Integrity Score 405
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Prime Minister of Kashmir continues...
His highness was, however, misled by an intimate Pathan friend of his in the palace to believe that there was no serious danger to the state and all these rumours were merely a part of the cold war, intended to coerce him into acceding to Pakistan. The Maharaja was over-confident of his power and thought that a battalion of Dogras could easily meet such a challenge. He was, perhaps, oblivious of the fact that his British Chief of the State Forces had, before leaving the State, so dispersed the army in small units in far flung areas, that they had ceased to be effective. In Muzaffarbad and Dumel, from which side the tribesmen could enter the State, there was only a battalion of the State Forces commanded by Colonel Narain Singh, but this unit had about 40 per cent Muslims who could not be trusted in the communal situation that had arisen. The Maharaja sent word to Col. Narain Singh twice or thrice to disarm this part of his unit but Col. Narain Singh said that they were his most loyal soldiers and had served under him in Burma and elsewhere and he was not prepared to listen to such a suggestion so long as he was in command. As events proved, the Colonel was quite wrong in his appreciation of the situation. He met his death at the hands of his own Muslim troops who joined the raiders and led them on the road to Srinagar from Muzaffarbad.
An order had been given by the Maharaja for the destruction of the Kishan Ganga bridge at Muzaffarabad. The chief engineer was sent there for the purpose but he was unable to do so as, it is said, he had no dynamite. To get dynamite he went to Delhi but before he could return, the raiders had entered the State by using this bridge. A similar attempt to destroy the Kohala Bridge also failed.
On the 15th of September I took my oath of office and entered the Prime Minister’s room in the Secretariat.
To be continued.....