals and ceremonies with regard to birth,2marriage and death, A careful study of the old customs and

traditions reveals that they s t i l l continue to practise by a great

majority of the people.

The Muslims differed from the Hindus in many of their

customs with regard to birth, marriage and death, but they had

resemblances in cert sin respects* Both were superstitious* For

instance, when there was a cholera or smallpox epidemic in the

valley, its occurence was attributed to the olnls and God or

1* Mr* Ernest Neve remarks, "the Hindus" whole l i fe , from the hour ?f his birth t i l l the day when he dies and his son sets light of his funeral pyre* is regulated by an elaborate code of religious rites, ceremonies and customs* These Involve daily worship with ablutions and offerings to idols of flowers and food, frequent fastings, and the observance of a very large nuonber of holy days? Beyond The

p- 240*2* Lawrence, OP* c l t . , pp. 257-71# fyndale Biscoe, op. c i ty

pp. 153-168* A. k* Bemzai# "The Kashmir yandltf pp. 21-27*

19

goddeaeaj while the Muslim* consulted the Fir4, the Pandits

perfumed some regular ceremonies uhen smallpox attacked their

chi ldren. These ceremonies, however* ceased to exist owing to5the spread of modern education*

The social evils that had crept in the Kashmiri society6did not escape the notice of Christian Missionaries. Inspired

by evangelical zeal they attempted to r«for a thy society* At the sane ti«e *ry« *ernejlets, Ahmedlyas and Wahabi *s, made their appearance in Sr interne to counter the missionary propog and a. rhus

7Committees and associations rapidly came into being in £rlnagar.

section— I < 3oclal Refor«_MQya^ntA)• • •

^he a rye Semaj was the earliest re-organised organisation.

?he word "Arya* is an ancient Indian epithet meaning "noble* and

the * SaraaJ" mean* "Society" or assembly. Arya SamaJ then mean*

"society of the noble?

3. fyndale Biscoe, op. d t » p. 63.

4. fo the custodians of local shrines the plague provided aunique occasion for trading upon the superstitions of the people. It is they who were the greatest obstacle* to the success of or. Arthur **eve, efforts, Shephered# o c .c l t .»P# 101.

5. Tyndale Biscoe, op. c i t . . p. 160.

6. Christlan .-Misf lonarles and the.we stern... ts&» chapter v .

7. Mohd Jsheq Khan# History of Jrinactr. p, 114.

20

?he Semaj was founded by a Gujrati Brahmin sect.

Day an end SarSwetl# on 10th of April* 1975 at Soabay. Fhe real

na»t of Sweatl D«y«nmd was Mulshan*ar son of Anb« 3hankax«

fhe Semaj was represented In the Valley by those Hindus

who had come from Punjab as stats etqployees and by those who had

settled permanently or semi-perananetitly in the city for business

purposes. It was set op in tha stats in 1892* but at the turn of

the century there were four Arya 3ar»aj associations in the state#

of then two were prominent, which were located in Musurl Bagh.

Srineser. To begin with, the SaraeJ did not register any success.

On account of the hostility with Charaai s«bhau purely of Kashmir10

Pandits . But with the passage of tim«# the Kashmiri bandits

extended their support to the Semaj in its social work. Ansuncj

the local reformers may be mentioned ^hrl Ram Chanderji Abhey#

who worked to M i w e disabilities of bandit vo»cn. Even attacks

were made cm his life by the fanatics# but he did not give up

the struggle.* The «ein alms of the Seaaj were:

9 . ». c . 4aju*dar. B r i t is h Par amount cv and In d ian S e n d s »nce.v o l . I ll# p . 108.

9* Census o f In d ie . Kashm ir, p . 62f a . L . whet, K a sh m iri£ f f ig i t a , t r if n s i t 4oa.j|? , unpubl i shed# p . 82.

10* Census o f 1911. I# pp. 148# 211.

