Omkar Dattatray
The 26th, October 1947 is the accession day and it is the day on which Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir Hari Singh signed the instrument of accession and joined the secular and democratic India .We are celebrating the accession day on October26,2023 and are celebrating it with fanfare.The UT and its people are celebrating 76th accession day this year .Thus this day has a special importance in the post independent history of not only Jammu and Kashmir but of the India as well. So this day should be celebrated with gaiety and fervor. But it is very disturbing that 26th October is not celebrated in the manner it deserves to be celebrated .However the LG administration had rightly issued order to all government offices and educational institutions to celebrate the accession day in a befitting manner .The 26th October has now been declared a public holiday by the government and therefore this day needs to be celebrated to commemorate the accession of J&K with the Indian union. In fact accession day in India’s Jammu and Kashmir commemorates the day when the area joined the Dominion of India. The 26th October is important in the sense that Maharaja Hari Singh signed off the instrument of accession on this day in which Jammu and Kashmir joined the dominion of India. This was part of the series of events in 1947 by which rule the British Raj was converted into two independent Dominions of India and Pakistan, latter having territories separated by whole of the northern India. As a Hindu ruler of a state with both Hindu and Muslim population, the Maharaja’s decision was crucial. The festivities of the day include holding rallies, lighting firecrackers, singing India’s national anthem and raising the flag of India. Thus accession day carries great importance as it was on this day in 1947 that the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir signed the Instrument of Accession to become part and parcel of the greatest and largest democracy of the world. This day marks the anniversary of Maharaja’s signing the Instrument of Accession with the government of India. The signing of this document cemented Jammu and Kashmir as member of the Dominion of India. The people of India as well as of J&K especially children need to be taught about the historical developments which led to the signing of the Instrument of Accession and the importance of this day in independent India. The festivities of the day include holding rallies, bursting of fire crackers, singing of India’s national anthem and raising of national flag and in some areas the festivities are as big as those of the Hindu festival of Diwali. Accession day is a public holiday in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The accession day became an official public holiday for first time in Jammu and Kashmir in 2020.While this day is celebrated and commemorated for acceding of Jammu and Kashmir with India and is celebrated by all nationalistic people but the separatists observe it as a black day. The Accession Day of Jammu and Kashmir with the union of India is celebrated every year on 26th October across the UT. Special functions are observed to mark the day. The day became an official public holiday in J&K for the first time in 2020 after the abrogation of article 370 and 35Aon August 5th 2019.The Instrument of Accession is a legal document executed by Maharaja Hari Singh, ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir on October 26, 1947. By executing this document under the provisions of Indian Independence Act, of 1947,Maharaja Hari Singh agreed to accede to Dominion of India. It is pertinent to mention that Maharaja Hari Singh, sought the help of the Indian armed forces after an invasion from the army and tribesmen of Pakistan. The Indian government extended its help on condition of accession of the state to the dominion of India .Accession day is the new holiday that residents of Jammu and Kashmir will celebrate .Earlier the Jammu and Kashmir administration replaced former CM Shiekh Abdullah’s anniversary and Martyrs day from its list of public holidays for 2020 and included Accession Day which will be celebrated every year on 26,October.The government should not have cancelled the holiday of the anniversary of Baba -e-Koum -Sher -e -Kashmir Shiekh Mohammad Abdullah because he was the towering political personality and his role is commendable for the upliftment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir .Though it is so good to have cancelled the holiday on account of the so called martyrs day of 13th July but the government should not have tinkered with the holiday of the anniversary of Shiekh Abdullah .It is a bad politics and politics of vengeance. The accession day is observed on 26,October every year .This day marks anniversary of Maharaja Hari Sing signing the Instrument of Accession with government of India .The people in Jammu and Kashmir whose national sentiments favor India celebrate the day by lighting fireworks ,singing the Indian national anthem and hoisting the national flag .Those in Jammu and Kashmir who have more separatist aspirations observe the day as a black day mourning kashmiri ‘s independence .The princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was torn apart when British India was partitioned to form modern nations of India and Pakistan .When Pakistani forces launched a guerrilla attack on Kashmir in 1947 ,Hari Singh ,the reigning monarch of Kashmir at the time ,turned to Mountbatten and India .He was asked to sign the Instrument of Accession -a document declaring the princely state as part of the Dominion of India. After the first Indo-Pak was drew to an end the United Nations was called for mediation .The UN’s suggestion to hold a referendum to discern the aspirations of Kashmiri people was refused by India. Jammu and Kashmir thus became a part of India. The state was accorded special status by article 370 of the Indian constitution .The article though was repealed in 2019 and the state of Jammu and Kashmir bifurcated into two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh .As already stated accession day was made a public holiday. Accession day highlights the modern history of Jammu and Kashmir .It shows how Jammu and Kashmir became a part of India. .Through accession, we learn about the political aspirations of the people and how these impact the functioning of a state .Accession is an opportunity to understand special statehood .Jammu and Kashmir has a long history and it is in the fitness of things to use the accession day to educate the people especially the future generation about the importance of this historically significant day. The children who are the future leaders and rulers should be made aware about the importance of the accession day and so it becomes our responsibility to make children aware about the significance of this day for the country .In brief the accession cements and creates the relationship of Jammu and Kashmir with India and it is through signing of the Instrument of Accession by the Maharaja Hari Singh that J&K became a part and parcel of India and hence the importance of this day cannot be exaggerated.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist).