Maharaja Hari Singh birthday declared as a holiday

Maharaja Hari Singh birthday declared as a holiday

Subject : History

Context : Amidst street celebrations in Jammu, senior Congress leader Karan Singh, son of late Maharaja Hari Singh, said he was delighted by the announcement of the J&K Lieutenant Governor to declare the birth anniversary of the Dogra king a holiday in the Union Territory (UT).

Concept :

• Born on 23 September 1895 in Jammu, Singh was the son of Raja Amar Singh Jamwal whose brother Pratap Singh was the king of the state.
• When Hari Singh’s father died in 1909, the British took a keen interest in his studies. After his basic education in Mayo College in Ajmer, Rajasthan, Singh went to the British-run Imperial Cadet Corps in Dehradun for military training.
• At the age of 30, Hari Singh ascended the throne of the Maharaja of J&K when his uncle Pratap Singh passed away in

Accession of J&K to India

• Jammu and Kashmir was one among the 565 princely states of India on which the British paramountcy lapsed at the stroke of midnight on 15th August 1947 under the Partition Plan provided by the Indian Independence Act.
• The rulers of princely states were given an option to join either India or Pakistan.
• The ruler of Kashmir Maharaja Hari Singh did not exercise the option immediately. He instead offered a proposal of standstill agreement to both India and Pakistan, pending the final decision on the state’s accession.
• Pakistan entered into the standstill agreement but it invaded the Kashmir from north with an army of soldiers and tribesmen carrying modern weapons
• The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir appealed to India for help. He sent his representative Sheikh Abdullah to Delhi to ask for India’s help.
• On 26th October 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh fled from Srinagar and arrived in Jammu where he signed an ‘Instrument of Accession’ of J&K state.
• According to the terms of the document, the Indian Jurisdiction would extend to external affairs, communications and defence. After the document was signed, Indian troops were airlifted into the state and fought alongside the Kashmiris.
• On 5th March, 1948, Maharaja Hari Singh announced the formation of an interim popular government with Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah as the Prime Minister.

Delhi Agreement

• In 1951, the state constituent assembly was elected. It met for the first time in Srinagar on 31st October 1951.
• In 1952, The Delhi Agreement was signed between Prime Ministers of India and Jammu & Kashmir giving special position to the state under Indian Constitutional framework.
• On 6th february 1954, the J&K constituent assembly ratified the accession of the state to the Union of India.
• The President subsequently issued the constitution order under Article 370 of the Constitution extending the Union Constitution to the state with some exceptions and modifications.
• Recently in 2019, Article 370 was repealed through a presidential order.