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Brief History Freedom Struggle of Bhopal 1857 to 1947 and After Independence 25 days Vilinikran Andolan from 6th to 31st January 1949

The First Treaty between British and Nawab of Bhopal : Bhopal had been under consistent attacks from neighboring forces including infamous Pindaries having long notorious history of loot and plunder in central India. From November 1813 to July 1814, Gwalior State laid siege on Bhopal under command of Daulat Rao Scindhia and his British commander Jane Baptist and another Commander Jaswant Rao. Compelled by circumstances, the then Ruler of Bhopal Vazir Mohammad Khan made up his mind to ink a treaty with the British, but the conditions laid for the treaty viz. giving away a fort, not to open dialogue with other Kings without permission and giving unrestricted access to British forces from Bhopal, became the points of no agreement. After death of Vazir Mohammad Khan, his son Nawab Nazar Mohammad signed the document of treaty on 26th February 1818 which was approved  by the then  Governor General on 8th March 1818.This treaty had an an agreed clause that his successors will remain the Ruler of Bhopal with the guarantee to save the Bhopal from invaders and the enemies of Bhopal. (Gazetteer Sehore-Bhopal Page 68) The Rebellion Movement (Freedom Struggle) of 1857 in Bhopal : 1857 witnessed widespread bloodshed of British in and around Bhopal. Many British were murdered or ran for their life. The revolt against British was planned by Molvies and Ulemas in Mosques (Masjids) of Bhopal. A resolution of Jihad was passed by Molvies & Ulemas (Muslim Preachers) against the British, first meeting was held in Masjid Manka Shah on 11th July 1857 and thereafter in Masjid Madarul Muham Ginnori on 12th July 1857, the Masjid Manka Shah was adjacent to the headquarters of Bhopal State. Sehore under the leadership of Wali Shah, Mahaveer Koth, Arif Shah and Ramju Lal, of Berasia under the leadership of Shujaat Mohammad Khan, Garhi Ambapani and Rahatgarh under the leadership of Fazil Mohammad Khan and Adil Mohammad Khan, Chhepaner under Richhpal Singh leadership, emerged as centers where local governments of rebel Soldiers (Sepoys of the Military) were formed. At Sehore,, a Rebel Government of soldiers was formed on 6th August. It was named Sipahi Bahadur Sarkar. The Police Stations, Tehsils as well as the Courts were established by this Sipahi Bahadur Sarkar. The. Green as Nishane (Signs) Mohammadi and Orange as Nishane(signs) Mahaveeri were their Flags. Wali Shah, Mahaveer Koth, were the heads of two Courts. The Ruler of Bhopal with active help from British forces, crushed this rebellion Sipahi Bahadur Sarkar successfully. On orders of General Rose, 356 brave soldiers who formed the Sipahi Bahadur Sarkar, gunned down by the firing squad in Sehore, on 8th January 1858. On 3rd September 1857 Bahadur Shah Zafar also wrote a letter to Nawab the Ruler of Bhopal. Just thereafter Rani Jhansi also wrote the letters to the Nawab of Bhopal to disassociate with British but their requests were turned down.

On 25th January 1858 in Rahatgarh, General Rose defeated the Rebellions of freedom and arrested them. The Rahatgarh Fort gate was used for hanging the freedom fighters Rahat Mohammad Khan and Fazil Mohammad Khan, their dead bodies were laid in a room of the fort for two days and were not allowed their cremation. Mahaveer Koth of Sehore was also hanged to death in Rahatgarh. Not a single tree worth sustaining weight of a person was left unused for hanging the freedom fighters. True to oppression style, the message was clear, rebellion will end in death. On 26th September 1857 Shujaat Mohammad Khan of Berasia alongwith his son was  hanged to death in Sehore. The Pre-Independence Freedom Movement in Bhopal from 1933 to 1947: 1857-1947 have been turbulent period for India and Bhopal was no exception. 1857 witnessed a backlash by British controlled Bhopal state in which all public servants from Bhopal were fired from their jobs. The replacement naturally came from people who did not belong to Bhopal. This led to another potential dissent against British supported Nawab of Bhopal and clashes began between those from Bhopal who lost their jobs and those outsiders now in public jobs. This continued till 1947. 1933 witnessed formation of an outfit named "Anjuman Khuddame Vatan" and a newspaper was published under title of "Subah Vatan" with Shakir Ali Khan as Editor. The newspaper carried news of demands about Civil and political rights to citizen of Bhopal and also voiced the concerns of those locals from Bhopal, who lost their jobs. The Bhopali and Non-Bhopali movement was started under the leadership of Shakir Ali Khan. As anticipated, this newspaper was banned. Further 11 news papers published in a row were banned by the Ruler and copies confiscated. Freedom struggle at almost all princely states was led by the leading organization named All India States Peoples Conference, the Akhil Bhartiyay Praja Mandal. The Praja Mandal also constituted in Bhopal, while Shakir Ali Khan headed Praja