Ancient history

Pakistani web on Maharaja of Bikaner

A meeting was held between the officials of Bikaner and the Prime Minister of Bahawalpur State, Nawab Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani, in Bikaner under the chairmanship of Major Short, a military officer of the Government of India. On 7 November 1947, in the mediation of Major Short, the disputes related to refugees and border between the two princely states were discussed and an agreement was also reached. After this, Major Short went to Delhi by evening train the same day and Gurmani was also recorded in the official records as going to Bahawalpur while Maharaja stopped Gurmani at Lalgarh for secret consultation.

Gurmani stayed in Lalgarh for three days. During this, the entire staff of the palace was of Muslims. Exceptionally, only a few Hindu employees were allowed to enter the palace. Among them was the state's public relations officer Brijraj Kumar Bhatnagar. He was admitted because he was very close to the Maharaja and knew Urdu. The secret consultation between Gurmani and Sadul Singh continued till 10 November.

During this, Sadul Singh's inclination turned towards Pakistan. It was decided to have a commercial agreement between the states of Bikaner and Bahawalpur on a pilot basis for six months. The agreement was in writing and signed by both the parties and handed over to each other.

Brijraj Kumar Bhatnagar told this to Hindustan Times correspondent Daulal Acharya in Bikaner. This news was published in the Delhi edition of Hindustan Times on November 17, 1947 and in the postal edition on November 18, which caused a stir in Delhi and Bikaner. The leaders of Bikaner Praja Parishad decided to oppose this treaty and went to Delhi and announced to submit a memorandum to the Government of India.

This was a matter related to defense and came under the Union Government, so Patel immediately appointed a military liaison officer on the border of Bikaner and Bahawalpur and wrote to the Bikaner Maharaja to cooperate fully with this officer. The correspondent of the newspaper was asked by the Ministry of Home Affairs of Bikaner to give the source of the news. In those days a telegram was sent from the Bikaner Secretariat to the Nazim of Raisinghnagar.

In this telegram, the Nazim of Raisinghnagar was informed that our business with the princely state of Bahawalpur is going on as usual. Meghraj Pareek, a former Peshkar of the Revenue Department in Raisinghnagar, stole the wire from the Nazim's office and handed it over to Daulal Acharya. After this telegram came to light, the home department of Bikaner state sat quietly.

The Bikaner Maharaja, opposing the news published in Hindustan Times, wrote to the Government of India that- 'The relations between Bikaner Praja Parishad and Bikaner State are not good, so a worker of Praja Parishad who was a correspondent of Hindustan Times Also, this news has been published so that by pressurizing the state of Bikaner, it can be acquired by the colonial government. Does Praja Parishad want to keep Bikaner state at par with Junagadh and Hyderabad?'

The Maharaja requested Patel to assist in the proceedings against the guilty persons in this regard and quash the charge by issuing an official statement. On this, the State Department issued a statement that news has been published in some newspapers to the effect that a trade treaty has been signed between Bikaner, Pakistan and Bahawalpur.

It can be said with confidence that this news is completely baseless. There is no such agreement. The Chief Minister of Bahawalpur had come on Maitri Yatra for efforts being made to prevent the spread of fear among the refugees living on both sides of the border.

On the basis of the above facts it would not be unreasonable to say that the last Maharaja of Bikaner, Sadul Singh, formed an interim government and handed over the power to the public in part, but the papads that went to the people to keep the princely state as a separate unit and made misadventures, their information was given by Daulal Acharya and Moolchand Pareek. He reached the higher departments in due time, that is a unique example of patriotism. Due to this, the princely state of Bikaner could remain in India.