On October 17 1947, Shri Guruji (Madhavrao Sadashivrao Golwalkar) the then Sarsanghchalak of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) reached Srinagar, the summer capital of J&K. Next day on October 18 1947, Guruji Golwalkar reached ‘Karan Mahal’ in the morning hours by a private car. At the entry of the gate, he was received by Mehar Chand Mahajan, the then Dewan of the State who took him into the palace. Guruji had a long meeting with the Maharaja of J&K state, Hari Singh in presence of Mehar Chand Mahajan. In fact the meeting between the two was arranged by Mahajan. Karan Singh, Yuvraj-aged 16, who had fractured his leg, was on bed in the same room in which the important meeting took place. In the end, Maharaja Hari Singh presented a Shahtoos shawl and an enveloped gift to Guruji Golwalkar; and on the same day, Guruji returned to Delhi.
This was in fact Guruji’s third visit to the J&K state and his second to the Kashmir valley. Immediately, after he took over his responsibilities as the second Sarsanghchalak of RSS in 1940, Shri Guruji went for an all-India tour. It was in 1941 for the first time that he visited Jammu and addressed a function of the organisation in the city followed by a meeting with the prominent swayamsevaks of Jammu. In 1946, he again paid a visit to the J&K state and also went to the Kashmir valley for the first time. This was the first such programme in the Kashmir valley ever since the RSS was founded in Nagpur in 1925.
This author was briefed by one of his close elderly relations M.L.Pandita, original resident of Nunar (Ganderbal) Kashmir in 1993 in a discussion at Jammu about the first such huge RSS function held in Kashmir. He confirmed to me that he was one of the attendees to the function held at Zeethyar (Jeshta Devi complex) in the Zabarwan hills near the Raj Bhawan, Srinagar. It was a programme in which around 1,000 fully uniformed RSS swayamsevaks took part and the gathering comprised representation from the then every district of Kashmir valley. Pandita, who was 11 years old swayamsevak of village Nunar in 1946, also revealed that their group came to the venue in a Bedford bus which dropped them near the Raj Bhavan Road near Dal lake in Srinagar. In the same bus they returned back to their place after attending the biggest ever programme of the RSS in the Kashmir valley.
Shri Guruji addressed a programme of swayamsevaks in Bakshinagar, Jammu before proceeding towards the Kashmir valley. It was on 10 November, 1946 that the programme was held in connection with the ‘Sharad Purnima’ in Jammu. Prof. Balraj Madhok, Jagdish Abrol, Makhan Lal Harkara (Aima), Barrister Narinderjeet Singh, Omkarnath Kak and Kedarnath Sahni were the key organisers of the unique event held in November, 1946 in Kashmir. Unfortunately as on date, no one among them is available for any sort of discussion with them on the subject as all of them have already taken leave of this world. However, on the basis of the talks held with them by a few swayamsevaks, some important information can be gathered about the events pertaining to the visits of Shri Guruji to J&K during 1940s.
J&K state and the rest of India were undergoing a great upheaval during the year 1947. Immediately after the unfortunate partition of the country in August 1947 and the freedom thereafter, the new dispensation was faced with the most difficult task of unification of the country that was divided into British India, princely ruled states of India and the territories that fell outside the ambit of the above given two categories. Sardar Patel, the new Home Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister of India was entrusted with the responsibility to take the necessary steps for the unification. This was done by Patel in a very effective manner and in the most convincing fashion. However, the three Princely states that were left in this exercise comprised Hyderabad, Junagarh and Jammu & Kashmir.
Hyderabad finally acceded to the Union of India after a police action by the Union government under the directions of Sardar; and the Nawab of Junagarh took some time and the state became a part of the Union consequent upon a plebiscite in which 91 per cent votes favoured the accession. There remained the issue of J&K and it kept on lingering for the final decision. Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu & Kashmir couldn’t take any decision in this regard due to a number of reasons and the issue kept on giving headaches to the government of India. The political bosses including the Prime Minister Nehru and the Deputy Prime Minister Patel used the services of many important dignitaries to bring a solution to the complex issue particularly when the new state of Pakistan had an eye upon the state to destabilise the power equation and balance.
Sardar Patel sought the help of Guruji Golwalkar to talk to Maharaja Hari Singh on the situation and the subject. Accordingly, a team of five personalities of RSS reached Srinagar from New Delhi on 17 October, 1947. The team comprised Guruji Golwalkar, Madhavrao Mulle, Abhaji Thate, Barrister Narrinderjeet Singh and Vasantrao Oak. Guruji met Maharaja Hari Singh on 18 October, 1947 in his palace. On 19th October 1947, he addressed a well attended programme of swayamsevaks in the mail hall of DAV College (now school) at Magarmal Bagh, Srinagar. Thereafter, the team left for Delhi by the afternoon flight.
On reaching Delhi, Guruji met Sardar Patel and discussed the whole issue pertaining to his visit to Srinagar and the discussion held with the Maharaja of J&K. He gave details about the concerns of Maharaja Hari Singh to the Union Home Minister and also said that the Maharaja would be taking the final decision in a few days in the very near future. Since there were no team-mates from either side present in the important meeting between the Maharaja and Guruji other than Mehar Chand Mahajan, details were not available with anyone. Nor did Guruji divulge anything about the meeting in the public domain. However, he expressed confidence about the accession of the state with the Union of India in his discussions with the swayamsevaks and others who asked him about the meeting.
As per the statement of Madhavrao Mulle, who was Punjab Prant-Pracharak at that point of time and also accompanied Guruji to Srinagar, Maharaja Hari Singh was of the view ‘that his state was completely dependent upon Pakistan. All routes in the state led towards Rawalpindi and Sialkot. Rail lines were also connected with Sialkot. Lahore airport was the only available facility so far as the public air traffic was concerned. How could he get connected to the rest of India as there was no link available in the changed geographical and political scenario!’ Guruji counselled the Maharaja ‘that he was a Hindu king. The position of Hindu population would be precarious in Pakistan and the situation would change eventually so far as the road and rail connection was concerned once the accession took a formal shape. It would be palatable for him and the state of J&K both to accede to the Indian Union without any delay’.
The British and Pakistan agents active in J&K were alive to the emerging developments and within a couple of days they conveyed their message to Pakistan and the British assets in Pakistan. Accordingly, the Pakistan army with the help of tribesmen decided to formally attack the state of J&K to annex it in favour of Pakistan. The Maharaja asked for help and also accession to the Union of India on 25 October 1947 and was asked to sign the Instrument of Accession by the government of India which he did on October 26 1947 in a formal way. He signed the same Instrument of Accession that was signed by all the other Princely states of India.
The mission of Guruji in Kashmir bore the necessary fruits and J&K was now formally an integral part of India. However, the inclusion of Article 370 in the Indian constitution upset him and he kept on pursuing the mission to get it scrapped as soon as possible. His wishes came true on 5th August 2019 when Article 370 along with the surreptitiously included Article 35A was done away with by the Parliament of India. That was a real tribute to the memory of Shri Guruji for which Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India deserves all credit and unabated congratulations. History was made as per the wishes of Guruji in tune with the vision of “Ek Pradhan-Ek Nishan-Ek Vidhan”.
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