C P Gupta

Who could guess that the city of Mirpurwhich as per a legend, was laid by two pioussaints namely Mir Shah Gazi (A MuslimProphet) and Gosain Budh Puri (An HinduProphet) presenting a symbol of Hindu Mus-lim unity by taking the word ‘Mir’ from thename of the former and the word ‘Pur’ from thename of the latter, thus giving the combinedname ‘Mirpur’ to the said city, would one day,be annihilated by the political rivalry and fren-zy of the leaders of the same two communitiesof the same country viz India which was laterdivided into two Dominions i.e India and Pak-istan on 15th August 1947.’’

Mirpur city is no more now as the same gotsubmerged in water when the Government ofPakistan constructed Mangla Dam in the latesixties. Now, the only visible sign of Mirpur cityis the old crumbled Shiva temple which was inthe heart of the city and can be seen in stum-bling condition only when the water level of theDam is low during winter months.

At the time of partition of the country, Mir-pur city was the District Headquarters of Jam-mu and Kashmir State and came on the borderline between Pakistan and Jammu and Kash-mir State. Maharaja Hari Singh the then Rulerof the Jammu and Kashmir State signed theInstrument of Accession with India as a resultof which the Jammu and Kashmir State becamean integral part of India. This accession couldnot be digested by Pakistan and wanted toestablish army pickets in Mirpur city to findway to grab the entire State subsequently. Inorder to get cooperation of the citizens of Mir-pur to fulfill its nefarious design, the Govern-ment of Pakistan sent a bundle of pamphletswritten in Urdu and managed to get the samedropped in the city. The said pamphlet indicat-ed that the Government of Pakistan would givespecial status and super benefits to the peopleof Mirpur if they would allow the Pakistani sol-diers to enter the city of Mirpur to establishtheir pickets. But the patriotic citizens of Mir-pur decided not to allow them to enter the city

till they had the last bullet to fight with them.This negative reply was conveyed to Pakistanthrough the chain of bullets fired from the pick-ets of the Mirpur city. This brought incessantfiring and heavy gun operation from the ene-my side also which confirmed the unsolvedconflict between the two sides. The Govern-ment of Pakistan immediately made an aggres-sive plan to capture Mirpur city and to takerevenge by killing its citizens in a gruesomemanner. To achieve that end, the Governmentof Pakistan made a secret agreement known as“Zen and Zar Agreement’’ with the Pathan mer-cenaries according to which if Mirpur was cap-tured, the captured women would be taken bythe Pathans and the immovable property, landetc would be the share of the Pakistan Govern-ment. On the other side, the citizens of Mirpurhad determined not to bow before the enemyat any cost and would protect their birth-place(Mirpur) till the Indian army is sent to Mirpurby the Government of India. Alas’. The citizensof Mirpur would have upheld their vow hadtheir ammunition not diminished or the Indi-an army reached Mirpur to their rescue.

The small and ill equipped state police forcestationed at that time, at Mirpur, was fullyassisted by the young civil population of thecity. The Garrison repulsed the enemy attackswith heavy losses to them on 6th, 10th and 11thNovember, 1947. At the midnight of November24, under a thick cover of artillery shelling andbursting of grenades which are normally usedduring an openly declared war, the Pakistanarmy launched a major attack on the southernside of the city, which was spiritedly resistedby the depleting garrison force for six hours.This was the heaviest attack witnessed so far.Although the pickets held tough resistance, theenemy came in wave after wave and after sixhours of ceaseless fighting, the defense line ofthe city was runover by seven Pathans.Alarmed by the most critical situation, the Fly-ing Death Squads of the city engaged them-selves madly in hand to hand fight with theinfiltrators and killed all the seven Pathans at

the cost of the life of many young men of theMirpur community. Though the people of Mir-pur displayed tremendous grit and tenacity butthe end seemed gloomy and dreadful becausethat operation brought the city stock of ammu-nition to zero level. Further, due to the ironyof fate, the wireless set installed in the PoliceCamp at Mirpur, suddenly developed sometechnical defect and went out of order whichled to disruption in radio link with the StatePolice Headquarters at Jammu and Govern-ment of India. Despite war like situation cre-ated by Pakistan and accession of the State withIndia, the Government of India due to politicalrivalry between the then Prime Minister ofIndia and the Maharaja of Jammu and Kash-mir State, did not send army though at thattime the Indian Army was stationed at Jhang-har which was at a distance of only 20 milesfrom Mirpur.

