J&K celebrates a holiday on the birthday of Dogra King Hari Singh; BJP has special functions

Darakshan Andrabi. File | Photo credit: Imran Nissar

The BJP on Wednesday celebrated the birth anniversary of Dogra Maharaja Hari Singh and hailed his move to accede to India in 1947. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah highlighted the role of party founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, who was removed from the official J&K holiday list by Lt. Govt.

The BJP held a number of posts in Srinagar and Jammu on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion of Dogra Maharaja’s birth anniversary, BJP leader and J&K Waqf Board Chairman Darakshan Andrabi said, “Maharaja Hari Singh took a wise decision in 1947 to accede to India. How much we benefited from that decision. Today we are with India, our country,” Ms Andrabi said.

Ms Andrabi described Mr Singh’s rule as inclusive. “There were Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians in his court. They all had to have equal rights,” Ms Andrabi said.

Lt. Gen. J&K Manoj Sinha also paid tribute to the Maharaja in a message on X. “Maharaja Hari Singh was an enlightened statesman and a progressive thinker who introduced several landmark reforms aimed at the welfare and empowerment of the people. His principles of public service, equality and inclusive development continue to retain relevance and inspire people,” Mr. Sinha said.

In J&K, the Maharaja’s birth anniversary was an official holiday on 23rd September. It was included in the list of public holidays by the Lieutenant Governor’s administration in 2022. However, the birth and death anniversaries of National Conference (NC) founder Sheikh Abdullah as public holidays were dropped from the list, prompting a strong reaction from the NC.

NC legislator Tanvir Sadiq questioned the move of not marking Mr. Abdullah’s anniversaries as holidays. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the irony. A leader associated with land reforms that strengthened land cultivation and transferred land ownership to the poor has been stripped of his holiday, while a holiday commemorating a ruler under whose rule Kashmiris endured repression is being celebrated. No hate. No prejudice. Just history. Facts are facts,” Mr Sadiq said.

J&K CM Abdullah said that the role of Sheikh Abdullah in the history of J&K is well known. “The sacrifices made by NC cannot be forgotten. No one can forget the role of Sher-e-Kashmir. The BJP tried to present history differently whenever it disagreed with a particular narrative,” Mr Abdullah said.

Did he tell those people who did not participate in the freedom struggle, what lesson will they teach us? “RSS and BJP’s tribal party, everyone knows their role in the freedom struggle. Everyone knows who apologized and what they did,” he added.

Published – 24 Sep 2026 04:31 IST