English rendering of Hon’ble Lt Governor’s speech at 200th Raj Tilak Celebrations of Maharaja Gulab Singh

It is a matter of great privilege for me to be a part of 200th Raj Tilak Celebrations of Maharaja Gulab Singh. There have been very few kings in pre partition India who are not known by the boundaries of their kingdom but because of the vastness of their personality. I bow to the virtuous memory of Maharaja Gulab Singh ji, epitome of bravery, strength, benevolence and spiritual light. He was undoubtedly one of the greatest warriors of his time and has a special place in every Indian heart. My greeting and best wishes to the people on his 200th coronation ceremony.

In the 18th century, there were many kings and Maharajas, but in the 19th century, Maharaja Gulab Singh was the only great personality who started his life as a soldier and conquered large states with his strength and determination.

Whenever one gets to read the example of bravery and dedication in history, then there will definitely be mention of Maharaja Gulab Singh who shines on the top in the list of mighty warriors.

Jammu and Kashmir is proud to have a towering personality like Maharaja Gulab Singh. Due to the Mahalwari system of the East India Company, there was an outcry in that period from the North East Province, Central India, Punjab to the Ganges Valley. At such a time, Maharaja Gulab Singh had made Jammu the pivot of new kingdoms by establishing the Dogra Dynasty with his indomitable personality.

When Maharaja Ranjit Singh crowned Maharaja Gulab Singh, two things happened. On the one hand, bravery was rewarded and secondly, Maharaja Ranjit Singh had found a way to get rid of quarrels between small states and jagirs.

Maharaja Gulab Singh established order in Jammu and was successful in taking the border of undivided India to the boundary of the former Soviet Republic for the first time. He did not bogged down despite suffering personal family loss and after acquiring Kashmir in 1846, the history of Jammu and Kashmir is known as a new history.

Friends, for 70 years after independence, we have heard the difficulties and problems of a very large section in Jammu and Kashmir, which was largely burdened by separatism, corruption and rule of a limited number of families. On 5th August 2019, the Honorable Prime Minister of the country, Shri Narendra Modi ji got us rid of that mismanagement and all kinds of helplessness in Jammu and Kashmir.

Friends, this is Jammu and Kashmir where 8-9 thousand projects were completed in a year by spending thousands of crores before 2019. We have completed 51,000 projects in the last financial year. This is the