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| A TRIBUTE TO MAHARAJA HARI SINGH | | | Col J P Singh (Retd) | 4/26/2011 10:25:04 PM |
| Lt Gen His Highness Shriman Rajrajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Sri Sir Hari Singh Indar Mahindar Bahadur Sipar-i-Sultanat, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, KCVO, the last ruler of Jammu & Kashmir breathed his last on 26 April 1961 at Bombay. Due to growing differences with his Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah, he appointed his son Yuvraj Karan Singh as his regent and left the state in 1949, never to return thereafter. He spent rest of his life in Bombay. His passions for Polo, Horse Racing and Reading kept him occupied for the remaining period of life. As per his will his Ashes were brought to Jammu and spread all over J&K and immersed in River Tawi. He ruled the state with distinction for 27 years. He deserves to be remembered for his services to his subjects.
Maharaja Hari Singh was born on 23rd Sept 1895 in Amar Mahal Jammu which is a museum of world fame and most popular tourist attraction in Jammu. He was son of Raja General Amar Singhji. He ascended to the throne of Jammu & Kashmir State in 1925. His Raj Tilak ceremony was held in present day Amar Kshatriya Rajput Sabha Building in Purani Mandi. He was one of the most renowned ruler of British India. His empire situated North West of India was geographically the largest and strategically the most important state this side of Suez Canal for the British Empire. He gained acclamation for being “The Last Ruling King of Independent India” since he continued to be Maharaja till 15th November 1952 while all other rulers of princely states had seized to be Kings by 1948.
On ascending to the throne he issued a declaration stating that although he was born as Hindu but as a ruler he possesses no religion; justice will be his religion and he stood by it. He believed that a king should rule in a righteous manner. He stated, “in the happiness of my subjects lie my happiness, in their welfare my welfare, whatever pleases me, I shall not consider it good but whatever makes my subjects happy, I shall consider that to be good.”
When he was 13 he was sent to ‘Mayo College of Princes’ for studies. Soon after that his father died in 1901; after which the British Govt in Delhi took keen interest in his education and bringing up. A British Army Officer was deputed as his guardian with the responsibility of ensuring proper education and training with the aim of grooming him to be a good ruler. From Mayo College he was sent to ‘Imperial Cadet Corps’ Dehradun to imbibe in him the traits of military leader and able administrator. His experiences in politics began in 1922 when he was appointed a senior member of State Council as advisor to Maharaja Partap Singh.
In 1915 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of J&K State Forces when he was only 20 years old. On assuming command, he introduced lot of reforms in the training and welfare of officers and soldiers. Langars and Officers Messes were introduced by him in the state force prior to which the officers and jawans used to cook their own meals. During the reign of Maharaja Partap Singh Union Jack used to fly on all official buildings of the State. He ordered their removal which was contested by the British govt but he didn’t relent. Later, on Viceroy’s request he allowed a British flag to be flown only on the residential building of the British Resident thereby exerting his full authority over his sate.
His rule has been described as most glorious by British historians because of several reforms that he introduced in administration and judiciary. After ascending to the throne he brought about several rules and regulations for the welfare and betterment of his subjects. There are numerous instances worth mentioning but few of them such as making primary education compulsory for all subjects; men & women, prohibiting child marriage and opening all the places of worship for his low caste subjects, regulation to relieve the farmers from strangle hold of money lenders and preference to state subjects in govt jobs are most remarkable. It is believed that his troubles began after the money lenders started retaliating for his controls on their Shahukari. He opened lot of new schools and colleges to promote education and appointed Scholarship Selection Board & Recruitment Board as well as State Public Service Commission. He enacted a State Subjects Act in 1927 by which no outsider was permitted to buy land or property in the state thereby protecting identity of his subjects. High Court of J&K is his gift of judicial reforms and justice to his subjects, though not known to many. In a rare case of justice to his subjects late Professor Ram Nath Shastri, Padma Shree’s father refused to vacate a piece of land in Karan Nagar while all other dwellers did and also filed a case against Maharaja’s order. As per the rule no civil case could be registered against the ruler. Learning this, His Highness ordered the Session Judge to register the case against him and contested it personally in the court and lost. Such was the edifice of justice during his rule. Would any other ruler or Viceroy done the same? He abolished untouchabilty in 1932. He constructed iron Bridges on rivers Chenab and Tawi in 1932. He banned practice of Sati in 1933. He managed to check corruption in the administration by adopting unique ways of detecting corruption, findings culprit officials and punishing them. In 1940 he opened a Hospital in Jammu by the name of his grandfather and another at Srinagar by the name of his father. He started a sugar factory in R S Pura in 1945. He laid the foundation of Radio Kashmir Jammu on 31 December 1947. He banned begar and it is said that during his rule none dared to accept bribes or deny wages for any services rendered. He even ploughed land himself to get land holding rights to the tillers.