In that critical situation, the State Admin-istration headed by Wazir Wazarat of Mirpurdecided clandestinely to retreat to Jammuleaving behind the hapless civil population ofthe city to face the warth of the marauders. Infact, at that time it was the moral duty of theState Administration to ask the citizens of Mir-pur to vacate the city and march towards Jam-mu under their protection but contrary to it,the Wazir Wazarat and his police officers gal-loped their horse and left the city in wee hourson November 25, even leaving behind theirown wounded soldiers who were crying in painof their wounds on their beds in the police linehospital. This coward departure of the StateAdministration from Mirpur city, gave a jubi-lant signal to the enemy. Really, at that time,the whole population of the city of Mirpur feltthemselves as hanging breathlessly in betweenthe right jaws of the enemy which was veryeager to swallow the flesh and even the bonesof the people of Mirpur who had refused outrightly to give shelter to the Pakistani soldiersin the city of Mirpur.

Immediately after the departure of the StateAdministration from the city a fully armed Bat-

talion of the Pakistan army assisted by Pathanraiders entered the city from all the sides andpushed the city population into one corner ofthe city. The terrified men, women and chil-dren in utter chaos and confusion in the midstof heavy firing from all the sides and in chok-ing atmosphere due to smoke coming out of theburning houses of the city, scattered andmarched in caravan in different directionswithout knowing where they were going. Theywere intecepted by the enemy at various placesand like hungry wolves they unleashed terrorand brutal savagery which made the whole areaan open grave yard of dead bdies and manyuncounted seriously wounded uncared per-sons were battling for life in the whirlpool oftheir own blood.

This was not the end of the misery of thepeople of Mirpur. At night of the same day anill-fated group of about 2,000 captured per-sons was brought at place known as “KasGuma’’ a colony of retired Muslim soldiers. Theenemy encircled the captives and asked themto surrender all the cash and jewellery whichthey had with them. Thereafter, the male per-sons were asked to remove their clothes and liedown in a row. They were tortured brutally andkilled in batches during the whole night. Thewomen and girls were taken to unknown placesby the Pathans as per their “Zen and Zar’’Agreement with the Pakistan Government.Next day, the enemy drove another group ofabout 2,000 persons and brought them at a vil-lage known as “Thathal’’. They also met thesame brutal treatment as at “Kas Guma’’ dur-ing the day. Finally there was a massacre atAlibeg where, about 5,000 captiveswere hud-dled up in an old deserted and unhygienicruined Gurdwara building. In the beginningabout 50 to 100 young men were daily taken onpick and choose basis to kill them in the openfields. Besides, on average basis about 15 to 20aged captives died every day due to severe coldweather condition, starvation, illness andmental shock.

On December 1, a young Muslim Attorneynamed Mohammad Ibrahim being very soft intongue and well knwon to many Hindu Officersof Mirpur, visited the Alibeg prison andshowed his lip sympathy to the intelligentsiawho were brought there as captives and alsoshed his crocodile tears on their pitiable con-dition and assured them that he would do hisbest to talk with the concerned authorities ofthe Government of Pakistan to get thememployed in the factories on daily wage basistill they were at Alibeg camp as captives. He

distributed Muslim caps and mufflers to someof them as a token of friendship, but those ges-tures were in fact subtle signals and indicationsto the Pakistani soldiers to kill those personsfirst. The next morning, the enemy soldiersgathered a group of educated peope of theprison on the pretext that they would be takenback in the evening with earning after utilizingtheir services in the factories during the day.Those wearing caps and mufflers proudly occu-pied the front line to get priority in getting jobin the factories. They never came back as theyall were slaughtered on the bank of Jhelumcanal.

In the mid January, 1948 a team of ICRC(International Committee of Red Cross)arrived there and took charge of the camp andsupplied the needed food and medicines to thecaptives. On March 18, they managed to get thecaptives liberated in exchange of the samenumber of Muslims who were in India and will-ing to go to Pakistan. The liberated captveswere not more than about 1600 as the rest wereeither killed/died or kidnapped. The liberatedpersons were mostly aged and even unable towalk. They reached Amritsar where they weregiven a touching reception by their relativesand the general public.

