Maharaja hari singh biography of george

This speech has been made available by United Kashmir Publication House. Without going into much details, we are providing here some information about the Maharaja, and some of the major works he did. It is a special coincidence that his date of birth and the date of his coronation, both are the same — 23rd of September. He was born in and assumed the throne in He got his education from Meyo College Ajmer, and military training from Dehradun.

Highly qualified Maharaja was kind-hearted, well-wisher of the subject of his state, and of progressive thoughts. He was very prudent towards the well-being of his people and was determined to lead all segments of the society towards a bright future. He effected many reforms regarding education, social structure, family planning, eradication of untouchability, land reforms etc.

While talking about his works, we must keep in mind that these were done years ago when not many people dared to even think about such reforms, and must be evaluated accordingly.

Maharaja hari singh biography of george: Maharaja Hari Singh was the fourth

In order to keep the social fabric strong and moral values healthy in the society, a thoughtful definition and regulation of the relations between men and women is of vital importance. This is why the custom of marriage is considered very important in our society. It has been given the status of a religious rite. Maharaja was well aware of its importance.

He introduced some rules to weed out some inappropriate and harmful practices that had crept up into this holy tradition. The main points of these rules were — He prevented child-marriage by declaring it a crime. He set the minimum age for boys 18 years and 14 years for girls to be eligible for marriage. At that time, it was a revolutionary step.

Those violating the law were sentenced to one year of jail and one thousand rupees penalty. To prevent inappropriate age matches, he made it illegal for a 50 year old man to marry a girl of less than 15 years. Not only the marrying man was penalized, a penalty for the father of the girl was also provisioned. Indowry was also made a criminal offense by passing a resolution by Praja Sabha.

Maharaja hari singh biography of george: Hari Singh was the

This malpractice still exists in our society, while the Maharaja initiated its eradication so early in his state. Usually widow marriage was strongly opposed by the society. The law in this respect was passed in Multi-wife marriages, and in some areas, multi-husband marriages were quite common at that time. Maharaja completely prohibited it by making laws against it.

In some social segments, girl-child was killed at their birth due to dowry and girls being considered inferior in society.

Maharaja hari singh biography of george: Hari Singh became the Maharaja

The parents did it to avoid the hassles of parenting, marriage and dowry etc. Maharaja created a rule to grant the father of the girl one acre of land at the time of her marriage, along with some cash. To prohibit the shameful practice of prostitution, Maharaja introduced a law in It is always challenging to enforce such laws, but Maharaja successfully realized it with his strong determination.

The prostitutes were provided opportunities to live normal life by associating them with respectable families, or were made economically self-dependent by providing them various kind of productive trainings. Besides such social reforms, Maharaja also paid attention towards education system. When we talk of 'education-for-all' today, it seems an impossible target to achieve.

Maharaja Hari Singh had made primary education for all the children compulsory by Education up to secondary level was free-of-cost for everyone. I feel deeply gratified at the progress which has been made with the scheme of an All-India Federation as worked out in the Report of the Federal Structure Sub-Committee. But ever since the idea of a Federation was taken up in this Conference, some surprise has been expressed in various quarters in India and in England at the willingness of the Princes to join an All-India Federation.

It is said that Princes have forced the pace and that in any case they should have opposed a Federation with British India. I have never disguised from my friends, my warm support of the idea of an All-India Federation. Hari Singh opted to remain independent for the immediate future since the dominions were beset with partition violence and he needed time to weigh the options in the context of his Muslim-majority population.

In Octoberhe faced an armed uprising in Poonch instigated by the Muslim Conference party, followed by Pakistan-backed Pashtun tribal invasion. Hari Singh appealed to India for help following the invasion. The Maharaja signed the Instrument of Accession on 26 Octoberjoining the princely state to the Dominion of India. He was also forced to appoint the popular Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdullah as the prime minister of Kashmir.

Liberal stipends and scholarships were offered to Muslim students as an incentive for higher education. Post British-India Independence. Meanwhile, After taking over as the Prime Minister, Sheikh Abdullah started usurping all powers, ignoring the existence of the Maharaja. He started issuing a series of statements intended to humiliate and malign the Maharaja, and painted him as unpatriotic.

In order to avoid embarrassment, the Maharaja wrote to Patel on May 6,and proposed that the Government of India find a suitable position in Delhi where his services could be utilised in a befitting manner, but there was no response. Under pressure from Sheikh Abdullah, the Maharaja was called to Delhi and was asked to desist from returning to the state, and was finally exiled.

Thus, the Maharaja was banished from his own land, which had neither the sanction of law nor of political morality. On June 20,the three members of the Dogra dynasty embarked upon their lonely journeys: the Maharaja took a train to Bombay, now Mumbai. In the last phase of his life, the Maharaja lived a forlorn life, with no complaint or grudge against anyone.