Kashmir in Early 20th Century(Contd)
During the First World War, contingents of the state forces fought for the British in East Africa, Egypt, Mesopotamia, France and Palestine. It was after the war, that Indian political leaders were pressurising the British to include local Indians into the British Government. This led to the Montage-Chelmsford reforms in 1919, which highlighted the right of the rulers of princely states to share in control of a future Indian Government. This Act linked Kashmir (being a princely state) to have ‘political relations with the Government of India’. Pratap Singh was, in the meanwhile, making concerted efforts to obtain full powers and the British ceded to some of his demands. The king was also trying his best not to name his brother’s (Hari Singh) son as heir to the throne and instead, adopt a ‘spiritual heir’ (Jagat Dev Singh) the second son of the Raja of Poonch, as heir apparent.
Reforms in
Kashmir
On 4 February 1921, the Maharajah was
restored full powers with the condition that the resident’s advice would be
heeded whenever it was offered. A new Executive Council was appointed and the
Kashmir Reforms Scheme was introduced. It is to be said to the credit of Pratap
Singh that conditions in the state did improve-revenues increased, new roads
were constructed (including the road over Banihal Pass in 1915), hospitals
opened and electricity was introduced. Along with this, a feeling of
independence swept across Kashmir with the Kashmiri Pandits protesting the
presence of 'foreigners’ in the administration, Kashmiri Muslims wanting more
say in matters of state and taking up cudgels against poverty. Notable among
those pressing for more power to Muslims in the state was Syed Mohsin Shah, a
Kashmiri lawyer of the All India
Muslim Conference
and Sir Mohammed Iqbal. The protests against the dominance of Kashmiri Pandits in affairs of state were particularly
resented.
Maharajah Pratap Singh died on 25
September 1925 and Hari Singh ascended the throne of Jammu and Kashmir albeit
with the ‘blessings’ of the British in India.
Unrest in
Kashmir
Hari
Singh’s coronation was a lavish affair costing ‘millions of rupees’. The
expectations from his rule were high primarily because he was seen as a
progressive Maharajah having received a westernized education at Mayo College,
Ajmer. However, these expectations were rudely dashed by the continued presence
of ‘outsiders’ (from Jammu) in
Government service. The Kashmiri Pandits obtained
more say in the Government after a movement by them known as ‘Kashmir for
Kashmiris’. This annoyed the Muslims even more who perceived themselves as the
‘underdog’. Prominent among groups espousing the Muslim cause were the
Anjuman-I-Islamiya (later the Young Men’s Muslim Association of Jammu) and the
Reading Room Party in Srinagar organised by a few graduates from Aligarh
university.
In 1931, Hari Singh’s fourth wife, Tara
Devi, gave birth to his first-born, Karan Singh, in France. It is indeed a
matter of irony that this much –awaited heir to the throne of Jammu and Kashmir
could never become the Maharajah. On the other hand, Hindu-Muslim unrest took
on alarming proportions resulting in the
infamous ‘Abdul Qadir’ incident of 13 July 1931, in which twenty-one people
died and hundreds were arrested.
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