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Srinagar, May 02, 2023 (PPI-OT):The world observed the May Day, yesterday, in memory labour protests of 1886 at the Haymarket Square, Chicago, to express solidarity with the workers; however, the fact is, Kashmiri workers associated with shawl weaving took to the streets of Srinagar on 29 April 1865, almost 22-years before the Haymarket incident, protesting against high taxes. According to Mirdu Rai, author of Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights, and the History of Kashmir, the system of taxation imposed by Hindu Dogra rulers in the region was such that only the barest margin of subsistence was allowed to the Muslim Kashmiri workers.
The shawl weavers of Srinagar were compelled by the circumstances of turbulent working conditions, unfair wages, excessive taxation and a ban on weavers who wanted to leave Kashmir valley. Historians have recorded that 28 unarmed weavers were thrown in the river and scores were injured in bullet shots. “Next day the dead bodies were recovered from the stream and were paraded by the weavers to drive attention of ruler. The organizers of the procession were stopped and arrested and even flogged,” says Rehka Chowdary, a teacher at the University of Jammu. Rasool Sheikh, Ali Pal, Abdul Qudus, and Sona Shah the leaders, who had led the procession were imprisoned in Bahu Fort prison in Jammu region. They never returned to Kashmir and died in jails.
Neither any inquiry was instituted nor was any memorial ever dedicated to the first trade union movement of the world, which happened much before the Chicago incident or even before the Russian or Chinese communist revolutions, which were touted as the result of worker’s resistance to exploitation. It is ironic that this movement has not even received any recognition from the trade unions or global labour movements. Every year, people in Kashmir, particularly the businesses related to Pashmina businesses, commemorate the death anniversary of those innocent weavers. They observe April 29 instead of May 1 as the Labour Day.
The Kashmiri shawl, carpet and handicraft industry workers agitated against the cruel taxation system and employment conditions at least 22 years before the protests of the Haymarket labour movement. They were the pioneers of industry-wise workers’ rights movements in the world. At least 28 shawl weavers who were put to death by the forces of the ruling Maharaja Ranbir Singh on 29 April 1865 at Zaldagar area of old Srinagar city. Those unarmed shawl weavers were protesting against the cruel taxation of the exploitative working conditions.
Every year, people in Kashmir, particularly the businesses related to Pashmina businesses, commemorate the death anniversary of those innocent weavers. They observe April 29 instead of May 1 as the Labour Day. It was the day when hard working shawl weavers marched through the streets of Srinagar’s old city against the cruel tax policies imposed on them by the Dogra regime. The shawl weavers of Srinagar were compelled by the circumstances of turbulent working conditions, unfair wages, excessive taxation and a ban on weavers who wanted to leave Kashmir valley.
The world labour movement was pioneered by protesters of the Haymarket Riot (also known as the “Haymarket Incident” and “Haymarket Affair”) that occurred on May 4, 1886. The Haymarket protester gathered to near Chicago’s Haymarket Square and turned into a riot after someone threw a bomb at police. At least eight people died as a result of the violence that day.
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