Col J P Singh, Retd
Maharaja Hari Singh was born on 23 September 1895 in Amar Mahal, Jammu, as son of Raja Amar Singh, younger brother of Maharaja Partap Singh. He started his reign on 25th February 1925 with the following 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.” With this secular and prudent pledges as foundation of his rule, he stands out far above the other rulers in British India. He lived by his pledges not during his rule alone but throughout his life. Seeing the prevalence of discrimination, injustice and recurrences of communal clashes frequently, one wonders why those who sought the state from him did not inherit his pledges.
Maharaja Hari Singh’s rule witnessed lot of political upheavals. From 1931 onwards his rule faced Kashmiri insurrection under the leadership of Sheikh Abdullah. On 20 May 1947, Maharaja arrested Sheikh. Hearing this Pt Nehru announced his visit to Kashmir. Maharaja banned his entry but Nehru defied the ban. He was arrested at Kohala Bridge. His arrest was the turning point in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. Pt Nehru was the future Prime Minister of Indian Republic and most charismatic leader of Indian National Congress. Instead of welcoming him warmly and seeking his cooperation in resolving problems with Sheikh, he was arrested and made enemy for no alarming reason. It seems ironical that a visionary ruler as Hari Singh was, and in many ways democratic and progressive, could not understand the consequences of arresting Pt Nehru. He grievously misjudged the political situation in the country as well as political storm in his state. It is from then on that the dye was cast and an ironical erosion of Dogra empire commenced. It was just a matter of time before the storm struck and the edifice collapsed. Nature decides the life and longevity of each species on earth. Maharaja’s empire could not be an exception.
Being an effective ruler is one thing, coping with once-in-the-millennium historical phenomenon is another. At the time of partition there were four major forces at work in the subcontinent. Unfortunately Maharaja was inimical with each one of them. First were the British. They had decided to transfer the power after dividing India. Still Maharaja was suspect of their handing over power. He never trusted them and vice versa. He did not allow ‘Union Jack’ to fly over govt buildings as was the practice before. Later, on the request of Viceroy, he permitted it only on the building of British Resident. Being nationalist, he did not strike any surreptitious deal with them. Second was Indian National Congress. It was sweeping the subcontinent with freedom movement. Maharaja was not in good terms with the political party, mainly because of Pt Nehru’s anti feudalism and close association with Sheikh Abdullah, his arch political rival. The third force was Muslim League. It was led by Mohd Ali Jinnah. Despite the fact that Jinnah was anti Sheikh Abdullah which Hari Singh could have exploited, but he could not digest Jinnah’s aggressive communal and divisive agenda. He spurned all the offers made by Jinnah thereby annoying him. Finally it was ‘National Conference’, the main political force within the state. It was led by Sheikh Abdullah. Maharaja feared it to be the main threat to the Dogra rule. He therefore did not trust and tolerate Sheikh Abdullah. The net outcome was that when the crucial time came, all the four forces were jointly arrayed against him. Thus at the time of reckoning, he stood alone and helpless. The edifice of Dogra Empire built so painstakingly by Maharaja Gulab Singh and his successors, started collapsing brick by brick from 1931 onwards. It finally fell on 15 September 1952, when Yuvraj Karan Singh, the Regent and the inheritor of the empire himself abolished monarchy in J&K.
Despite all the above, his rule has been described as ‘remarkably glorious’ by British and Indian historians including K M Panniker. He will be remembered for the reforms he undertook. He constituted a Praja Sabha of elected and nominated members in 1934 and appointed four of the elected members as Ministers thereby putting the state on the path of democracy. He made primary education compulsory and opened new schools and colleges. He banned infanticide, child marriage, Sati and Shahukari. He enacted a ‘State Subjects Act’ in 1927. The significance of this Act was highlighted by Mufti Mohd Sayeed, former Chief Minister of J&K, 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”. This indeed was a befitting tribute to the ruler. High Court of J&K is his gift though only known to the legal fraternity. He abolished untouchablity and opened all the places of worship and drinking water for the schedule castes. In 1932, he constructed Bridges on Tawi and Chenab. He opened hospitals in Jammu and Srinagar. He used to pay Rs. Five Lac yearly to King George Medical College Lahore for five MBBS seats for the state. I was told by Col K S Abrol, Retd, that his father, Dr. Chuni Lal Abrol, product of Lahore Medical College was initially called by Maharaja to treat the victims of plague in Akhnoor after which he posted him to Skardu with a monthly salary of Rs.300. He had to go to Chilas & Hunza etc during summers to provide medical cover in far flung areas where he even started ‘Cataract Operations’ which was appreciated by Maharaja. He never faced dearth of medicines; Co Abrol’s mother used to tell him. That was the importance given to health care of his subjects. He laid the foundation of Radio Kashmir Jammu on 31 December 1947. His reign was an era of welfare and reforms while the rulers of rest of India were by and large involved in pleasing colonial masters and enjoying luxurious lives.
At the behest of Pt Nehru, he appointed Yuvraj Karan Singh as regent and handed over executive power to Sheikh Abdullah on 9 June 1949. Thereafter he spent rest of his life at Bombay. Grateful society rose to the occasion and installed his statue on Tawi Bridge, named after him. It was inaugurated by Dr. Karan Singh, MP and Sh. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Health Minister on 01 April 2012. Decades after his death, public at large broke the political barriers by massively participating in unveiling ceremony. While we rejoice his memories, we can’t ignore asking why such token gratitude was after all denied to the 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 Emperor of India in his own capital city Delhi. History bears strange corollaries. Without going deep into personal, political and religious rivalries associated with his exile, one can safely say that things happen as they are destined and particularly in his case perhaps nature driven rather than human. The injustice in his case is perhaps one such thing even though it is said to be Pt Nehru and Sheikh Sahib’s perpetrated. His Highness breathed his last on 26 April 1961 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.
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