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| Sheikh assured loyalty to Hari Singh for personal power | | Conspiracy against Jammu -- IV | |
STARK REALITY
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Feb 13:The concluding paragraph of the long letter that Hari Singh wrote to President of India Dr Rajendra Prashad on August 16/17, 1952 read like this: Finally, I have to say that I had my range of controversy with Sheikh Abdullah and the Prime Minister (Nehru) and I am bitter about the fact that the Government of India have been unable to afford me protection and safeguard my rights in spite of the fact that throughout these four and a half years, I have given full cooperation and the fact that my pre-1947 conduct did not compare favourably with that of the other Rulers who at present enjoy Government of India’ protection and favour. During the last three years of my enforced absence from the State I have given them no cause for grievance and at the most, I have been charged with delay in permitting the Yuvraj (Karan Singh) to take action which having regard to the consideration involved and my better experience, was natural and understandable. Even in this matter ultimately I did fall in line with the Government of India. If the result of all this in the final stage has again to be betrayal by the Government of India of their assurances and promises etc. and is to result not only in my final removal from the State but also in of the sacrifice of the Yuvraj whom I had entrusted to the Government of India’s protection. I can only say that it would be an ill return for the faith which I and the Yuvraj placed in the Government and the help and cooperation to the extent of self-effacement that we rendered to it. Only history and posterity will be able to do justice to our respective points of view.”
What Hari Singh wrote to the President of India was a reflection on the kind of treatment that was meted out to him by Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah, who beguiled the Maharaja and exploited his simplicity for enjoying power. Not only Nehru and Sheikh conspired against Hari Singh and hit the people of Jammu province below the belt. In fact, they and V P Menon, Gopalaswami Ayyangar, and even Patel became party to the betrayal. Mahatma Gandhi’s attitude towards Hari Singh was no different. He too had advised Hari Singh to hand over power to Sheikh Abdullah. The letter of Hari Singh explains everything and puts things in perspective. And, he was the same Hari Singh who had roared in the Round Table Conference in London in 1930 and said: “I am an Indian first then a Maharaja.” It’s ironical that such a nationalist of nationalists was humiliated by the Indian political leadership, which also created problem in Kashmir by manipulating everything in order to enable Sheikh Abdullah to spoil the Indian pitch in the Valley and jeopardize the legislate rights and interests of the people living beyond the Kashmir Valley.
The crux of the matter is that several persons joined hands to humiliate and ill-treat Hari Singh, who had handed down to the people of the State a liberal dispensation. It was not just a conspiracy hatched against Hari Singh, it was also a conspiracy hatched to deprive the people of Jammu province of the political status they enjoyed for centuries. The result of the conspiracy was that the people of Jammu province became powerless. The situation is no different even after 63 years because the policy of those who matter in New Delhi is the same under which Jammu was rendered ineffective and unreal in 1947. It is, however, a different matter that the people of Jammu province, like Maharaja Hari Singh, continue to fight for the national cause and those who were pampered and appeased in 1947 continue to indulge in activities injurious to the vital national interests. (Concluded)
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