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Brigadier Rajinder Singh's rebuff to the invaders
The Maharaja's troops faced the powerful Pakistani invasion with courage. The Maharaja directed his Army Chief, Brigadier Rajinder Singh, to protect the state till his last breath. Brig. Rajinder Sirgh had, after receiving his degree from the P.W. College, Jammu, joined the State Army as Lieutenant. His rise was quick and with his qualities of discipline he became the Chief of the Army Staff on August 14, 1947.
On the unfortunate day of October 22 he was on official duty in the cantonment in Srinagar. He received a message that Muzaffarabad was under a major attack and the invaders were marching towards Srinagar. For the time being even the reserve troops were not nearby. He succeeded in organising a small group of 150 soldiers and civilians. But it was necessary to save the city and the only way far doing this was to stop the invaders on the Baramulla road. Brigadier Rajinder Singh decided to launch an attack from Dhumel, 112 kms from Srinagar.
But Dhumel was lost and the enemy troops marched ahead. The enemy took position at Garhi, 16 kms inside the state. The enemy troops stopped the infant company of soldiers of Rajinder Singh. Despite reverses, Rajinder Singh stood his ground for sometime but when the invaders attempted to lay a siege on the soldiers of Rajinder Singh, they came out of the siege and decided to return to Baramulla.
Struggle till the last moment
This retreat encouraged the enemy troops who reached Uri. Regrouping his troops the Brigadier rushed to Uri. In Uri Rajinder Singh faced the full thrust of the enemy and he performed the main task of stopping the invaders as long as he could so that their march to Srinagar was delayed. The Brigadier destroyed that bridge which cut the base of the enemies from the next place. The invaders launched a three pronged attack which caused great loss to the Brigadier. First he retreated his soldiers from Moharra and then from Rampat (Jehlum Valley road). Here the Brigadier fought a bitter battle with the enemy for 11 hours. But the Brigadier had to pay a heavy loss. In the end he ordered the remaining troops to retreat. When the troops, while fighting, were searching for defensive position, Rajinder Singh was single-handed firing continuously to provide fire cover to the rear company. There at that time two bullets hit him, one injuring his right arm and the other his right leg but this did not silence his gun. Quickly the enemy surrounded him and he was killed.
In the "History of Kashmir" Bamzai has written that the Brigadier and his soldier colleagues, cooks, mess bearers and orderlies, under the orders of the Brigadier, had taken up arms and performed great feat in the military history of the world. These sons of their motherland of India stopped the Pakistani troops for three days and prevented them from marching ahead.
Nehru's obstacle in accession
The RSS activists on the basis of their intelligence had already informed the Maharaja about the Pak plan of invasion and about the mutiny of Muslim soldiers. Expectedly Muslim soldiers, in the Maharaja's Army, killed their commander, Col. Narain Singh, and joined the Pakistani troops. In order to save people from the crisis, which had gripped Jammu and Kashmir, and in the interest of the integrity of India, the Maharaja accepted to give up his ego. He immediately sent his Prime Minister, Justice Mehar Chand Mahajan, to Delhi with the accession proposal, which had been signed by him. He had also requested the Government of India for sending troops. This pertains to October 24, 1947.
In the letter of October 26, 1947 the Maharaja had written in clear terms to Lord Mountbatten that the current situation and crisis in "my state has left me with the only option of seeking help from India". He had informed Mountbatten that so long he did not accede to India, it was natural that India could not give him the assistance he had sought for. Therefore, he has decided to do it and he had submitted the relevant accession papers for the approval of his Government.
It is a matter of misfortune for the country and Kashmir that still Pt. Nehru's obstinacy and personal ego created hurdles. Nehru had plainly told the Maharaja "First handover power in Jammu and Kashmir to Sheikh Abdullah, quit Jammu and Kashmir and go out of the state, then accession can be accepted and then the Indian troops will reach Srinagar". The "I will not agree" note wasted two days and there in Kashmir the Pakistani troops while carrying out destruction, rape, arson and other crimes had reached Srinagar. Nehru's obduracy proved heavy on the sincere suggestions of Sardar Patel, Gopalaswami Aiyangar, Acharya Kriplani, and Mahatma Gandhi. In the end, the Maharaja agreed to handover power to Sheikh Abdullah in the interest of the nation. On October 27, 1947 the Indian troops landed on the Srinagar airport which had been made worthy of landing by thousands of RSS workers' round the clock hard work. The Indian Army exhibited such a chivalry that the Pakistani soldiers took to their heels. Sheikh Abdullah, who had fled with his family members to a friend's house in Indore, was taken back to Srinagar under the security of the Indian Army in a plane of the Indian Airforce. Like a bridegroom he reached Srinagar. The Maharaja staked all he had and reached Jammu.
Nehru's policy: punishment for nationalist and reward for anti-national
This way Prime Minister of India, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, treated his personal friendship with a separatist, communalist and anti-national like Sheikh Abdullah above the security and integrity of the nation. Nehru tried to insult the nationalist Maharaja by projecting the Maharaja as too insignificant in comparison to the Sheikh. When Mehar Chand Mahajan reached Delhi with the accession letter, Nehru thought that if he would accept the proposal directly the credit would go to the Maharaja. Nehru wanted that this credit too should go to the Sheikh. It is said that at that time the Sheikh was in another room of Nehru. It is not known as to how the Sheikh, who had fled at the time of the invasion on Kashmir, had come to Nehru's place. When the Sheikh, who earlier plotted with Pakistan and was a schemer, said "yes" to the accession, Nehru accepted it. Nehru had patronised a traitor.
"It is said that the leader of the National Conference did not like the Maharaja. I wish to ask whether the people of Hyderabad liked the Nizam of Hyderabad ? It is said that whatever Maharaja Hari Singh did after the partition and prior to the accession was shocking. I would like to ask that whatever the Nizam did through Layaq Ali and Qasim Rizvi, was that against the flames of communalism and in favour of friendship with India ? I want the Government of India to read its own white paper on the Nizam and say whether Hari Singh or Nizam of Hyderabad was bad ? Despite this, the Nizam was drawing Rs. one crore as yearly salary as head of the state. Maharaja Hari Singh is spending his last days in Bombay. I want to ask why this discrimination ? Was it a fault of Maharaja Hari Singh that he announced Kashmir's accession to India ? In the absence of his accession-related announcement, we have till today no basis for treating Kashmir as part of India. The Maharaja of Kashmir could too have been made a constitutional ruler like other Indian princes. His presence would have been a guarantee for Kashmir's unity. We have finished this guarantee and he has been left in the middle of feuds and disorder." (Urdu Daily Milap, April 1952)
The policy of appeasement of the Muslims by Pt. Nehru and his friends in the Congress left Kashmir in the hands of those who had already partitioned the country. Had the Congress leaders any love for national interest, they would have entrusted power to Maharaja Hari Singh. But this nationalist ruler, who brought about Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India, had to spent his last days in Bombay as an ousted person. He had to remain away from the soil of his land. But against this, the Muslim Nizam of Hyderabad, who, under the instructions of Pakistan, launched an attack on the Indian troops, was installed as head of the princely state and was given Rs. one crore as yearly salary.
The insult and defeat of the Maharaja was an insult and defeat of the united nationalist forces of India. Sheikh Abdullah's political victory and welcome was a victory for those antinational elements who had set foot on the soil of India in the 7th Century for converting India into Darul Islam. It can be treated as a misfortune for the entire India and Kashmir that here the nationalist forces have been defeated by their own people.
