Karan Singh: Jammu & Kashmir (1949-1967)

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Karan Singh: Jammu & Kashmir (1949-1967) is, in a way, a sequel to the author's earlier book Maharaja Hari Singh: The Troubled Years. While the earlier book examined the events and the forces that heralded an era of communal, confrontational and separatist politics in the princely State of Jammu & Kashmir that saw the Ruler ranged against the emerging forces of Sheikh Abdullah, Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Karan Singh: Jammu & Kashmir (1949-1967) examines the politics of a period that followed the exit of Maharaja Hari Singh from the State. This period incrementally failed to come to terms with a State that was created by the genius of Maharaja Gulab Singh in the 19th century. As a result, the Jammu region and the Dogras were forced to launch a stir, the repercussions of which continue to reverberate even today.

During this period, the role of Dr. Karan Singh, first as an eighteen-year-old Regent and then as Sadar-i-Riyasat, pivotal. His presence, in Jammu and Srinagar with every Durbar move, ensured continuity and acknowledgement of the centrality of Jammu and the Dogras to the State. However, it was for those wielding real power to maintain equitable power sharing between Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, the three remaining provinces of the State left in its control. The failure of the successive governments, particularly under Sheikh Abdullah, alienated Jammu and the Dogras to an unimaginable extent. Very early in his career, Yuvraj Karan Singh raised the issue of Ladakh and the need to give autonomy to it to preserve its distinct culture.