Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 5: Exhorting the State Govt to immediately announce September 23 as State holiday on Maharaja Hari Singh’s birthday on the analogy of December 5, besides declaring Gazetted holiday on October 26 to commemorate Accession Day, Chairman of the NPP and former minister Harsh Dev Singh expressed his anguish over the BJP-PDP combine for purportedly procrastinating the announcement of most coveted holidays to hurt the Dogra pride and honour.
Click here to watch video
Addressing press conference here today Harsh Dev described Maharaja Hari Singh as one of the greatest nationalists and Indian patriot who had challenged the British crown in 1931 at Round Table Conference in London declaring that, “I am an Indian first and then a Maharaja”. He said that the revered Maharaja shall always be remembered for showcasing his nationalistic ethos when he acceded the State of J&K to the Union of India by signing the historic Instrument of Accession of October 26, 1947.
He maintained that Maharaja Hari Singh was the most progressive, secular and visionary ruler of princely India and declaration of his birthday as State holiday on September 23 would be a real tribute to the legendary ruler. He wondered that if Sheikh Abdullah’s birthday on December 5 could be observed as State holiday then why the same on Maharaja’s birthday was denied despite the resolution adopted by the State Legislative Council.
Further seeking declaration of State holiday on October 26 as “Accession Day” in place of 13th July which continued in J&K as Gazetted State holiday to commemorate ‘Kashmir Martyr’s Day’ with full State honours, Harsh Dev expressed his indignation over the perfidious compromises and surrenders made by the BJP before the Valley centric PDP for power. He lambasted BJP for its treacherous retreat on the observance of July 13th as ‘Martyr’s Day’ which reminisced infamous episode of mutiny in Kashmir in 1931 followed by large scale incidents of arson, loot and sectarian carnage when 21 rebels who had incited sedition and public outrage against the Maharaja’s (Dogra) rule were killed by the police for restoring law and order.
Singh said that while the mutineers of July 13 were glorified as martyrs, the BJP partnered dispensation turned a blind eye to the supreme sacrifice of valiant Brigadier Rajinder Singh who laid down his life on October 26, 1947 while restraining and preventing the Pak sponsored ‘Kabailis’ from entering Srinagar.
Follow our WhatsApp channel