He was made a member of the Imperial War Council from 1944 to 1946 during the World War II. During the war he visited Middle East where he joined his units which were fighting against Axis Powers. He lived with them in their temporary trenches and bunkers which boosted their moral. Showing solidarity with his forces in the battlefield earned him lot of respect not only of his men but also of the Allied Powers particularly of the British Army. He was given the rank of Lt Gen in the British Army, the highest rank given to any other ruler. This is distinctly inscribed in roll of honour at the top of the list in the Red Fort.
Hari Singh’s rule witnessed lot of political upheavals. He tried his best to get the Gilgit Agency abolished to take over its control from British but the British did not give in. On the contrary in 1935 he was compelled to withdraw his own Administrative machinery from Wazarat portion of Gilgit and to hand it over alongwith Gilgit Agency to British on a 60 years lease. British doubted his loyalty towards the crown after he said the following words in the Round Table Conference in London in 1931. “An Indian and loyal to the land whence we derive our birth and infant nurture, we stand as solidly as the rest of our countrymen and for our land’s enjoyment of a position of honourable equality in the British Common Wealth of Nations.”. From 1931 onwards, abetted by British, his rule faced Kashmiri insurrection which became a mass movement in the valley under the leadership of Sheikh Mohd Abdullah. He opposed Jinnah’s Muslim League for its communal agenda illustrated in his two nation theory; hence faced his wrath. He was victim of hostility of Indian National Congress because of Pt Nehru and Sheikh Mohd Abdullah. Immediately after independence and partition of India he saw the tragic communal riots which engulfed the State. It was followed by an invasion of his State by Pakistani raiders. Jammu & Kashmir had become an independent country after the lapse of British Paramountcy on 15 Aug 1947. It was during his reign that the first Indo-Pak war was fought on the soil of his empire. His appeal for help and accession was taken by a pinch of salt because of his differences with Pt Nehru. Finally the Govt of India took over the control of J&K in 1952 thus ending 106 years hereditary Dogra Rule of largest state of India.
Maharaja Hari Singh was a democratic and progressive ruler and knew what was to come. He had made it clear in the Round Table Conference in London that he was for independence of India for which he had to pay heavily as Britishers never trusted him thereafter. As a result he had to face many uprisings fomented and abetted by the British. He started democratic process in his empire by constituting a Praja Sabha of elected and nominated members in 1934 and appointing two of the elected members as Ministers.
During his visit to Srinagar in June 1947, Lord Mountbatten is believed to have advised Maharaja to accede to Pakistan on the grounds of religion of majority population and geographical contiguity. Although the advice amounted to be an order because the state was part of the Dominion, Maharaja ignored his advice and instead wanted more time to decide the future of his State. Mahatma Gandhi paid a visit to the valley in July 1947 during which Maharaja discussed his plan of accession with him.But all the rail and land routes to J&K passed through Pakistan. Despite Gurdaspur District coming to India and River Ravi becoming the boundary line, there was no road or rail link to Jammu through Pathankot which hindered Maharaja’s early decision of accession till road link to Jammu was ready. He signed the instrument of accession with the govt of India on 26 October 1947, in the best interest of his subjects, acceding his state to the Indian Union which included Jammu, Kashmir, Northern Areas, Ladakh, Trans Karakoram Tract, POK and Aksai Chin. Today we are proud Indian because of him. May his nationalism imbibe in us all the attribute of sacrifice for the sake of nation.
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