Vikramaditya says ‘remarks unacceptable’; ‘hypocrisy of raising dead issues blatantly visible’
Arteev Sharma
Jammu: Amid the growing uproar over Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary’s remarks calling Maharaja Hari Singh a “dictator”, former Sadar-e-Riyasat and scion of erstwhile royal Dogra family Dr Karan Singh has sought an apology from him (DyCM), warning that failure to retract the statement could further escalate tensions.
“Whatever he (DyCM) has said is unfortunate and absolutely wrong. I don’t know why he chose to call Maharaja ji a dictator. This is wrong terminology that he (Maharaja Hari Singh) was not elected and dictator. He should tender an apology. If he does, it will not escalate things and may bring an end to the issue,” Dr Karan Singh told reporters here while reacting to the statement of the deputy chief minister.
Dr Singh, who is the son of late Maharaja Hari Singh, said the elections did not exist at that time. “It was a different time. What does it mean to say Maharaja ji was selected and not elected? He should be judged by his contributions—the work he did for the welfare of this country, this state, and its people,” he said.
Defending his father’s legacy, he described the Maharaja Hari Singh as a “visionary” and “progressive” who left no stone unturned to improve the welfare of the people.
Notably, Choudhary had allegedly referred to Maharaja Hari Singh as a “dictator”. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, he reiterated, “Aren’t Maharajas dictators? Were they elected?”
The controversy has sparked widespread protests, with many social, non-political and political groups demanding that the Deputy CM should clarify his statement and tender an apology.
Meanwhile, the grandson of Maharaja Hari Singh, Vikramaditya Singh condemned the deputy chief minister’s remarks as “ill-informed & inflammatory”, calling them “unacceptable”.
“Sadly, even after 75 years of India’s independence, a section of the political narrative in J&K, rests upon selective Maharaja bashing. To call Maharaja Hari Singh, a despot and a dictator is absurd. While pandering to his new political mentors, he (DYCM) completely ignores the fact that it was Maharaja Hari Singh who declared Jumat-Ul-Wida as a public holiday, who declared Urdu as the official language, who introduced numerous social, religious, legal and domicile reforms in J&K,” Vikramaditya Singh, elder son of Dr Karan Singh, said a post on ‘X’.
Singh said he (Maharaja) built educational institutions, banks, judicial courts, hospitals and irrigation canals that continue to serve the people till date.
“He made the Praja Sabha 1932, comprising of 21 Muslims, 10 Hindus & 2 Sikhs. Surinder Choudhary ignores the fact that democratically elected Governments were in place from 1996-02, 2002-08, 2009-2014 & 2014-18. He selectively forgets that during each tenure, hundreds of young boys and girls were killed or blinded by pellet guns in the name of maintaining law and order,” he said and questioned, “Do you really think the average person on the streets of J&K even cares about what happened in 1931?”
“The hypocrisy of those who raise the dead issue of what was called Martyrs Day in J&K is blatantly visible. This is what has destroyed our beautiful State/UT for decades. Let’s try and move forward,” he suggested.
