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        When the Pakistani Army invaded Kashmir on October 22, 1947, the Swayamsevaks of the RSS rose to supreme heights in defending their motherland against the blood-thirsty attacks of terrorist Pakistan. The heroic role that the Swayamsevaks of the RSS, Jawans and Officers of the Indian Armed Forces and the people of the State in general played at the time of the Pakistan invasion of Jammu & Kashmir is indeed an inspiring chapter in our national history.

        The Pakistani plan to invade and annex Kashmir was prepared with great care right from the beginning of the birth of Pakistan. All arrangements were made to ensure that there was no delay or failure. Nothing was left to chance. Yet, the Dogra Army and the organised Swayamsevaks of the RSS succeeded in holding off the enemy till the Indian Army arrived. If only the 'Kabailies' deployed by Pakistan as guided missiles had not wasted their time in plundering the cities on the way, raping women and rushing to and fro to take the loot and the abducted women home, the Pakistan plan would have worked and Jinnah's ambition to celebrate Id in Kashmir would have been fulfilled.

        The dastardly Pakistani Government under Jinnah who was responsible for the vivisection of India on religious grounds, took care to locate a Fifth Columnist in the Jammu and Kashmir Government. The Pakistanis made the then Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Ramachandra Kak their paid 'agent'. He was in the confidence of Maharaja Hari Singh but he was actually a traitor, fully focussed on betraying not only the Maharaja but the country as well. He had succeeded in convincing the Maharaja that in view of the geographical situation of Jammu and Kashmir, it was neither beneficial nor possible for the Jammu and Kashmir State to accede to or merge with either India or Pakistan. He advised the Maharaja that the status quo should be maintained in respect of Jammu and Kashmir and that he should tell the Governments of Pakistan and India that his State was not interested in acceding to either.
 

Pt Prem Nath Dogra Sangh chalak, Jammu Kashmir	Prof Balraj Madhok, Pillar of Sangh work in the Kashmir Valley.	Jagdish Abrol, Pillar of Sangh work in the Jammu region.

        An Englishman called Scott was the Commander-in-Chief of Jammu and Kashmir. He too, like most other British Officers of the time, was pro-Pak. and gave his full cooperation to Pakistan's invasion plan. He dispersed the State Army in such a way that it should not be able to do anything at the time of the Pakistani attack. He also neutralized a big chunk of the loyal Royal Forces. On fronts like Kohala and Dumel, where Pakistan was expected to attack, he deliberately posted Officers like Sher Ali and Muslim troops who were well-known as staunch agents of the Muslim League. Ramachandra Kak deliberately kept Maharaja Hari Singh in the dark about this dangerous development by assuring him and the loyal Hindu Officers that when the time came the whole Army as well as the people would make the invading enemies from Pakistan bite the dust.

        Against this background, Pakistan invaded Jammu and Kashmir in October 1947. The invasion plan was given the code name of 'Operation Gulmarg'. Maj. Gen. Akbar Khan was placed in command of the entire Kabaily Lashkar Force. His code name was 'Tariq'. Brig. Sher Khan was his deputy. His headquarters were the Army Headquarters of Pakistan. The entire Army assembled at Ebtabad on October 18. Three or four days later, they started marching towards Srinagar via Uri, Dumel and Baramula where they were first to capture the Airport and then the City by October 25, 1947 so that Jinnah could translate his dream of celebrating 'Id' in Srinagar into a reality. 7 divisions of infantry of the regular Pakistani Army were kept in readiness in the Murrie and Ebtabad region to provide back up support to the Lashkar Army. A full division was also kept ready in Sialkot for marching on Jammu after the capture of Srinagar. As planned, the attack was made on Jammu and Kashmir on October 27, 1947. The main force crossed the border at Garhi Habibullah and attacked Muzaffa-rabad. In the Jammu and Kashmir regiments posted at Lohargali and Raikot, the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Soldiers became traitors killing Dogra fellow-soldiers while they were sleeping and joined the enemy.

