Brig Vijay Sagar Dheman
Of late, there is a lot of talk in Jammu about declaration of holiday for Maharaja Hari Singh’s birthday. A large section of youth, supported by a host of local parties, has come out in support of this campaign. Traditionally, The Yuva Rajput Sabha had been demanding holiday on Maharaja’s birthday i.e 23 September by sitting in protest at Maharaja Hari Singh park Tawi Bridge every year. This year they have declared that they will sit indefinitely on hunger strike till the demand is met. This invited reaction from local administration resulting in lathi charge and arrests by JK police. Sec 144 was declared in the area to maintain peace and tranquility. Now question arises that do we need a holiday on Maharaja’s Birthday? What purpose will it serve? Is this demand limited to the Rajput community only? To answer this, lets analyse the role that Maharaja Hari Singh played in Jammu and Kashmir.
Maharaja Hari Singh was a great patriot who sacrificed all his worldly possessions including his CROWN for a just cause to ensure that Jammu & Kashmir State accedes to India in a smooth manner. It was his devotion and love for our motherland- INDIA (apparent from his speeches as Chairman ‘Princes’ Chamber’, during ‘Round Table Conference’ at London n 1930-1932) that we have J&K State- a geo strategically important state- as an integral part of India. He was a just, secular and a man of pluralistic instincts who on his coronation declared that his religion is JUSTICE and all his subjects are equal irrespective of religion, caste, creed or gender without any discrimination towards any one. He abolished untouchability even before Gandhi ji did it in India. He ensured right of education for women, abolished Begar Labour, introduced myriad administrative reforms and many other People friendly issues were streamlined.
Now the moot point is, why few segments of Jammu society support him and why few segments are against him? Answer is very simple. Every man in prominence has some supporters and some detractors. Let’s analyse views of the detractors. Recorded history has forced us to believe few perceptions appearing in print during 1947. Before I move further let me quote an ancient adage, “If the King of Jungle i.e LION did not have good scribes, then the written History would always favour the HUNTER”. Here, obviously, the Lion, Maharaja Hari Singh was at the mercy of few local communists and plethora of press supporting British, Jinnah sahib and Nehru ji. Hosts of adages read ‘DANTKANTIES’ have been published, repeatedly quoted in the books and thus have become ‘TRUTH’. We need to research miniscule no of publications available from Jammu, accept conflicting views from authors inimical to interests of Jammu as well and depend on ‘Oral History’ which is new branch of ‘Research in History’ accepted by modern Historians world over.
We will address couple of issues here just to put up a point for perusal of public. First one ‘Maharaja Hari Singh ‘RAN AWAY’ from Kashmir on 25 October 1947′ leaving the gullible masses to the mercy of Pakistani Army raiders. The truth is that Brigadier Rajinder Singh, Chief of J&K Army, had mobilized the guards and residual troops in Badami Bagh to stop the Pakistani Army, untill arrival of Indian Army. Maharaja’s garrison was left defenseless and it was V P Menon, Nehru ji’s emissary, who forced Maharaja to shift to Jammu. The point being, if the Pakistani Army succeeds in reaching Srinagar before the arrival of Indian Army, they will unleash loot, plunder, rapes and arson in Srinagar. So he advised that if Maharaja is captured, he will be forced to sign another Instrument of Accession in favour of Pakistan. Moreover, they can assassinate him as well. Indian establishment represented by Nehru ji, obviously, did not want this scenario. But the British Governor General wanted this to happen as per the final culmination of their conspiracy (started in July 1931) due to whivh J&K goes to Pakistan for British geostrategic objectives. This gets vindicated by a Top Secret War Cabinet note (Now declassified) written by Winsten Churchil, British PM, on 19 May 1945 titled ‘Security of India and Indian Ocean’.
The same is confirmed by Mehar Chand Mahajan ji in his book ‘Looking back’. He clearly mentions that this offer was given to him as well by V P Menon, which he politely refused saying that the protection of Maharaja has been ensured by your advice. But if I also leave, then the Srinagar will not have leadership to coordinate the defences. This is how Maharaja ensured that the British Diplomacy, to give J&K to Pakistan, for British selfish geostrategic gains did not succeed. And the ‘Crown of India’ Jammu and Kashmir remained in India albeit less truncated. Though Indian Army was in a position to retrieve the entire state but was prevented by British (to gain their geostrategic objectives) and Nehru ji to ensure supremacy of Sheikh Abdulla, over the particular type of Muslims in the region. So that Shiekh Sahib could be presented in UNO as true Muslim leader in Kashmir. More ‘Fallacies’ like ‘Maharaja wanted to be independent and he dilly dallied on signing of Instrument of Accession’ will be analysed in later articles (i.e to be continued).
This holiday will remind the Dogra Youth of all the sacrifices that the Dogra icons of yesteryears have laid to ensure laurels to our great nation India in general and Dogra race in particular. This holiday will inspire all Dogra youth to relive the valour, justice and stellar qualities that Dogras displayed as true nationalists of India. There are many instances from Maharaja Hari Singh’s life which is a motivation to Dogra race that contributed whole heartedly towards nation building and bring laurels to Dogras and our motherland India. This holiday will also stir the nationalistic feelings even in the minds of majority of Maharaja Hari Singh’s erstwhile subjects in Kashmir, Ladakh ,POJK and rest if India who will realize the injustice to Jammu and Kashmir and geostrategic importance which we are encashing world over with advent of rule of our PM Modi ji.
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