11* In te rv ie w w ith 3 h rl Ram chanderji *%bhay.

21

1. To propagate Vedic principles*

2. To fieht against the custe system*

i , i’o raise the status of wontni

4 c ?o educct® the women*

5. To abolish the c iv il institution of child marriage*

6 . To promote remarriage and protection of widows.

rhe evil effacts of child carriage w«re publicised,

Propoganda was also conducted in fwout of widow remarrIage. It

is remarkable that during 1920-30# the Arya iaraajist* celebersted

the taarrisges of a half of doaen widows in 3rin»c*r. The s«aiej

conveyed its message through public u««*ti n$s and processions*12created public opinion against the slaughter of kine.

the 3amej in •irinsgar was al*o eng«c-ed in educational

propogands. I t maintained s g irls school i the middle. Standard

in wasir 3agh* wherein the number of atudent&d swelled to about

100* in 1931. Under its auspices ran Vanita Ashram at Rsinawsrl*

mhere widows were given lessons in the Three R*s and were also

taught embroidery end weaving work to enable them to earn a

living1.

Anothor socio-reform movement was started by Ksshrcirl

Fandlts in the beginning of the twenties of the present century*

The beginning was ra&de by two « endita, namely b end i t >ari xrishen

Koul and Fandit V«d Lai i>har* who formed an association called

12. Census of U 3 l« r* 297* Hflmdard Msy 15, 1?38.

13. I b id ..

22

Phnram Sabha. The alms of the Dhara Sabha were to ficht for

the eradication of social evil* prevalent among Kashmiri Hindus

to perauade the Fandits* to favour widow-remarri age* to halp the

spread of female education# to fight for the economic betterment

of the Pandit community and to educate Kashmiri Fandits on the

fundamental of Hinduism, Its office was established at Raghunath

Mandir Srinagarl*

<»> Fraternity society

* more important influence than the Arya was

p r o v id e d by a group o f young e d u c a t e d Kashmiri * e n d ita # who

organised themselves into a body kno*n as the Fraternity Society isi n 193 0 * Che f o r m a t io n o f t h e s o c i e t y was t h e r e s u l t o f

c o n t in u e d an d u n b r id g e a b le d i f f e r e n c e s b e tw e e n t h e c o n s e r v a t I v e s

end r a d i c a l s i n t h e Sharm Sabh lu w h ich e n d e d t o w a r d s t h e t h i r d

d e c a d e o f t h e p r e s e n t c e n t u r y * Among t h e p r o m in e n t p e r s o n s w ho

w e re d i r e c t l y o r i n d i r e c t l y a s s o c i a t e d w it h F r a t e r n i t y S o c i e t y

w e re 'Oamodhar «h a t# lU na N #th H unjura# M ohen K r is h 1 » r ik o o * U ln a

Math K schru* ? . N. X oul# J * l * l i # n in a N ath P « r im y , H in a N ath

D i l g l r and D r . S a l lg r a m K oul* P . >». 3 a s a s w as t h e s e n i o r m em ber o f

t h e g r o u p * ? T h e s o c i e t y c o n t in u e d w ith t h e t e s V s o c i a l r e fo r m *

F o r t h i s p u r p o s e i t h ad e n l i s t e d t h e s u p p o r t o f y o u n g b i:> o d f o r t h e

IS * * * # a s a » # D a u c h te r o f V lt a s t a u p p . 2 3 2 -2 3 3 .

1 4 .

