SRINAGAR, Aug 15: As the rest of the nation celebrates its 50th anniversary of freedom, master Khaliq (not his real name) sits sadly in his tailoring shop in Sathu Barbarshah asking why he and his peers did not find their place in history.

Half bent with age, Khaliq, today repents his emotional decision not to file his claim for freedom fighter status under directions from his leader Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.``Hundreds of colleagues and I who had participated in the freedom struggle were left with no pension benefits. We even did not get our rightful place in the nation's history,'' he says.

Khaliq and his colleagues were caught in the vagaries of Kashmir politics in 1953. It was time when Sheikh Abdullah's relations with the leadership in New Delhi had deteriorated and he directed his partymen not to file their claims for freedom fighters with the Central Government.

The compliance was complete. Khaliq says he never thought of the hardships the decision could bring to gullible and dedicated partymen like him later.

Khaliq in his younger days had been an underground fighter of the Muslim Conference (which was later rechristened as National Conference) during the ``Quit Kashmir movement of 1942''. He was imprisoned for several months.Years later, his ideal Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was to strike a deal with Indira Gandhi and he was given back the reins of power in Jammu and Kashmir. Abdullah was a changed man; more realistic about Kashmir's relationship with India, feels Khaliq.

Khaliq and many of his colleagues are now struggling, some not even able to earn enough to sustain their families. They felt the need for getting at least the freedom fighters' pension, which in the absence of claims from Kashmir had gone to many undeserving people.

In the changed political situation, Abdullah asked his followers to apply for freedom fighters' pension to the Home Ministry. But it was already too late and their applications are still pending.

``We approached Farooq Abdullah several times when he came into power,'' says Khaliq. The aggrieved freedom fighters even formed an organisation to pursue their case. Nothing has materialised so far.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.