Abdul Sattar Ranjoor (12 October 1917 – 23 March 1990) was a
Kashmir
Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
i politician, and renowned revolutionary poet and writer. He was a veteran leader of the
Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925.
H ...
(CPI). Ranjoor was the founding state secretary of the party in
Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to:
* Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent
* Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory
* Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...
.
[''Early Times Plus''. ]
CPI pays tributes to Com Ranjoor on death anniversary
'' He served as a National Council member of the party.
Biography
Ranjoor was born on 12 October 1917 in Keegam Shopian.
He took part in the struggle against Autocratic Dogra rule.
He was active in the Ahmadi movement between 1934 and 1937. In 1939 he joined the
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference
The Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) is a regional political party in the Indian union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Founded as the ''All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference'' by Sheikh Abdullah and Chaudhry Ghulam Ab ...
.
Ranjoor also played an important role in building up the peasant movement in the
Kashmir valley
The Kashmir Valley, also known as the ''Vale of Kashmir'', is an intermontane valley concentrated in the Kashmir Division of the Indian- union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The valley is bounded on the southwest by the Pir Panjal Range and ...
.
He was jailed in 1942 for his role in the peasant movement.
He was accused in the Pulwama Conspiracy Case, and went underground for over a year during the Quit Kashmir movement.
During this time his home was frequently raided and looted by Dogra regime. Ranjoor was also a noted Urdu poet.
Whilst living in
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
for a couple of years, he had been close to the renowned poet Sir
Muhammad Iqbal
Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...
.
[''New Age Weekly''. ]
In Memory of Com Ranjoor
'' who was instrumental in infusing social and political activism into Ranjoor's life and poetry.
In 1949 he left the National Conference, and founded the underground Communist Party organisation in Kashmir.
He was arrested in 1951. In 1953 he became vice president of the Democratic Youth League. In 1957 he joined the
Democratic National Conference. In 1962 he became the vice president of the Jammu and Kashmir Kisan Sabha.
Ranjoor contested the 1962 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election, standing as a Democratic National Conference candidate in the Rajpora seat. According to the official report, he finished in second place but obtained merely 188 votes (0.8% of the votes in the constituency). Actually he and DNC boycotted the elections just days before voting due to unprecedented violence unleashed by Bakshi Regime. Hence this election became infamous for fraud and massive rigging by the ruling party.
In 1966 he became the president of the Jammu and Kashmir Kisan Sabha. He also became the Organising Secretary of CPI in Jammu and Kashmir in the same year. He served as the editor of ''Hamara Kashmir'' ('Our Kashmir').
He contested the Shopian seat in the 1967 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election, standing as a CPI candidate. He finished in third place with 2,807 votes (16.93% of the votes in the constituency). He again stood as a candidate in Shopian in the 1972 election, finishing in third place again but increasing his result to 5,160 votes (25.87%).
In his later years Ranjoor withdrew from active politics due to old age.
and to focus on his poetry. However, he remained socially active and his native home continued to be an open house where commoners could go to seek his help and guidance. He also continued to be member of National Council of Communist Party of India. On 23 March 1990 militants barged into his house in Keegam Shopian. Ranjoor was shot and died instantly.
He was 73 years old at the time of his death.
Ranjoor's all works and Autobiography is available at www.ranjoor-kashmiri.com
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranjoor, Abdul
1990 deaths
Communist Party of India politicians from Jammu and Kashmir
1917 births