In the memory of Mirpur Martyrs of 1947,a Shaheedi Samarak was constructed by theGovernment of Jammu and Kashmir at a con-spicuous place in front of the main entry gateof the Government Medical College at Mahesh-pura Chowk Bakshinagar Jammu. The JammuDevelopment Authority dedicated the saidSamarak to Mirpur Community which wasunveiled by Miss Sushma Choudhary IAS thethen Financial Commissioner on 25th Novem-ber, 1998. The said Samarak is also the start-ing point of “Mirpur Road’’ which was namedso, on the same day viz 25th November, 1998to pay tributes to the martyrs of Mirpur, underthe patronage of late S Harsajan Singh who atthat time, was the Chairman of the LegislativeCouncil of the Jammu and Kashmir State.

On 25th November every year, thousands ofMirpuris residing in Jammu city and itsperipheral colonies, march in Prabhat Pheriescoming from different Sectors of Jammu cityand all assemble at the said Mirpur ShaheediSmarak to pay jointly the rich tributes to theMartyrs of Mirpur who sacrificed their lives forthe sake of their mother land as a result ofwhich the Jammu and Kashmir State remainedan integral part of India.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2015 INTERNET EDITION : www.dailyexcelsior.com/magazineChunky Bollywood......PPaaggee 44 PPuurriiffyyiinngg OOuurr SSoouull......Page 3

Remembering Mirpur martyrs

Lalit Gupta

Like every year, a week before the Jhiri mela to be held onKartik Purnima, falling on coming 25th November, all roadsleading to the otherwise clam and quite village of Jhiri in Marhblock of Jammu, are teeming with life. In a build up to the nine-day long fair to be held from November 23 to 3 December, 2015,the trickle of devotees is fast turning into constant flow of men,women and children. Riding all kinds and means of public andprivate transports pilgrims in small and large groups, havestarted arriving here to worship and pay homage to 16th cen-tury Dogra folk hero Bawa Jitto.

After the fair of Pushkar in Rajasthan, the nine-day long JhiriMela is one of the most attended fairs in north India, whichbrings together more than five to seven lakh people every yearto Jhiri village near Shamachak, some 22 kilometers from Jam-mu city on Akhnoor-Poonch road.

Jhiri Mela commemorates the supreme sacrifice of a simpleand honest Dogra farmer Jit Mal also called as Baba Jitto whopreferred to sacrifice himself in protest than accept the unjustconduct of the local landlord. In this age of rapid urbanizationand globalization, the Jhiri fair, a living manifestation ofvibrant folk culture and an expression of the common folk inkeeping alive the collective memory as against the historicalmemory espoused by the elite.

Such is importance of this sacred spot of village Jhiri, that ithas acquired the status of a thirtha for the local as well as out-side communities. The Samadhi of Bawa Jitto at Jhiri, a sym-bol of his supreme sacrifice which he made some 550 years ago,through passage of time has acquired an aura of sacredness. Itstands surrounded by many other religious structures whichhave been built in phases by devotees including local rajas,dewans, wazirs and rich persons. Today the place and its envi-rons have emerged as a popular pilgrimage destination.

LEGEND: Like most of the folk heroes who begin life as anormal person but are transformed into an extraordinary per-sonality by significant life events, often in response to socialinjustice, Baba Jitto, originally Jit Mal, was an honest andtruthful farmer. According to folklore preserved by Dogra folksingers, he was a Brahmin and devotee of Mata Vaishno Deviand Raja Mandalik and native of Aghar village near Katra,Vaishno Devi.

Tired of the unfriendly attitude of his aunt Jojan, who eventhreatened the life of his seven year daughter Bua Kori, Jit Maldecided to leave the village and go to his friend, Iso Megh atKahnachak There he requested Mehta Bir Singh, a kardar of

the Ambgrota, to provide a piece of land for tilling. Mehta BirSingh gave Jit Mal a piece of barren land after signing an agree-ment, that he would give him the one-fourth of his produce. JitMal’s hard work transformed the barren land which yielded aluxuriant crop. When Bir Singh got the news about the abun-dant, he arrived at the field along with his men and asked themto lift three fourth of the crop and leave only a quarter with JitMal.

