Legacy of Maharaja Hari Singh

Maharaja Hari Singh, the last monarch of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, was born on September 23, 1895. He was the son of Raja General Amar Singh and the nephew of Maharaja Pratap Singh, the longest-reigning Dogra ruler. Ascending the throne on September 24, 1925, after Pratap Singh's death, Hari Singh became the fourth and final Dogra ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, overseeing the state from 1925 to 1947. His royal title, "Shriman Indar Mahindar Rajrajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Shri Jammu Kashmir Naresh Tatha Tibet Deshadhipati," underscored the rich legacy he inherited from the Dogra dynasty. Hari Singh's ancestor, Maharaja Gulab Singh, consolidated and expanded the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which today encompasses Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan, Muzaffarabad-Mirpur, Aksai Chin, and the Saksham Valley. This vast and strategically significant territory shaped the Jammu and Kashmir we recognize today.

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Progressive Reforms and Governance

In terms of governance, Maharaja Hari Singh is well-remembered for his coronation declaration: “As a ruler, I have no religion... all religions are mine, and my religion is justice.” These words became a guiding principle of his reign, reflected in the numerous progressive reforms he enacted for the welfare of his people.

Political and Legislative Reforms:

In 1932, he established the Jammu and Kashmir Praja Sabha, a Legislative Assembly that began enacting laws, setting an example for other princely states. He also introduced the Village Panchayat system to address local conflicts, promoting grassroots governance.

Justice Through Legislation:

Maharaja Hari Singh passed several key laws to ensure justice. The Agriculturists Relief Act allowed debtors to seek judicial intervention in usury cases, while the Land Alienation Act restricted agricultural land transfers to non-agricultural populations. Additionally, he introduced the Press and Publication Act in 1932, which upheld freedom of the press. He abolished practices like forced labour and child marriage, declared untouchability a crime and ensured that public institutions were accessible to all, including untouchables.

Education and Literacy Initiatives:

Another significant area of reform was education. In 1930, he made primary education compulsory, launching numerous schools and colleges. His initiatives included free education up to matriculation, scholarships for disadvantaged groups and the introduction of Urdu as the medium of instruction. As a result, literacy rates rose dramatically, with 4,000 adult literacy centres established and an increase in primary schools from 706 to 20,728.

Women Empowerment Initiatives:

Maharaja Hari Singh took significant steps to uplift women by abolishing trafficking and providing training in handicrafts for financial independence. He championed widow remarriage and property rights for women, and established a dedicated department for women's education, which greatly improved female literacy rates.

Infrastructure, Healthcare, and Industrial Growth:

His reign saw significant growth in hospitals and dispensaries, including one of the subcontinent's largest hospitals and a pioneering tuberculosis department. Tourism flourished, with visitor numbers increasing from 8,604 in 1931-32 to 24,659 by 1936-37. Infrastructure projects, including modern communication systems, fuelled industrial growth. He also established the Jammu and Kashmir Bank in 1938 and initiated programs benefiting nomadic communities, such as the Gaddis, Gujjars, Bakarwals, Changpas and Chopans.

Maharaja Hari Singh and the Accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India

Maharaja Hari Singh was an Indian patriot that was evident in his 1930 remarks at the First Round Table Conference in London, where he advocated for Indian Princely States to join an "All India Federation."

During the critical decision on Jammu and Kashmir's accession, Pakistan employed various pressure tactics, including an economic blockade that withheld essential goods. Pakistani nationals infiltrated Poonch to incite unrest against the Maharaja, while Jinnah persistently sought to visit the state after Pakistan’s formation. Mehr Chand Mahajan, the last Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, vividly recounted these pressures. He described how Major Shah, a key figure in the Pakistani government, arrived in Srinagar with "a whip and a sword in one hand and a letter of accession in the other," demanding the state's accession to Pakistan. Mahajan even declined an invitation to Lahore, recognizing it as an attempt to coerce him. Maharaja Hari Singh had witnessed the horrors associated with Muslim League’s demand for a separate state that had led to communal violence in August 1946 due to the League's Direct-Action call. When riots erupted in neighbouring Punjab in early 1947, he took significant steps to prevent the violence from spreading to Kashmir, deploying additional troops to the Kashmir-Punjab border in March 1947.

The Maharaja was committed to maintaining communal harmony in his multicultural and multireligious state. His administration included Hindus, Buddhists, Sunnis and Shias. He was particularly mindful that two-fifths of his state forces and the majority of his police were Muslims. He understood that communal tensions could lead to riots and paralyze governance. Scott, the commander of the state forces until September 29, 1947, noted in his report to London that under the Maharaja’s leadership, Jammu & Kashmir remained free from communal violence.

In June 1947, Lord Mountbatten urged Maharaja Hari Singh to consider acceding to Pakistan, citing the state's Muslim majority and geographical proximity. He also assured that Indian leaders would not object to Kashmir's accession to Pakistan. Despite this, the Maharaja hesitated. He was increasingly reluctant to join Pakistan due to the Muslim League's strategy of gaining power through communal polarization, which threatened Jammu and Kashmir's secular fabric. Unlike Pakistan, which was becoming a theocratic state dominated by a single community, Jammu and Kashmir was a culturally rich and diverse region. The Maharaja sought to preserve the internal balance of his heterogeneous kingdom.

Although his preference for India became clearer, the delay in accession was largely due to his personal reservations about Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah, as well as Nehru’s insistence on Abdullah's release, who had been imprisoned for leading a political agitation in 1946. Nehru also pressured the Maharaja to hold elections, confident that Abdullah, with his secular ideology and opposition to Pakistan, would lead Jammu and Kashmir to align with India. For the Maharaja, however, this meant relinquishing the Dogra dynasty's rule, a difficult decision given his ancestors’ efforts in consolidating and governing one of India's largest princely states.

Indian leadership did not however push the matter hastily but provided the Maharaja support, suggesting that accommodating Sheikh Abdullah and the National Conference would counter Pakistan's ambitions. Ultimately, Pakistan executed a covert plan to annex Jammu and Kashmir by force, as ratified by Khurshid Anwar, a former major and leader of the Muslim League National Guard, and corroborated by Akbar Khan’s book Raiders in Kashmir and reports by Daily Express correspondent Sydney Smith. The invaders committed extensive atrocities, including killings, looting, pillaging and the abduction of women. To save his state, Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947, officially making Jammu and Kashmir a part of India under the Indian Independence Act of 1947.

Conclusion:

Maharaja Hari Singh broke barriers and left a lasting legacy as a modern monarch, nationalist, progressive thinker and social reformer. His contributions were finally recognized when, in 2022, the Indian government declared a holiday in his honour. This marked the first time an erstwhile king of a princely state was celebrated in such a manner post-Independence, fulfilling a long-standing demand from the region's people, especially the Rajput and Dogra communities.