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| REMEMBERING THE RULER WHO LOVED HIS SUBJECTS | | | Col J P Singh, Retd | 4/26/2012 11:07:38 PM |
| India got independence on 15 August 1947. Maharaja
Hari Singh, the then ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, ceded
his princely state to the Indian Union on 26 October 1947. Although contiguous to both India and Pakistan; had the logic of partition been logically applied, rather than the decision of accession left to the discretion of ruler, J&K would have been given to Pakistan by the Radcliffe Commission on the basis of religion as was done in case of Lahore. Although there was much in favour of accession to Pakistan because in addition of religious affinity, all the means of communications connected J&K to rest of the country and the world that way. But he preferred democratic India over theocratic Pakistan. He felt that politically and economically Jammu and Kashmir will be better placed in federal and secular India, a country with thousands years of history and civilisation. We are politically a pampered and a special state of the Indian Union and economically on the path of growth trajectory and above all proud Indian because of Maharaja Hari Singh who made it possible for us to live, speak and breathe in an independent, free and sovereign land . Today on his 51st death anniversary, He deserves to be remembered for his nationalism and pledges to his subjects. It is hoped that Jammuites will celebrate every anniversary as faithfully as the Keralites celebrate Onam in the memory of their benevolent King Mahabali.
On taking over the reigns of the princely state on 25th February 1925, He issued this declaration "although I am born Hindu, as a ruler I possesses no religion; justice will be my religion" He further 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. " He lived by it throughout his life. Having handed over executive power to Sheikh Mohd Abdullah and after appointing Yuvraj Karan Singh as regent, he left the state on 9 June 1949, never to return. He did this in the best interest of his subjects in the valley as per his pledges. He remained forgotten and forsaken till the recent past. Today when an elegant statue of Maharaja Hari Singh overviews entry and exit to historic temple city, the Dogras feel proud and elated on their dream having coming true. After persistent public demand the statue of Maharaja Hari Singh was installed infront of Hindu and Muslim shrines on Tawi Bridge. It is indeed a dream come true for the people of Jammu in the real sense. While we rejoice the achievement, we can't ignore looking back to see why such token of gratitude was after all denied to the benevolent ruler who led the state through the turbulent periods of history, as ironically as, a three yards burial place was denied to Sultan Bahadur Shah Zaffar, the last Mughal ruler of India in his own capital city. History bears strange corollaries. Without going deep into personal, political and religious rivalries associated with him and Sheikh Abdullah, one can safely say that things happen as they are destined and are nature driven rather than human. The injustice in this case is also perhaps one such thing even though it is known to be Pt Nehru and Sheikh Sahib's perpetrated. His rule has been described as most glorious by British and Indian historians including K M Panniker, because of several reforms that he introduced in administration and judiciary. He initiated democratic process by constituting a Praja Sabha of elected and nominated members in 1934 and appointed four of the elected members as Ministers. He made primary education compulsory for all subjects; men & women which still remains a distant dream despite flagship Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan. He opened lot of new schools and colleges to promote education. He banned child marriage and the practice of Sati; the evils still prevalent in Haryana and Rajasthan. He opened all the places of worship and drinking water for his so called low caste subjects. He made laws to relieve the farmers from strangle hold of money lenders. He enacted a State Subjects Act in 1927 thereby protecting identity of his subjects. The significance of this Act was highlighted by Mufti Mohd Sayeed, former Chief Minister, while lauding the role of Maharaja in nation building in his party's Minority Cell Convention on 22 April 2012. Calling him a great visionary, Mufti Sahib said "it was Maharaja Hari Singh who introduced the state subject and duel citizenship law when people from Punjab were out to garb the land in J&K"; a rich tribute. High Court of J&K is his gift though only known to the legal fraternity. He abolished untouchabilty in 1932, the custom still prevails in some parts of India. He constructed iron Bridges on Tawi and Chenab in 1932. He checked corruption in the administration by adopting unique ways of detecting it and punishing the culprits. In 1940 he opened two hospitals, one in Jammu and another at Srinagar. 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 deny wages to the labourers who even today continue to be denied full wages at places. He ploughed land himself to get land holding rights to the tillers and to promote agriculture production in his state. Were these not unparallel social reforms? Can the poor, SCs, STs, men, women, farmers and society as a whole ever forget such a ruler? His reign was really an era of welfare and reforms while the rulers of rest of the colonial India were by and large involved in aesho-ashrat and pleasing their colonial Masters. Maharaja Hari Singh's rule witnessed lot of political upheavals. From 1931 onwards his rule faced Kashmiri insurrection under the leadership of Sheikh 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. He thus remained victim of triple blasphemy. His differences with Sheikh Sahib continued even after he appointed him Prime Minister which further infuriated Pt Nehru. It was during his reign that the first ever 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 accepted the accession and sent army to drive the invaders from J&K. He ruled the state during a turbulent period of history witnessing struggle for freedom from imperial rule led by Mahatma Gandhi, WW II, followed by partition of India and 1st ever Indo - Pak war. Despite all these pressures he ruled benevolently for which he continues to be remembered. J&K fully merged in Indian Union in1952 thus ending 106 years hereditary Dogra Rule of geographically the largest and strategically the most important state of British India. He spent rest of his life in Bombay in almost seclusion. Having ruled the princely state with distinction for 27 years and spending last decade of his life in delusion; His Exalted Highness breathed his last on 26 April 1961 at Bombay with acclamation for being 'The Last Ruling King of Independent India' since he continued to be Maharaja till 15th November 1952 while all other rulers had ceased to be Kings by 1949. Decades after his death, public at large rose above the political barriers and paid him rich tributes by massively participating in unveiling ceremony of his statue. Beauty and elegance of Nargis Flower described by Alma-Iqbal in the following lines befits Maharaja Hari Singh the most.
Hazaron saal nargis apni beynoori pe roti hai
Bahut mushkil se hota hai chaman mey deedawar paida. |
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