23

f ir s t tint and had given to the Pandit cowrnunity a well-

organized <;r oup of disinterested end selflesa workers*/ ?he chief

architect of the society, P . N. dases had entered into correspondence

with Mahatma Gandhi over the issue of widow reaerriaoe. In • letter

to Bazas, Mahet«a had appealed to the young Hindus of kaah.nir that

"unti1 they found a widow, they should refute to ®arry*J®

within • short span of its career, the Fraternity Society

hed worked for refor** which included eradication of a ll evil customs

and practices connected with marriage ceremonies, exhortation

urcim upon the fiothers.iii.law to give just and respectable treat­

ment to their daughters-in-law end to ur$e upon the Fandit coammity19to recognise the proprietary richt o t women •

i’he conception of social ref or m visualised by th# F t eternity

Society w«s c*ij>aretively broad and included not ynly check on

wasteful expenditure at weddings, and the like, but also spread

of education a^ong women, freedom of widows to remarry, revival of

17* Pandit Damodher »hat, Shri, Hohen Krishan Tikoo, PanditT, N. Koul, were other leading menbers of the society,

1 8 . P . si. Batts, kept this letter in a wooden frarae, so thatanyone could s«e and react Zhm to i t for hi3 s*tisf-action. Oh. Hasan Khan, op. c lt* . p. 57.

19. Gh. Hasan Khan, o p . c l t . . p . 57.

24

culture! activities* i*i*>rove*ent In community's health* rural

reconstruction and change In national dress to make I t decent*

graceful* dignified and suitable for local cllm stlc conditions?0

The Fraternity society launched a compaign to mobolis* public

opinion in favour of the proposed social reform* Frequent public me«tings were held at which women were aasewblirK? in large numbers*

The ‘movement for reform caused a reaction muong the orthodox Pandits

v^o had ore mixed themselves Into a group known as Oharaan $ebha In211923 . ?he raorebers of this groqp were opposed to any social r*f orm

and Indulged in a vehement propogand* against the reformers* P. N*

Saaa* wrote* “that i t became d ifficu lt for the young enthusiasts

to move freely in the city* Phey were nicknamed as Mun ha Kath22(progeny of widows) and were looked down upon"*

f*he Fraternity Society with a ll its progressive outlook

and advanced views could not, however# succeed in the achievement

of its aim end objectives. But as result of the activities of the

society* a new type of leadership emerged which played an important

4 0* P. t*. Baa as* * P* ^33*

21. JK 46/G-39-lf23.

22. ir*. tf. Bases* ftp*. ,c lt . m p. 240*

25

role In the Fand i t community • The society could not establish schools for the education of women, but Its workers served the cause

of education by acting as teachers in Women ttolfare i'rust.

The society deserves ieuch praise for taking steps towards

•mancipation of women and eradication of social evils even at the

cost of their lives. Their work was to blase a tra il to be followed

by the coming generation*

fhe political movement started In July, 1931 by Muslims

brought about a great change in the outlook of ^eshniri Fandits*

In this changed environment, the fraternity Society rechristened

its e lf in July, 1931, as San at an Pharam Yoono r4en*s Aaaocleclon

or (Yuvak iabha), with the sole purpose of safeguard inc. the Interests24of the r pivSit community • It la significant that even the orthodox

-ru-»nbers of the Dheram Sabha who had previously hampered the ref orm

found refuge in the Yuvak Sabha which now "acquired the halo of25

i tV i OU TS'**

rh*» Yuvak Sabha and Its activities brought about a nuaitoer

of dhangea in Hindu iociaty, thereby adding much to the emancipa­

tion of women. Under the auspices of the jebha meetings ware held

?3. Gh* Has an Khan, op* c l t . . p. 57. B. L. Bhat, unpublished. ag t~ s,U .f r* 54.

24. ?h« tribune, ^ove-abar 21, 1131.

25* F . 3 « z a s , op* c l , p . 2 5 3 .

26

toy the Kashmiri Fendita in various parts of the Valley st26which wown'a participation was significant • Under Fandit Kaahyap

Bandhu'a leadership, the organisation became vary popular by

rallying public opinion to its stand. Not only women’ s freedom and

aducation were advocated# but also tha rtfornars wara auccaasful

in popularising widow ranwrriagss a mans the Kashmiri Pandits. Zt

*es due to the efforts of the reformers that the mraber of widow

remarriages be^an to increase day by dey. It was the courage and

preaervance of the reformer* that brought about the Widow Remarriage

Act of 1933# which legalised marriages of Hindu widows.