Bawa Jitto pleaded Mehta Bir Singh to follow the terms of theagreement but the goons of Mehta forcibly took the lion shareof the crop. Infuriated by the injustice, the helpless Jitmal,while uttering last words ‘sukki kanak nain khayaan mehtya,dinna ratt ralayi’ (don’t eat raw wheat, oh Mehta, let me mixmy blood in it’), stabbed himself sitting on the heap of crop,leaving all grains drenched red with his blood. His daughterBua Kori with help of their pet dog Kalu, located her father’sdead body hidden in the Simbal tree trunk by the goons ofMehta.

She then lit the pyre and burnt herself with her father. It is

said after that a fierce rain storm raged the area and the bloodstrained grains were washed away. And all those people, eventhe birds, who partook those grains along with Mehta Bur Singhand family members now cursed with ‘hatya’ of the Baba andBua Kori, later suffered from various afflictions, including dis-eases, untimely deaths and misfortunes. To seek pardon fromthe wrath of the holy spirit, they not only asked for his forgive-ness by worshiping him as a ‘kul devta’—family deity, but alsomaking it mandatory on their future generations to venerateBawa Jitto and pay annual homage at his shrine.

With the result, the members of local and outside communi-ties, who worship Bawa Jitto as a kuldevta (family/lineagedeity) other than making their hazari on Kartik Purnima day,also come here throughout the year to pay obeisance on occa-sions of important events in their families like marriage, birthof child, mundan (tonsuring ceremony) or simply to thank orentreat the Bawa for his continuing protection and blessings.

One other important site of the sacred landscape of Jhiri isBaba De Talab which is known to have miraculous power of

curing skin diseases and also blessing the childless mother withchildren. Pilgrims not only take a dip in the water of pond butalso take back home the earth from the pond as shakkar. It isalso believed that if an issueless lady takes bath in the pond shewould be blessed with a child.

For the pious minded, there is regular recitation of folk songsby Jogis and Gardis (folk singers) in form of Bawa’s Karaks(devotional ballads) at the main shrine. Many entertaining cul-tural shows are also organized. Other than the performance ofthe play Bawa Jitto, an artistic presentation of folk hero’s lifeand sacrifice, this year’s highlight is screening of Dogri filmReet during the mela days. The Chhinj—wrestling matches, aregular feature of the mela in which wrestlers from far and widevie for more than 40 maalis (matches), are going to be a treatfor the sport enthusiasts among the visitors. Toys shops, sweet-meat stalls, camel rides, merry go-rounds, slides, giant-wheels,and the famous Mout Ka Kuaan—Well of Death (trick motor-cycling inside consortium of wood-planks) are special attrac-tion for children and teenagers.

MELA ARRANGEMENTS: Led by Hitesh Gupta, SDMMarh, the Jhiri Mela Management Team is laying greateremphasis on sanitation and free flow of pilgrims during thenine-day long mela. Talking to Excelsior Hitesh Gupta said thatthat in order to ensure proper space for ritual bath for ladies aspecial bathing enclosure has been constructed by using space-framed technology genrally used in airports. Beside 145makeshift sanitations units which were shabby and unkempthave been repaired and made as permanent structures.

Regarding drinking water facilities for the pilgrims, he saidwater requirement for drinking and sanitation purposes hadbeen ensured by round the clock pumping station and more-over 450 hand pumps are functioning to meet the waterrequirements of visitors. Also we have put up five high mastlights besides 6750 CFLs for illuminating the Mela area, he said.

“Looking at the upward trend of pilgrims which as per roughestimate is likely to cross seven lakhs, all out efforts are beingmade make the mela as a viable platform for the economicdevelopment of local communities and also to make visit ofdevotees and tourists to the mela as comfortable and memo-rable as possible”, he said.

From the point of view of the dynamics of folkculture, JhiriMela which also known as ‘Farmer’s Festival’, continues to playits pivotal role as an extended moment of significant transferof heritage, when next generation rises to receive, and go for-ward, to make possible the continuity of culture and tradition.

CELEBRATING FIGHT AGAINST INJUSTICE

Mirpur city is no more now as the same

got submerged in water when the

Government of Pakistan constructed

Mangla Dam in the late sixties.

Aerial view of Mirpur city before 25th November, 1947

A view of Jihri Mela