The social reformer

Sat Parkash Suri &
Dr Gurdev Singh
With the death of Maharaja Pratap Singh in September 1925, a benevolent and sympathetic rule came to a halt. The Maharaja’s popularity, accessibility and sense of Justice was widely acknowledged. He hesitated to entertain radical demands or overtures for democratic government, the prosperity and peace of his reign provided a favourable climate for the development of the State. Hari Singh assumed the rulership of the State but the Coronation ceremony was held in February 1926 which was attended by the Rulers of Princely States ‘who poured in from across India as special invitees .The Viceroy, Lord Reading, politely refused the invitation to attend the ceremony citing the reason as he was winding up after the expiry of his tenure in India. Political Department of Indian Government wanted to distance from Hari Singh at this moment until he showed more amenable behaviour.
Soon after the coronation ceremonies and festivities were over, Maharaja Hari Singh made a whirlwind tour of the State to have had a first hand assessment of the conditions of his subjects. The Maharaja came into close contact with the people who ‘lived in abject poverty and ignorance stalked the land. A large majority of the rural population was landless and inevitably steeped in eternal and vast magnitude of agricultural indebtedness, Starvation, fatal diseases and exploitation by the money lenders had a free-hand. It dawned on him that the basic cause of the economic servitude of the rural community was the economy of exploitation which made the farmer the victim of the money lenders horrible antics. This realization convinced the Maharaja that if he wanted to transform their pathetic and depressive social economic conditions, it was imperative for him to dislodge the Sahukari system and to rescue the peasantry from the clutches of a ‘puny tyrant and dictator-money lenders.
Once during these extensive tours when Maharaja Hari Singh was camping at Uri where in one day, he received one thousand petitions which were all against an iniquitous system of usury. Here again at this place another case of usury was brought before his notice. ‘A cultivator had borrowed twelve annas from a money lender to buy medicine for his sick father and a decree was passed against him for one hundred and eighteen rupees after three years’. The Maharaja got furious at this unjust incident and called the Executive Council and Mr. Middleton, the Settlement Commissioner at the Dak Bunglow. Mr. Middleton confirmed universal prevalence of this usury system.
Agriculturists Relief Regulation:
It was here at Uri that ‘Agriculturists Relief Regulation of July 1926’ was drafted with utmost haste and care which was based on the Deccan Agriculturists Relief Act of 1876 and which empowered the debtor to bring his creditor to the court for settlement of account. Under this regulation maximum interest that could be charged by money lenders from agriculturist debtors was 12 percent, provided the total interest charged did not exceed 50 percent of the amount lent and if was found that ‘excessive interest had been charged, the court could curtail down the total amount and give the debtor a decree against his creditor’ This Regulation was ‘passed by Maharaja Hari Singh when such enactments were not common even in British India, not to speak of Indian Princely States and he was himself the ‘Prime mover of this good legislation’
Religious Tolerance:
On October 31, 1932, Maharaja Hari Singh made a formal proclamation by throwing open the doors of State Temples and places of worship to the Harijans. This enactment was vehemently opposed by the Chief Priest of Shri Raghunath Temple, Pt. Devraj Shastri, by tendering his resignation in protest against the entry of Harijans in the temples. Maharaja Hari Singh appointed his brother Pt. Balkrishna as the Chief Priest and went ahead with his reform rather making any amendment in his Regulation.
This decision of the Maharaja earned for him the unprecedented credit of being the first Ruler of a Princely State in India to take such a revolutionary step for the emancipation of the Harijans even before Gandhiji launched his movement in British India.
As first step towards discrimination in educational institutes, Maharaja Hari Singh declared that no distinction be made in Government schools on the basis of any caste or community. Places of Worship, Government schools and Public wells be shared equally by all communities irrespective of religion and creed. He issued orders to this effect that this Act be implemented strictly and if any body found violating these orders be strongly dealt with.
Hereditary State Subject:
It was reported to Maharaja Hari Singh that a sinister British move was at foot to make Kashmir a ‘British Colony’. By promulgating the Act of Hereditary State Subject on 20th April, 1927, Maharaja Hari Singh ‘made it impossible for the Englishmen, their Indian henchmen and bureaucrats from Punjab, to own land or to do business or to secure employment inside the State at the cost of the State-Subjects’. This move by the Maharaja put a complete full stop to the British game of giving employment to more Englishmen in the State Services and the dream of the Political Department to make the Kashmir a permanent British Colony came to an abrupt end thus turning them sour against the Ruler. Hence, ‘non hereditary State Subjects were debarred from acquiring immovable property in the State, selling or transferring it to other than the hereditary State Subjects’.
Judicial system:
Keeping in view the British Indian Judicial system, Maharaja Hari Singh enacted the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution of 1928 inarguably the most important event of his reign. The Adalat-ul-Alia functioning in the State from the times of Maharaja Ranbir Singh was replaced by a High Court which consisted of a Chief Justice and two puisne Judges appointed by the Maharaja. It was felt by Maharaja Hari Singh that unless the High Court was strengthened and relieved of its advisory duties, no improvement in the administration of Justice was possible. He wanted to delegate all powers and functions similar to those exercised by the High Courts in British India with a few reservations and restrictions.
Maharaja Pratap Singh had appointed a Committee of the Chief Minister, the Members for Commerce and Industry, the Revenue Member and the Judge, High Court to determine the composition, powers and functions of the High Court on October 29, 1921. The members of the Committee formed for the purpose recommended a ‘Bench of three Judges’. The High Court was established on March 26, 1928 which consisted of a Chief Justice and two puisne Judges.
‘Prior to 1939, the Judges had no fixed tenure and held office at the pleasure of the Maharaja but under the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution Act of 1939, the Judges could hold office till the age of 55 unless one was removed from the office by the Maharaja on the grounds of misbehaviour or infirmity of mind or body. But when the Letters Patent were issued on 28th August, 1943, the retirement age of the High Court Judges was raised to 65′. The Judges of the High Court had to possess the qualifications and experience of their counter parts in British India’ It was the highest Court of Civil, Criminal and Revenue appeals and it had to keep a close watch on the functioning of the subordinate Courts.
Jammu and Kashmir High Court was inaugurated by Army Minister, Major-General, Thakur Janak Singh Katoch, on 27th April, 1928, who administered the oath ceremony to the Chief Justice (Sir Burjor Dalal) and two Judges at an impressive but brief function. In his brief address to the elite and the select assembled gathering on the occasion, he said that ‘the establishment of High Court would be a milestone in the Judicial history of the State and the future generations would definitely be benefitted by upgrading the Judicial system in the State.
In his honest and truthful approach in mitigating the woes of the unprivileged classes of the society, he was like Mahatma Gandhi. Intellectually and spiritually, Maharaja Hari Singh matched the caliber of Swami Vivekananda. In eradicating the social evils prevalent in the society, he was like Raja Ram Mohan Roy. For his modern and liberal views, statesmanship and administrative potentialities, Maharaja Hari Singh was simply superb.
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