Fandit ref oraera of the period under review like Keshyap

aandhu, Mar$opel Koul# Gopi Kiahen and Uma Rasdan also raised their

voice against dowery. in 1944# *aiamal Judhar samltl* was founded

>querds of youths were organised to pickted homes where wealth was27lavishly spent on marriages and other festivals •

uo doubt# some ref or a* were introduced by the sidbhe# which

brought about a change in the social l i fe of the Kashmiri Pandits.

But the ref or *as Introduced regained in force only for a few years.

#^«in th3»e reforms proved more chaotic «nd d ifficu lt while the

reform scheme of the Yuvak 3abhf e»pha»i*ed s i .^ lic ity , the cheap

earee dress he$an to be replaced by costly aeries in course of time.

This had m unhealthy effect and thus the whole purpose of the

reform scheme was defeated to a considerable extant.

26. ?he ?ribune» September 25# 1931.

27. r. M. 3eaex, OP. Clt.,. p. 253.

27

The dawn of the present century brought also the Muslim#

of Kashinir to the threshold of socio-reli^ious fermentation. i’h*

fun decent el elm of these "uslim Reform Movements was to awaken

and arouse the Muslin community from the sluaiber and sloth of

centuries of decadence and exploitation* rhey were*

<D> aBridSM t»»..itAnm sL.

It is the earliest and raost important »x:io-relicioua

organisation in Kashmir* The Anjum«n was founded by Late .Mirwai*

of Kashmir, toulvi Rasool Shah in 1905* I*he main cause sf the

Muslim backwardness as perceived by the Moulvi lay in their lack

of education* In view of this, he established a Primary school in

1889* After some years* the Moulvi with the consultation* guidance

and co-operation of some eminent and influential M yalls of Punjab*28established an Anjuman* namely The An 1 uman-i-Nasrat-ul-lalaa *

The leaders of the Anjuman had realised that the fir s t

priority was the social reforms* auong other things to inf rove

their condition. The leaders had clearly perceived that there was

an intimate relationship between social reform and economic progress,

Centuries of sufferings had made the Muslins leay, lethargic and

tradition-bound* They had been suffering fro* various evil social

customs, uurine the first decade of 20th century* Mlrsa Ghulaai29Mustafa was pioneer among the reformers • He was an Important

28* Moulvi Atiq-Ullah* Serat-ul-Waiaeen. p. 24*

29. Mohenmud-ud-Dln Faun, T ar ikhl-. Aowaml-Kashmlr* vol. II#p. 89.

28

member of the *njuman-i-Nasrat-ul-Islem, H« realised that he

could not tackfte the teak of social reforms single hendedly, there­

fore, In 1922, he brought the issue before the Anjuman, i'his gave

the Anjuman an opportunity "to think in tern* of social reform end

a social Reform Committee was appointed by i t for the purpose of30removing social evils from among the Muslim* • fhe Committee

recommended a number of reforms, ?he aim of introducing such reform#

was to save extravagant expenditure on marriages and deaths

ceremonies, spending money extravagantly on such occasions had

become a hebit with people, with the result, that the poor had often to borrow money to defray the expeaces incurred on such occasions, in order to prevent them from continuing with these evil custom#,

a programme was chalked out by the Anjuman, Accordingly, the

members and the Mirvais-l-Kashmlr were directed to preach these

reforms to the Muslims at public meeting# in every shrine and mosque

at the time of prayer meetings. Also a tract on social reform entitled Pasfcur-uJUAmal was compiled and published under the

signatures of the leaders of the Anjuman, ?he oeatur-ul-Amel was

infect, one of the remedies for economic evils for the lusllms of

Kashmir,

<£> .iSlSfflt.JJlUS&M-

?he Anjuman was established by few Punjabi luslims,

just after the worid war I had broken out, The leading figure of31the Anjuman was Bebu Mohemmud Ibrahim, The aim of this Anjuman

30, Hefi* Mohd Ismail, Personal Dlarv* July 4, 1322, Item*-3,

31, Mohenwud-ud-Din Fauq, O p , c it.„ p, 89,

29

was to ameliorate the conditions of the Muslims of Kashmir

whose state of existence was extremely pitiable, l'he Anjumen had

an orphanage for free board and lodge for those orphans who were

admitted to i t .