        When it became impossible for the Hindus to stay on in the Pakistan-occupied area, Hindus started moving into Jammu and Kashmir on a large scale. The Swayamsevaks of the RSS organized reception centres for receiving them, housing them, providing them food, shelter and medical relief. Prof Balraj Madhok, who was the pillar of RSS work in the Kashmir Valley urged Maharaja Hari Singh to take relief measures on a war footing to protect the Hindu refugees. Prof Balraj Madhok was appointed by the Jammu and Kashmir Government as Relief Commissioner for permanent settlement of these refugees. But the moment this news reached Sheikh Abdullah and his National Conference, they raised a storm of protest. Unfortunately Maharaja Hari Singh succumbed to the pressure of the National Conference and the supporters of Sheikh Abdullah, like Jawaharlal Nehru in New Delhi, and the orders appointing Prof Balraj Madhok as Relief Commissioner were withdrawn. As Manik Chandra Vajpayee and Sridhar Paradkar in their inspiring book 'Partition Days: The Fiery Saga of RSS' have rightly observed: 'It was a misfortune for both India and Kashmir, because had Hindus and Sikhs been settled in Kashmir, Pakistani elements would have themselves started leaving for Pakistan and the situation in Kashmir would not have been what it is today'.

        Prof Balraj Madhok became a Swayamsevak in the RSS in 1939. It was he who set up the first Sangh Shakha at Diwan Mandir in Jammu in 1939. Before this, he had started a Shakha in Layalpur too which became part of Pakistan after August 15, 1947. An Intensive Training Camp (ITC) of the RSS was organized at Sialkot in Punjab province in 1939. Many great Swayamsevaks who later went to work in Jammu and Kashmir and were responsible for organizing defence of Hindus against the invading Pakistan Lashkars were trained at this ITC. Even in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, Prof Balraj Madhok was mainly responsible for starting the first Sangh Shakha in 1944. Because of his ceaseless efforts, hundreds of Kashmir youths came to join the Shakha for the first time. When they came forward, the RSS in Kashmir Valley grew rapidly.

        In 1946, Sri Guruji, Sar Sanghchalak of the RSS visited Srinagar. He addressed a big public meeting which galvanized the Kashmiri youths to join the RSS in large numbers. In its aftermath, Kashmiri youths like Makhanlal Ebna and Omkar Nath Kak were sent out as Pracharaks. By the end of 1946, the RSS had acquired a strong presence, not only in Srinagar, but in places like Baramula, Pehalgaon, Uri, Anantnag and Muzaffarabad. Under the inspiring leadership of Pundit Premnath Dogra, Sanghchalak, Jammu and Kashmir, Jagadish Abrol, who was the pillar of Sangh work in the Jammu region and Prof. Balraj Madhok, who was the tower of Sangh work in the Kashmir valley, the RSS played an outstanding role in giving protection to the Hindus and other non-Muslims against the invaders from Pakistan in 1947-48.

        In his auto-biography entitled 'Jeevan Ka Safar' in Hindi Prof Balraj Madhok wrote about the RSS in Jammu and Kashmir: 'For two years I tried hard to spread the Sangh work. I went to every nook and corner of old Srinagar to meet the Kashmiri youths and thus spread the Sangh network first in Srinagar and then in other parts of the valley. Till 1946, the number of Swayamsevaks in Srinagar alone had risen to 1000. When they gathered in proper uniform on Sundays, self-confidence and enthusiasm would fill their hearts and the general Hindu masses could not remain untouched by that. RSS had come up as a force in the Kashmir valley whom none could ignore.'

        The vigilant, organized strength made it possible for the RSS to protect the Hindu society when calamity struck in Kashmir in October 1947, to resettle displaced persons and to rescue people from peril and jaws of death. RSS became a trusted comrade of the Armed Forces, helping them to deal with the traitors. It could gather intelligence about the Pakistani aggression, alert the Army and even hold certain positions against the invaders at many places till the relief enforcement from the Indian Army arrived on the scene. The great deeds of these Swayamsevaks will continue to gleam and glow through the gloom of the coming Ages, serving as a beacon light for all. No wonder Field Marshal Cariappa, whose patriotism can, perhaps, only be doubted by union Cabinet Ministers like Arjun Singh and Antulay today, paid his tribute to the R.S.S. after watching their heroic work in Jammu and Kashmir: 'RSS is my heart's work. My dear young men, don't be disturbed by uncharitable comments of interested persons. Look ahead! Go ahead! The country is standing in need of your services'. Hindu society, Hindu culture, Hindu religion, and Hindu civilization which are under the siege of the lethal forces of global Islam, global Christianity and global Communism under the official patronage of the UPA Government can only be saved by the RSS speaking on behalf of millions of Hindus and non-Muslims of India.