Accession Day in J&K 2020 public holiday list
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has released the list of J&K 2020 Holiday list, that would mark public holidays for all the state government employees. Changes in the new holiday list stirred a row as it includes the Jammu and Kashmir 'Accession Day' but the birth anniversary of former chief minister Sheikh Abdullah and Martyrs' Day were dropped.
According to the list issued late on Friday night by G L Sharma, the deputy secretary of the General Administration Department, 27 public holidays will be observed throughout the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in 2020, compared to 28 in the previous calendar year.
October 26 comes as the new edition to the list of Jammu and Kashmir public holiday for the next year as on this day the then ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession.
However, Martyrs' Day observed on July 13 and the birth anniversary of Sheikh Abdullah on December 5, which were earlier observed as public holidays, have been dropped from the list of holidays for the year 2020.
Apart from these, there are 46 holidays, including four provincial holidays for the Kashmir region, three for Jammu, eight local holidays and four restricted holidays in 2020. There were 47 holidays in the 2019 calendar year.
On October 26, 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh agreed to accede to the Dominion of India by signing Instrument of Accession, which was duly accepted and signed a day later by Lord Mountbatten, the then Governor-General of India.
Martyrs' Day is observed in Jammu and Kashmir on July 13 every year in remembrance of people killed in firing by soldiers of Dogra ruler Maharaja Hari Singh on this day in 1931 during protests against his rule.
(With inputs from PTI)
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