Article 370: Martand Singh, great-grandson of J&K's last ruler, says he's happy, looking forward to a new J&K

By Shashi Sunny

As the scion of the erstwhile royal family of Kashmir, Martand Singh is also the inheritor of a legacy that often puts his family in the centre of national politics. The 24-year-old is the great grandson of Maharaja Hari Singh, the last ruler of Jammu & Kashmir, the grandson of Rajya Sabha member Dr Karan Singh and the son of Congress party leader Vikramaditya Singh.

ETPanache recently interviewed the newly-minted lawyer with an interest in constitutional, international and civil law, at the family’s bungalow in Delhi’s tony Nyaya Marg.


Excerpts:

A thread that unspooled in the time of Maharaja Hari Singh continues to unravel in your time.
One must remember that J&K is not the same as it was during Maharaja Hari Singh’s time. In the past 75 years, different elements have been injected into the state, which is a completely different entity now. Now there is a Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, China-occupied Kashmir — so much has changed. Thanks to my grandfather and father, I have a sense of the history my grandfather has seen from 1947, up to now.

The unique situation of Kashmir has been a subject of casual conversation over meals at home for as long as I can remember. My grandfather, who has been the Crown Prince, head of state and in electoral politics for more than seven decades, has a valuable perspective about how things have evolved in the state. Naturally, this makes me interested and concerned about everything that happens there.

Do you feel connected to that chapter in history?
Yes. I do feel connected because I have grown up with discussions and conversations around the state. I get to understand all that happened long before I was born.

Our family is from Jammu and my ancestor Gulab Singh, who was the Dogra ruler, had bought Kashmir from the British. The ruler also had to take control and establish his own rule. Ladakh was added to establish the entire state. Jammu and Kashmir were two regions, but the politics of the state has been dominated by Kashmiri leaders. For the past few years, I have helped my father and grandfather draft their statements whenever they voiced their views about J&K on social media.

What do you think you would have done if you were in the place of your great-grandfather?
That’s a difficult one. I really don’t know what I would have done. I can only try to understand his perspective. It is too complex [a situation] to speculate about.

What are your views based on your reading of the Instrument of Accession?
It’s a historic document available in the public domain. The circumstances leading up to the day are extremely important to understand J&K’s developments post-1947.

If you had to articulate your family’s position on J&K’s new status, what would it be?
My family has supported the turn of events. [My grandfather] Dr Karan Singh has said that there are several positive points and he has welcomed Ladakh’s emergence as a Union Territory. My father too has said this is the beginning of a new era for Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and their full integration with India.

What is your opinion about Article 370 being abrogated?
I don’t belong to any political party and I am not entering politics. I am happy with what has happened. We can look forward to a new J&K, create business development, and eventually hope to see a full statehood.

If your great-grandfather Hari Singh was here today, how do you think he would feel?
If there is communal harmony and there is development and economic progress in the state, I feel, he would have been happy.