In order to meet the expences the Anj uman collected32donations # and membership fee and Issued appeals for financial

assistance to a ll Muslims, through the office of the All India

Muslim Kashmir Conference3?

The primary aim of the Anjuman-l-Hamdard Islam was to

encourage the Muslims of Kashmir in their pursuit for education*

It urged upon them to develop the habit of self-help by raising

funds for this purpose. Stress was laid on the learning of technical34end commercial education • The Anjuman made constant appeals to

a ll educated Muslims in Kashmir and other men of influence for

rendering e ll possible assistance to the Anjuman in implementation of its alms end objectives.

32. A deputation of five members was sent by the "Anjuman*to "3hri /"9*ulam 3adlq of Amritsar and another deputationof Sloven members to Neweb of Bhawlpure for granting some donation to the Anjuman. Haflx Mohmed Ismail# oc .c lt.* October 10# 1118, Item 2.

3 3. Phe Zemindar* August 3# 1928.

34. Ib jlt*

30

< /^jum»n-l-?ch*fug-l-»T<»ffiag>** iatrl ^ustur^ti

The Anju^an cam* into existence in 1923* through the

efforts of Ax ad *urlahi, Hakim Hohantiud Curishi and c>hul am Mohammed

M v i. fhe Anjomen wee purely a religious body. It had no concern

with p olitic*?5 The chief object of the Anj liman waa to acquaint

the ^ualiiW in general and thoae living in village* in particular

with the tenets of Islam and also to help them in eradicating social evils prevalent among the Muslims,

?he need for establishing the Anjtman was due to the Ignorance

of the Muslims living in village areas* who did not have the proper% jC

knowledge about the basic tenets )f Islam. I.van the Mullah* in

the villages did not have a proper knowledge about their religion.

io*t men and women did not wear pyjama** and the women did not

wear v eils . From the point of view of hygeian and shabby* the

leaders of the Anj’t en r.Vi'vvv>. c ;.*ogramrae of touring difierent

parts of th* •* j j .—ople the basic things about

personal hygeian. rar y § :• 1 * j cne tmzotmere practically

cs^ elled the worsen to wear pyjamas and o v er their needs properly,

i jreaver* the activities included getting bathroom constructed

and urging the people to establish school* for their children.

Education both religious end secular consisted th# most important

programme of the Anjuman'a policy.

35. K«is 3her All Khan Jegirdar Ranqpure** view on the Anjuman ( »Xbari-K ashmlr* July* 25* 1*25).

3 6 * r h e

31

It vm just after M«har«j« Hari Singh assumed office

that “Ahmediyas* made their appearance in Srinagar* The motivating

figure of tha sect was .Moulvi Abdulin. Featings ran vary hiqh

anong tha orthodox, whan Moulvi Abdullah courageously opposed

Vurdha. supported woman's education and launched a crusade against 37the Muslims • He also denounced the evil customs such as ritual

worship which hampered the progress of the Muslim women, Abdullah

would have certainly succeeded in his struggle, but for the movement of 1931, tha movement for reform among Muslim woman receded into the background on account of changed political condi­

tions. It should, however, be remembered that social, economic end

p olitical changes, which occurred after 1931, contributed greatly

to tha emancipation of Muslim women* It was in 1931, that the

women of -Srinagar made their f ir s t step in the struggle for

Kashmir's freedom*

Bagum £afar All, aegum Abdullah, and Zaineb were the f ir s t38to discard the Furdha* Even those who did not part with the

