A fresh political controversy has erupted in Jammu and Kashmir with the Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha rejecting the proposal of the ruling National Conference and not restoring the holiday on 5 December to mark the birth anniversary of the towering Kashmir leader Sheikh Abdullah.

Sheikh’s birthday and the Martyrs Day on 13 July do not figure in the list of holidays for 2025 released by the government. These holidays were withdrawn in 2019 when the Article 370 was abrogated and J&K state downgraded as a union territory. NC has termed the exclusion of these two holidays as “disregard to Kashmir’s history and democratic struggle”.

Advertisement

After coming into power, the NC Cabinet had sent a proposal to the LG to restore the holiday on Sheikh’s birthday. Moreover, the NC had also said it would restore the holiday on Martyrs Day.

Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary had recently told mediapersons that the holiday on Sheikh’s birthday would be restored. “There will be no financial burden on the J&K government if a holiday is declared on Sheikh Abdullah’s birth anniversary. It would be a gesture of respect to the founder of the NC, whose decisions made J&K the crown of India. From next year, 5 December will definitely be a public holiday as we have understood the people’s sentiment,” Choudhary added.

Terming the decision of the Lt. Governor administration to abolish holidays on Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah’s birthday and Martyrs’ Day on 13 July as an attempt to distort history, CPI(M) leader and MLA Kulgam Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami criticized the move. “Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was a towering personality, and his contribution to the freedom struggle and empowerment of the people of J&K cannot be ignored. The empowerment of people we see today came through decisions like Land-to-Tiller without compensation, Education for All, and the empowerment of women, which resulted from that movement,” Tarigami said.

“To downgrade such a towering personality is distortion of history,” he added. He said it is very unfortunate that July 13 and December 5 have been dropped from the list of holidays for the 2025 calendar year. He said July 13 holds immense historical significance for J&K, as it commemorates the sacrifice of those who laid down their lives protesting against autocratic rule and advocating for human dignity.

“Similarly, December 5, Sheikh Sahib’s birthday, is of great importance”.  “Attempts to erase such pivotal milestones from our collective memory undermine the values they represent. Distorting history this way will serve no purpose.”The CPI(M) leader said the attempt is being made to further divide people.

“By such decisions, the administration has insulted the people of Jammu and Kashmir. CPI(M) appeals to the people of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh to unitedly resist such divisive policies of the central government,” he added.
On the other hand, the BJP has appreciated the government’s decision  to maintain the status quo in the list of public holidays to be observed during 2025.

In a significant decision taken by the LG Administration on 28 December 2019, the two “controversial” state holidays on July 13 and December 5 were deleted from the list of public holidays to be observed in 2020. The practice has been continuing unchanged since then. The decision was widely welcomed across the nation as these holidays were region- specific, BJP’s statement said.

“Restoration of these two holidays was included in its election manifesto by the NC. It was one of the many controversial commitments made by the party. After forming the government many of its  leaders and legislators including the party’s general secretary had upped the ante making fervent appeals to the LG to declare December 5, 2024 as a public holiday but were ignored. It is also learnt that further pressure was exerted on the LG through submitting a cabinet proposal to the LG. “The firm stand taken by the LG and ignoring the parochial demand is really praiseworthy,” stated Brigadier Anil Gupta (Retd), spokesperson of BJP.

Meanwhile, Srinagar’s former Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu said that the NC had promised to restore Martyrs’ Day as a state holiday.