When RSS Saved J&K in 1947

(Kashmir Rechords Exclusive)

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.