Mandal in Bhopal, the outfit had support of Jawaharlal Nehru. The struggle for civil liberty and political freedom gathered momentum. Many leaders were arrested and awarded punishment of 6 months to 2 years. Bhopal at this point of time was governed by British and the Inspector General Of Police too was a British. The freedom fighters were treated as petty criminals in the prison. They were made to wear the dress of criminals, the short pyjama, kurta and Cap, a heavy iron Kada (Iron Ring) in the legs with a plate hanging on chest indicating their crime and the punishment awarded. The Political Prisoners were allowed to meet family only once in a quarter and these permissions too were cancelled without any reason of rhyme. Only way to address the grievances was the hunger strike by these political prisoners. The way things moved are evident from the fact that once 4-5 leaders of Praja Mandal who visited to witness the court proceedings against a freedom fighter, was booked for Naqabzani, rioting and were sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment after a summary court trial at the jail itself !!! They were imprisoned for Naqabzani (House Breaking) i.e entering the Court Room and Rioting. Press was brutally gagged, Press Act was amended on 30th March 1935 and enforced.The Act had provision of 6 months imprisonment for writing against the government. Printing press were sealed, editors and press owners were thrown behind the bars, more than a dozen news papers from outside Bhopal were banned entry in Bhopal. On Ist August 1939 a meeting of Industrial workers was called and Mazdoor Sabha was constituted, Maqbool Hasan was elected President and Nand Kishor Sharma was elected as the Secretary. Shakir Ali Khan, Chatur Narain Malviya and others were also elected as Members. Praja Mandal formed this Mazdoor Sabha to address the issues of industrial workers. The order to run 4 looms was resisted by workers who went on strike. The Textile Mill was closed down by the management. Shakir Ali Khan and 85 workers were jailed, who resorted to hunger strike in jail. The demands were met, the British Inspector General of Police met Shakir Ali Khan in Jail and informed him the end of strike in Textile Mill. Even after the satisfaction that hunger strike had come to an end, Shakir Ali Khan along with his protestors team were not released. Quit India Movement 1942:	In 1942 when Quit India movement gained momentum, Praja Mandal Leaders were not permitted protests in support of Quit India Movement, the government arrested all the prominent Praja Mandal Leaders, including Shakir Ali Khan, Govind Prasad Shrivastava, Yahya Ali Khan & others. When released, a unique oppressive order "Zabaan Bandi" (Tongue Closure) was imposed in which the leaders were ordered not to speak to any one in city, either in person or through a gathering. The era from 1933 to 1947 records a consistent struggle by the people for their civil rights, political inspiration, addressing unemployment issues. Independence 1947 :	After all of these agitations and struggles, India ushered into a free nation in August 1947. Nawab Bhopal signed the Instrument of Accession of Bhopal state to Union of India in the first week of August 1947. Nawab Bhopal had laid down a condition that his Accession to Union of India be kept secret for 10 days hence there were no immediate celebrations on the occasion. (Reference Government Gazetteer of Sehore Bhopal 1999 and the book by V.P.Menon) Nawab Bhopal at Bairagarh Airport before a gathering had earlier declared that Bhopal will not go with any dominion either India or Pakistan. A resolution was passed by Praja Mandal opposing the declaration of Nawab and the written resolition was handedover by Zahoor Hashmi to the Nawab in a meeting held by Nawab to support his declaration. The Congress, Hindu Sabha, Muslim League supported Nawab's declaration. Only Praja Mandal opposed. On occasion of Independence Shakir Ali Khan was in Khandwa, a meeting of the Praja Mandal leaders took place at Qadar Miyan palace by Chatur Narayan Malviya and a Prabhat Pheri was organised to mark the Independecne of Bhopal. The dissent was on the point of Nawab Bhopal refusing to join either India or Pakistan. But within 2-3 days it was no more a secret that Nawab had already signed the Accession Instrument well before saying that he is not joining any dominion either India or Pakistan. A plate at old Jail of Bhopal prominently displays, even today, four names who represented the struggle for freedom in Bhopal, the names included are Abdul Rehman Abdul Rauf, Inayatullah Khan Tarzi Mashriqi, Fazal Ali Hashmat Ali Suroor and Shakir Ali Khan. In 1972, on occasion of 25th anniversary of Freedom Struggle Government of India honoured and presented them the Tamr Patr (Copper Trophies) who were in Jail for two and more years during Freedom struggle, they include Bhopal's Shakir Ali Khan, Govind Prasad Shrivastava, Yahya Ali Khan, Rafiq Ahmed and many more. The 25 days Vilinikaran Andolan (Merger Movement) from 6th January to 31st January 1949 to merge Bhopal in the adjoining