Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)
and Jammu and Kashmir have a unique bonding even before the Princely
State had acceded to India. Even as certain agencies, for their vested
interests, have painted Sangh black, the fact that most of the people
are unaware of, is that RSS had played a major role in the unity and
integrity of Jammu and Kashmir and helped Army and local agencies in
thwarting the tribal raid engineered by Pakistan in October 1947. There
is a little mention of this historic fact in the annals of Indian
history.
Newspaper records available with Kashmir Rechords (https://kashmir-rechords.com/blog/) point
out that the initial attack by Pakistani raiders was made on
October 11, 1947 when they were on a killing spree in areas like
Mirpur and Kotli which later fell into Pakistani hands. The reports
further mention the role of RSS volunteers in protecting hapless refugees at Jammu who were coming from Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Besides, volunteers had helped in broadening Jammu aerodrome and
assisted Army garrison. In Kashmir, the Sangh volunteers had also
joined militia and stood by Indian Army to push back Pakistani raiders.
In defending Srinagar, one Kashmiri Pandit Sangh worker, Pandit Manmath
had lost his life. The newspaper reports of yesteryears, quoting “RSS
Vision in Action” further say that Sheikh Abdullah’s Government had
allowed RSS to work in the militia until Kashmir valley was cleared of
raiders.
The RSS had begun its activities in J & K in the 1940s when late Prof Balraj Madhok
was a Pracharak. Madhok (25 February 1920 – 02 May 2016) came from a
Jammu-based Khatri family and was born in Skardu, Baltistan. He had
studied in Srinagar, Jammu and Lahore.
When Patel Sought Golwalker’s Help
As the fate of Jammu and Kashmir was
hanging in balance even after India’s Independence on August 15, 1947
and the situation was getting delicate with every passing day, in such a
condition, India’s Union Home Minister, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel had sent a message to the then RSS Sarsanghchalak,
M. S. Golwalkar, through J&K’s Prime Minister, Mehar Chand Mahajan
requesting him to use his influence to prevail upon Maharaja Hari Singh
to accede to India.
Golwalkar, fondly known as ‘Guruji’
cancelled all his engagements, had rushed to Srinagar by air to resolve
the ticklish and delicate question. Through the efforts of Mehar Chand
Mahajan and Pt. Premnath Dogra, a meeting between Guruji and Maharaja
Hari Singh was arranged on October 19, 1947.
The newspaper reports of the past suggest that it was RSS Chief M. S. Golwalkar,
whose patriotic and authoritative advice to Maharaja Hari Singh finally
made the Princely State accede to India. The reports further say that
at the time of Pakistani invasion, Sheikh Mohd Abdullah was not in Srinagar but was holidaying in Rajasthan!
The records also point out that RSS
had played a major role in accession of J&K and helped in
maintaining its unity and integrity. There is, however, a little mention
of this historic event in the annals of history.
It is with this sole purpose that Kashmir Rechords,
a research-based platform on Kashmir, has come out with this
particular blog, supported as usual by authentic documentary evidence
based on newspaper reports of yesteryears.
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