Dr Karan Singh: The first and the only Sadr-e-Riyasat of J&K
Jammu, April 20: Karan Singh, better known as Dr Karan Singh to the world is more of an intellectual than a politician who inherited monarchy but pursued democracy due to unprecedented political situation created in Jammu and Kashmir after his father the last ruler of the state Maharaja Hari Singh signed the instrument of accession with India.
Karan Singh’s life has been full of upheavals and adventures and of course full of intellectual activity and is perhaps the only heir apparent to a monarchy who is still respected world over not only for his deep interests in religion, culture, music, poetry and academics but also for his political career which too has remained a mixture of adventure and action.
He has the distinction of being the first and only Sadr-e-Riyasat of J&K and also the first governor of the state besides being the only crown prince who officially abolished monarchy in J&K.
Karan Singh was born on 9 March 1931, in Cannes, France, to Maharaja Hari Singh, the last ruler of the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu, and his wife Tara Devi. He was educated at the Doon School, Dehra Dun, and received a B.A. from Sri Pratap College Srinagar, and both an M.A. in Political Science and a PhD from Delhi University.
Karan Singh has an important role in the history of modern Jammu and Kashmir as it was through him that many political decisions were carried forward by the government of India from 1949 to 1967, after the state acceded with India.
However after 1967 when he joined the union cabinet his role in J&K politics has been advisory instead of active as he expanded his area of interest to a wider canvass and breaking even the barriers of nationalism to join what he says internationalism.
In 1949, at age of eighteen, Singh was appointed as the regent of Jammu and Kashmir state after his father stepped down as the ruler, following the state’s accession to India. He served successively as regent, the first and last Sadr-e-Riyasat, and governor of the state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1965 to 1967.
The transition from a crown prince to Regent or Sadr-e-riyasat was not as smooth as it is made out to be which is evident from his own autobiography where he writes, “In 1949, relations between Sheikh Abdullah and my father, Maharaja Hari Singh, had become so estranged that it was no longer possible for both of them to continue to function in the state. Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel finally took the decision to ask my father to leave the state “for a while” and appoint me as his regent, although in fact he never returned to the state. In this context, the Sardar (Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel) invited us to come to Delhi, and at a meeting with my parents, broke the news to them. Sheikh Abdullah had insisted that my mother should also leave the state because she was active in helping the tens of thousand of refugees who were streaming into Jammu from the areas occupied by the Pakistani incursion, including Mirpur and almost all of the erstwhile Poonch Jagir, except the town. This came as a severe blow to my parents, who were shocked that after acceding to India they were now being virtually exiled from the state. However, they had no option but to accept, and it was decided that my father would issue a proclamation appointing me as regent on June 20, 1949, soon after I had turned 18”.
In 1967, he resigned as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, and became the youngest-ever member of the Union Cabinet, holding the portfolios of Tourism and Civil Aviation. Two years later, he voluntarily surrendered his privy purse, which he had been entitled to since the death of his father in 1961. He placed the entire sum into a charitable trust named after his parents Hari-Tara Charitable Trust.
From 1967 to 1984 Karan Singh was a member of the Lok Sabha. In 1984, he contested the Lok Sabha polls as an independent candidate from Jammu but lost the election. He has been a member of the Rajya Sabha for a long time now.
Throwing light on the achievements of Dr Karan Singh in J&K Col JP Singh writes, “On 15 September 1952, he abolished the monarchy with his own signatures after which the state legislature elected him as Sadar-e-Riyasat. In 1964 he was appointed Governor of J&K. The post of Sadar-e-Riyasat came into being and ended with him with the distinction of HH being the only Sadar-e-Riyasat of India. Due to unprecedented turn of political events, he dismissed the govt of Sheikh Abdullah on 8 August 1953. It pushed the state into yet another political turmoil which he handled diligently. In his path-breaking initiative, he met Russian top leaders Khrushev and Bulganian in Delhi in 1955. He invited them to J&K. While at Srinagar these leaders of the super power declared that J&K was an integral part of India which strengthened Indian stand on Kashmir and put all apprehensions of accession and plebiscite under UN resolution at rest. Instead of ruling as monarch, he remarkably led his state as an elected head for initial 18 formative years”.
The slab of 18 years seems to be an important aspect in his life as some major events in his life have a gap of 18 between them as he became Regent at the age of 18, had an accident and was bed ridden for 18 months and then from 1949 to 1967 remained active in J&K for 18 years, infact Dr Karan Singh has a take on the module of 18 in his life as he himself says that, “indeed my life seems to fall into 18-year modules”.
Dr Karan Singh has two sons and a daughter and his two sons have also integrated themselves into political system of J&K becoming a unique family where three members represent three different political parties.