state of Madhya Bharat : Even after 15th august 1947, the Mazdoor Sabha continued agitations to resolve worker issues. There was no constitution on occasion of Independence the 15th August 1947. Constitution of India came in being in 1950, the princely states continued to be governed by erstwhile rulers, including Bhopal. Indore had Mr. Khode and Gwalior had Leeladhar Joshi as Prime Ministers. In April 1948, there was an agreement between Praja Mandal and Nawab Bhopal. Master Lal Singh was Leader of Praja Mandal delegation for discussion with Nawab on formation of Popular Government and he was agreed on all conditions. After agreement with Praja Mandal, the government was formed under Prime Ministership of Awadh Narayan Bisariya. The council of ministers did not include two prominent members of Praja Mandal Master Lal Singh and Quddus Sehbai. When Master Lal Singh and Quddus Sehbai was refused ministerial berth in Nawab's Ministry they opposed the agreement. On the call of Master Lal Singh and Quddus Sehbai an agitation was launched from 6th January 1949 to include Bhopal state to neighboring Madhya Bharat, so that an expanded council of ministers may give chance for their inclusion as ministers. This was basically not an agitation for annexing Bhopal state to union of India. The charter of demands published in Bhai Ratan Kumar's news paper Nai Rah did not contain this point. The demand was specific to annex Bhopal to a neighboring state to open space for these two leaders to get berth in council of ministers. This Vilinikaran Andolan ended in only 25 days after intervention from the Centre. This movement was useless as the Bhopal was already included as a Indian state after signing of Accession Instrument in August 1947. Draft of Indian constitution also recorded Bhopal and other 20-22 princely states as an entity in the year 1948. There was an unfortunate incident during the agitation when 4 persons were killed in a firing at Boras situated on banks of Narmada river near Udaipura, when the agitators snatched rifles of the soldiers. Government of India and Nawab Bhopal inked the modalities of Transfer of Power agreement on 30th April 1949 with Indian Union and on 1st June, 1949, the charge of Part "C" state of Bhopal was taken over by Chief Commissioner, Government of India. The Transfer of Power of Indore state was completed in 1950 and in 1947 Shri Khode was made the first Prime Minister of Indore while Shri Leeladhar Joshi was Prime Minister of Gwalior. Why the leaders of Vilinikaran Andolan remain silent from the date of Independence till their agitation started from 6th January 1949. . Shahnawaz Khan.

____________ The Books & Records referred in this Article are; National Archives of India Bhopal : Record related to the Freedom Struggle of 1857 in Bhopal. The related record kept in the separate Files and Bags specially in Bag No 2 & 3. All the records are avilable even today in the record rooms of National Archives Bhopal, even today. Sipahi Bahadur, Book written by Asadullah Khan in Urdu and translated in Hindi By Shahnawaz Khan, Published by Swaraj Sansthan Directorate, Department of Culture, Government of Madhya Pradesh in the year 2001. (Phone No.0755 661723. Second Edition is published in the year 2008. The Book mainly based on the records available in the National Archives of India Bhopal. Another Book on the same subject named 1857-60 Jang-e-Azadi Mein Bhopal, written by Bhagwan Das Shrivastava and Published by Swaraj Sansthan Directorate, Department of Culture, Government of Madhya Pradesh in the year in the year 2009. This Book is also  based mainly on the records available in the National Archives of India  Bhopal. The Story of the Integration of the Indian States, written by V.P.Menon, the than Home Secretary Government of India 1947, and the main person entrusted for talks with the Rulers of all States of India for Accession to Indian Union. Signing Accession Instrument of Bhopal State in August 1947 is referred on page No.114 of the Book, published First in March 1956 and than September 1956, thereafter in 1961 by Orient Longman Private Ltd., New Delhi. The Madhya Padesh District Gazetteer Sehore and Bhopal, Published in the year 1999 by the Department of Languages Cultural Department Government of Madhya Pradesh Bhopal, reference are on Page Nos, 66 to 69 and 81 to 83. Jange-E-Azadi Mein Bhopal, Another Book jointly written by Dr. Nusrat Bano Ruhi and Shahnawaz Khan Published by Swaraj Sansthan Directorate, Department of Culture, Government of Madhya Pradesh in the year 1999. The Book based on the different records of the former Nawab's Government of Bhopal available in National Archives Bhopal, refereces of different Newspapers published during the year 1933 to 1947, and also some articles and writings of Shakir Ali Khan, Freedom Fighter and Bhopal MLA from 1957 to 1977, twenty years and also Lutfullah Khan Nazmi. The Book mainly contains the pre-independence era from 1933 to 1947 and including, after independence, the only 25 days Merger Movement (Vilinikaran Andolan) from 6th January to 31st January 1949.