The J&K administration’s move to strike down National Conference (NC) founder Sheikh Abdullah’s birth anniversary and July 13 from the Union Territory’s holiday list for 2020 evoked angry reactions from the regional parties on Saturday.
According to the order from J&K’s General Administration Department (GAD), the new list of official holidays excludes the December 5 birth anniversary of the NC founder who headed the movement in J&K to accede to the Union of India in 1947.
The order also pointed out that July 13, which was being observed as ‘Martyrs Day’ to commemorate the death of 22 civilians on that date in 1931 during a rebellion against the Dogra monarch, had been dropped. Instead, October 26 has been declared as ‘Accession Day’ and will be observed as an official holiday.
While the NC issued no statement in Kashmir, the Jammu chapter of the party demanded a “review of the decision”.
“Sheikh [Abdullah] rejected the two-nation theory of Mohammed Ali Jinnah over secularism of the father of nation Mahatma Gandhi,” the NC’s provincial president Devender Singh Rana, said in Jammu. “For decades, Kashmir’s politics has come to be identified with the personality of the Sheikh. The towering personality cannot be confined to the myopic prism of regional politics, as he fought for democracy when the entire nation was struggling to break the shackles of Britsh,” he added.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Firdous Tak said the move “showcases the change being imposed on the people of J&K”.
CPI(M) leader and former MLA M.Y. Tarigami said the current administration was out “to distort the history of J&K”.
“The struggle of July 13, 1931, martyrs was against a tyrannical regime,” said Mr. Tarigami. “It was aimed for the better future of the whole of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. It was a heroic struggle of the people for the whole of population, irrespective of caste, colour, creed and religion. Today’s decision has virtually been taken to further divide the ranks of people,” he asserted.
He said such decisions had “insulted the people of J&K.”. “The BJP government at the Centre is trying to divide the people. Already, they have done enough damage to the secular fabric of the country by decisions like the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA),” contended Mr. Tarigami.
He described the NC founder as “a towering personality, who is behind the historic contribution in the freedom struggle and empowerment of people of J&K”. “To downgrade a leader like Sheikh sahib is virtually playing a prank with the history. I am sure people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh will unitedly resist such divisive policies of the BJP,” he added.
