Memory and Erasure: Why Are Kashmiri Women Missing from Resistance History?

When the history of Kashmir’s resistance against Dogra rule is narrated, it is often told through the names of male leaders, political parties, and public martyrs. Yet the archive of Kashmir’s freedom struggle contains another, quieter history: the history of women who marched, mourned, organized, resisted, and suffered but were rarely written into the center of the story. Their absence is not accidental; it reflects how nationalist histories often remember leadership as male and treat women’s participation as emotional, supportive, or symbolic rather than political.

The Dogra dynasty ruled Jammu and Kashmir from 1846 to 1947, after the treaty of Amritsar. Under Dogra rule, Kashmiris were facing many problems like heavy taxation, force labor and social inequalities. In this situation, women faced double marginalization: first as a subject of an oppressive state and second gender-based such as female infanticide, trafficking, lack of education, and limited public mobility. The year 1931 was the turning point when trial of Abdul Qadeer; a Muslim agitator and mysterious figure in the resistance history of Kashmir. He delivered an anti-Dogra speech in 1931 after which he was arrested and his trial began. He wasn’t a political figure and there are many versions of origin as well. Some historian claim that he was not from Kashmir while other claimed that he belonged to Poonch division.

After his arrest, many protestors gathered outside Srinagar jail and started protested against his illegal detainment and trial. The protests intensified when police opened fire on peaceful protesters and killed several. It was point of political awakening in Kashmir. What receive far less attention was role of women in resistance against Dogra Raj. Research shows that women from working class background participated actively in demonstrations, organized public gatherings and carried secret messages. These women were not member of elite political circles. Most lacked formal education and came from humble backgrounds. Yet when repression intensified in 1931 they emerged on streets in remarkable number. Women marched through Srinagar carrying black flags, raising slogans against state atrocities and demanding release of political prisoners. The state response was brutal. Contemporary records mentioned that women faced beating, molestation, intimidation and arrests. Such acts of courage reveals that resistance to Dogra rule was not exclusively a man endeavor; it was collective struggle in which women bore extra-ordinary personal risks.

Despite of these sacrifices, historical memory largely marginalized them. Popular histories, commentaries and textbooks often narrate stories of male leaders. The names of women such as Fazali, Sajida Bano, Jan Ded and numerous other appear sporadically in historical discourse. The problem of history is that it is often written around moments of spectacles; arrests, public trials and armed confrontations. But resistance does not always begin with slogan or political parties. Sometimes it is in the form of grief. Women mourning their dead, refusing silence, gathering around dead bodies, and transforming private sorrow into public defiance. Women were not absent from resistance; they were absent from recognition. Their role was subtle, social, emotional and political all at once. History did not forget these women because they did nothing. It forgot them because their resistance did not always fit the masculine language of heroism. A history that remembers the dead but forgets the women who mourned them into political meaning is a history only half told.

About Writer

Mahpara Shamsi is an MPhil scholar in History at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. She has a keen interest in historical research, analysis, and academic writing. Through her work, she seeks to explore and contribute to a deeper understanding of historical events and their contemporary significance.

She is pleased to present this article for consideration and hopes to contribute meaningfully to scholarly and public discourse. Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.