Purdha were not immune to outside influences* Fashionable burqes

made of silk were worn as a challenge to the crusade against the

Purdha system* It was not as usual sight to see a well-to-do

37. P. H. Bazas, Qc* c lt* . pp. 242-43? Mohd Ishsq ’ han, 2E*-£l$x, P* 120.

3*3, The Khidmat, February 11, 1948*

32

c.Iuc&ted husband attired in the latest was tarn fashion with a

fashionable buxqa clad wife by his aid*, fhus impreceptibely changes39ware taking place in dress end old habits as wall •

2SSSuL2 a & z .M .

In parallel with other parts of India, child marriage was common in various classes of the population, witln the state territories. Realising the evil effects of thi» custom, Maharaja

Hari 3inch took the opportunity of conaulting the representatives

of Jammu province (as i t was common thara) in 1927. ?hey were

unanimous in the view, "that the practice should be stopped by law* and accordingly instructions were issued fixing the minimum

marr leg able age for boys 18 years and for g irls 14 years in 1928?°

Due to this law, a marriage between a boy below 18 and a

g ir l below 14, and any marriage to which one of the parties was

an infant, was decltrs:.* penei ot i «nce. runishments were severe for

those %£tere a male i *t»cv« x. »• of f i f ty marries an infant.

Enlightened people supported the reform but orthodoxy had always

regarded the law as an intervention with the religion, therefore,

the tradition dies hard, so i t waa after a great exertion, that the

practice of Infant marriages was eliminated particularly in the41Vilieges,

39. gt3.3|U3_..?i 1931, I, pp. 102, 141, Moulvi Majid, >air-l-Kashmir, 1936, pp. 23, 70.

* o . *. . aaf cs. , 3a„ 1 , 2 a * p - * 2 ** j k . 1 5 3 /R-3, 1934.

41. If a male person of 50 years of age marries an infant girl* he w*a puni*he<? with an imprisonment vither for a term of four years or with fine wnich may extend to ts. 2,000 or with both. 1134 . G.no«t».th RtPOIt, p. 347 .

33

The Census of 1141 shoved the feet that the number of

married girls under the eg* group 0-15 was well below the figures

of 1931. (1,000 of 1931 — 99 of 1940) indicates that infant

marriages had become less common and to that extent, thrw* who

sponsored this most desirable piece of reformist legislation

achieved « great satisfaction .2

At the same time i t was fe lt , that more could h?ve been

achieved i f the law would have been tightened* It was realized that

the machinery of prosecution was far from being adequate, and the

only mean to overcome the reluctance, was to make the offence

cognisable* Even i f the law was strengthened in these directions a

lopehold would s t i l l remain# namely the parties go outside the

state to perform marriages. I t was, therefore, necessary to have

such an intellegence system end the same penalties be affected

over them as well, to check the business of infant marriages end43the culprits should be brought to book .

-i ctlott— ill (Attitude Tfli_agdi-Perrg»««d cisf»e»I

It is natural that under these circumstances the position

of depressed classes should have some advene® aver that enjoyed by

them in other provinces and states, where caste prejudice have

taken a deep root in the body politic* Phe population of Harijnns

according to the Census of 1941, was 113464, 2.5% of the total

p * 3 4 9 «

34

population, hi* coawunity vm socially# economically aid educationally backward. Only 1.5% of the population of this

community was literate. Maly a tew of them were owner* of lend

wr.i 1<2 political consciousness tn*onq then was e matter of rwcent orowth?*

The policy of the Haharaje's government waa to -wi ke no

distinction between the various communities *nrt Qimmmmm within

the state and to extend the benefits of education impartially to45*11 who wished to avail themselves of It •

-*ha common disabilities of the community wer* abolished.

