WAJAHAT SHABIR
SRINAGAR: Member of Legislative Assembly Zadibal Tanvir Sadiq accused BJP of playing cheap politics by excluding July 13th and 5th December.
5th December happens to be the birth anniversary of Sheikh Abdullah, who is known as Sher-e-Kashmir.
The statement of MLA Sadiq comes a day after Jammu and Kashmir administration announced list of holidays of the year 2025. However, many were expecting 5th December to be announced as a public holiday as same was promised by National Conference party.
Prior to 2019, 5th December were used to be celebrated as holiday in Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking to media persons in party headquarters MLA Zadibal said the BJP has once again played its petty politics by not granting holidays on the days dedicated to such great personalities, causing distress to the people. We had hoped that the holidays for December 5th and July 13th, along with other important holidays, would be restored by the government, but unfortunately, that hasn’t happened.
However, this does not diminish the contributions of these personalities, whether it’s the role of Sher-e-Kashmir or the sacrifices of the martyrs of July 13th, he said.
MLA Sadiq said BJP is still interfering in the affairs of the current administration. This is a temporary setback, but we hope to reverse it very soon. Missing one day won’t make much difference, but we remain hopeful and firmly committed to overturning this decision and restoring these holidays.
Moreover, we will continue the struggle for statehood, make it easier. We remain hopeful that statehood will be restored soon. Alongside this, our struggle will continue with the same resolve. The first decision upon the return of statehood will be to reinstate these holidays. Not only that, but the Darbar Move and other such important decisions will also be implemented in the interest of the people, he said.
Meanwhile MLA Hazratbal said Salman Sagar said the Chief Minister has already sent a proposal on this matter through the cabinet to the LG, and perhaps it has even progressed further. Regarding public holidays, the announcement of such holidays is tied to the release of the calendar. It seems the administration plans these announcements accordingly.
Very soon, we will see progress on this file, which might lead to the inclusion of such holidays. It is worth noting that even if the public calendar doesn’t reflect these holidays immediately, they can still be added later, as happened with the holiday for Hari Singh Ji’s birth anniversary, which was inserted into the calendar later on. Similarly, December 5th will eventually be included in the state holiday calendar in the coming days, he said.
Meanwhile, CPI (M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami also termed the administration’s decision an attempt to distort history.
“Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was a towering personality, and his contributions 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 empowerment of women, which resulted from that movement,” Tarigami said in a statement. “To downgrade such a towering personality is a distortion of history,” he added.
He also said that 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.
Claiming that an attempt is being made to further divide people, Tarigami said, “The administration has insulted the people of Jammu and Kashmir by making such decisions.”
However, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today appreciated the decision of the government to maintain status quo in the list of public holidays to be observed in the Jammu & Kashmir UT during 2025.
BJP spokesperson Brig Anil Gupta said that in a significant decision taken by the LG administration on December 28, 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 controversial and region specific.
