Mr. A.'s Troubles

Sir Hari Singh Bahadur, Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, held on with both hands last week as his throne shook. Rich Kashmir, sometimes called "a paradise on earth," has a population of 3,300,000, of whom 80% are Moslems. But Sir Hari is a Hindu who holds his job through the good offices of Great Britain. Last week, while Britain was busy in the south, 12,000 Moslems streamed out of the Punjab, started north toward Srinagar with the object of dethroning Sir Hari and completing a solid block of Moslem states from Egypt to Central Asia. Near Rajaori, just north of Punjab, they sacked 14 villages, fired houses and post offices. State troopers hastily left Srinagar, while Sir Hari appealed frantically for British succor.

In 1924 Sir Hari tried unsuccessfully to hide his identity as victim in a blackmail plot under the pseudonym of "Mr. A." He saved himself $750,000, but had to call upon the British to attain his throne a year later. Since then Moslems in Kashmir have complained bitterly that all the best government places go to Hindus. Last autumn British troops saved his throne when the Mohammedans revolted. Reports last week said that 5,000 Hindus and Moslems have been killed in skirmishes since then. As fresh troops were being rushed across the Himalayas to save his throne again, Sir Hari suddenly decided he could save it himself and sent them back.

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