Legislation was passed in 1^31, to admit Hssrijana to the temples,

end schools «nd wells v*r* tbr' --vr; ■ n to then. ;ut in actual

practice prejudices sri 11 ; r ,: •. , ■ -•>•* * *v* remained a lead

letter, rhey confined to cart«*iri specialized tr«d*»»

Such «s bi'Sket-maklnQ* weaving# shoe-maXinc;. Most of th««n remained

content to be agricultural labourers; while this picture rxssented#

i t cannot be aaid to h*v*» over drawn. It is Maharaja's liberal

policy that the community was acquiring a m**sure of self-esteem

and assertiveness which was bound before long to secure for i t the

place in tha social li fe of the state to which both by its number46and its Importance it was entitled.

44. £fi0fiWJ&*J£«£2C&» P* 52.45. A Note on Jammu and Kashmir •*tat«, 1^28, r . 47.

46. Gj»ncanath Racort* t>. 52» <31ancv Commission. c. 17.t.H. Bases# JSfift 1131,1a pp. 304-305.

35

s»ctl<?p~-JV ( 3uppr»sa-loa Of I llic it Traffic in *om*n)

The nefarious enterprise, known «a "-ierdaf arosh* haa b««n

for *eny ye era the aubject of grave concern in various parts of the

Jarm»u province, where an organimed buainesa in abducting women

and girls and removing them beyond the limits of the state has been conducted .

?he practice w?a comaon in Kashmir also, the*r« were two

l l l~ f emed centre# of prostitution in irinagar i .e . Coahwan en<*

H»jiauTia. rhe early )ograa encouraged the buaineaa aa they were

getting 25% of the whole revenue ~>t hla at ate from the gains of

these liecenaed prostitutes* According to Robert I’horp, the

linearised granting permission for the purchase of a g irl for thia48r urpose, coat about 100 chi Ike rupee# in Ranbir Singh* a time •

rti<* government realized the seriousness of thia problem,

and attended the criminal law of the state, in order to give the administration more effective powers to put an end to thia e v il.

So in 1127, i t was decided to take more vigorous step# in thia

direction, a Committee waa appointed, which after going into the

whole question made 1 important recommendation# which h*ve been

accepted end given effect. ?he section dealing with auch offencaa

in the state penal code we# amended with a view to enable severe

47. Glancy Commission. p. 47.

4 $ . R o b e r t T h o r p # K a s h m i r M l a c o v e r n m e n t , p . 3 5 ,

36

punishment being meted out to persons engaged in this trade and

a special branch of the C, I , r>, was constituted to deal with such49offences • Despite this, the practice continued* the fovernment

used every possible effort in shape of Legislation, Executive

actions and propaganda to discourage and prevent these inhuman

activities, »‘in*y extended the propaganda compsign by the multiplica­

tion of pamphlet* and lectures5?

In Kashmir i t was Hohd Subh&n Need ( daxbur) of Maiauma# who

crusaded against the evil practice after hearing the sad cries of

these poor creature* being a neighbour of one of the centres mentioned above, -hm se lfless sorvice of the valiant iubhan .aed,

ultimately bore frui-# '.cn lr. 1 *:h-~ '.t*te Assembly passed an

#-ct suppressing immoral tr«: i j.e ia vo rw.», It ^rovi-led penal tie* for persons who kept# manned or allowed the use of any place a*

brothel or procure women or girls for prostitution or live upon the earnings of prostitute or tra ffic in women and children,

[n

rhe suppression of Immoral ttrsff ic Act of 1134# had a

disastrous effect on a very large nuariber of prostitutes, it now

became d ifficu lt for them to eke out their existence, *^ile some

prostitutes made good etc ape to India, There were many who took to

Charkha on Subhana's advice, it is slso remarkable to n t e znat some

of the prostitutes earned a decent living by working in the lk

Factory*

49, » Niote on Jammu and Kashmir State# 1*128# p, 51,

50. GlancY Conrajssiggu p. 47.

37