This article I found in,' The Tribune' online edition dated November 2, 2000

the link http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20001102/haryana.htm#1

Shot in arm for Prithvi Raj Foundation
Neemrana Palace hotel controversy
From Ravi S. Singh
Tribune News Service

NEEMRANA, Nov 1 — The standoff between the Samraat Prithvi Raj Foundation and the management of the Neemrana Fort Palace Hotel yesterday took a new turn with family members of late Maharaja Rajender Singh, the last descendant of Hindu emperor Prithvi Raj Chauhan, lending their support to the movement of the foundation.

There is widespread resentment among residents of Neemrana village in Rajasthan, a few kms from Rewari in Haryana, and surrounding villages against reported statement by the management of the hotel that Maharaja Rajender Singh was not a direct descendant of Prithvi Raj Chauhan. The royal family has taken offence at the stand of the management. The eldest of the two queens of the Maharaja, Ms Chandrika Kawar (81) expressed shock at the development.

A leader of the co-convener of the foundation and a leader of Haryana, Rao Shiv Rattan, alleged that the management was saying such things as it was apprehensive of the hotel being acquired by the government.

The foundation is spearheading an agitation to press the Union Government to bring the mortal remains of the emperor which it claims lie buried in Ghazni near Kandhar in Afghanistan. According to its findings, the site of the remains is humiliated by locals.

According to historians, the emperor was taken to Afghanistan as a captive by Mohammad Shabbudin Ghori. The emperor is believed to have slained Ghori in his own durbar. Subsequently, the emperor was done to death. History books are, however, silent on the details after the emperor was killed. Members of the foundation say they learnt of the indignities heaped on the mortal remains when an Indian Airlines plane was kidnapped and landed at Kandhar.

A local cloth merchant, Mr Ghanshyam Mudgil, said even before the foundation came in the picture, a number of agitations had taken place against converting the royal palace into a hotel. The descendants had set up the palace and the fort here after setting up one in Atteli (Haryana) and Mandan and Mundawar in Rajasthan.

According to residents of Neemrana and neighbouring areas, Maharaja Rajender Singh had gone in for a distress sale of the palace, the registry of which took place in 1986. The palace was sold at only about Rs 3 lakh. They say that the sale was illegal on account of the “distress” element. Also the concurrence of all members of the family was not sought. Their grouse is that at the time of the sale, the Maharaja was given assurance that it would be converted into a museum.

The residents are angry over the use of the royal insignia on kitchenettes and on trivia to increase the marketability of the hotel.

Mr Yuv Raj Singh, the only son-in-law of the Maharaja, alleged that one of the proprietors of the hotel took advantage of his proximity to the royal family and took away a number of family photographs in good faith. But the same photographs were being displayed in an “unbecoming” manner on the hotel premises. Mrs Sunita Singh, the princess whose photograph was published along with one of the proprietors, in a leading magazine during the midst of the agitation, said she was misled by the authorities.

The hotel management is said to be embroiled in another controversy. Mr Udai Shekhawat, a former sarpanch of a nearby village, said although the Maharaja sold only the palace, the management, in connivance with the district authorities, got the forts on two sides of the palace and the intervening land on the hills transferred in its name. This was illegal as the area fell under forest land and green belt. An official at the hotel rebutted the charges. Interestingly an official at the local tehsil office evaded a direct reply, saying that the documents concerned were presently with the higher echelons of the government. He, however, conceded that there was a controversy on the issue.

The foundation is, therefore, demanding that the hotel be acquired and converted into a museum.

It is also demanding that the queens of the Maharaja, who was the first to merge his state with India after Independence, be given the status of freedom fighters.

The foundation organised a three-day maha yajna near the hotel during the Navratras which was reportedly attended by thousands of people. The yajna was done to mobilise masses.

The matter was also raised in Parliament. In reply, the Union Home Minister had assured members, including former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, that the government would look into the matter.

The foundation has also made the demand for bringing the mortal remains of Rao, Tula Rao, hero of the 1857 struggle, of Haryana, from Kabul.

According to the convener of the foundation, Capt Vikram Singh, the foundation has decided to launch a countrywide “Rashtriya Gaurav Raksha Abhiyan” and has decided to hold mahayajnas at Mukerian (Punjab) and Pilkuan, Meerut, Etawah, Mainpuri and Ghaziabad, all in Uttar Pradesh.