NC, BJP members spar on issue of holiday on anniversaries of Maharaja Hari Singh, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah

Noisy scenes erupted in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly on Tuesday (September 22, 2026) as the ruling National Conference (NC) and the opposition BJP sparred over the official holidays on the anniversaries of Dogra monarch Maharaja Hari Singh and NC founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flagged the issue of the closure of highways in Kashmir during the movement of security forces’ convoys. 

As the J&K assembly convened the session in the morning, NC legislator Abdul Majeed Larmi pitched for declaring official holidays on the birth and death anniversaries of Mr. Abdullah on December 5 and September 8, respectively, in J&K. “Either Abdullah’s birth and death anniversaries should be observed as holidays, as in the past, or drop the holiday of the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh [on September 23] too. Sheikh Abdullah was an unparalleled legend from J&K,” said Mr. Larmi.  

The remarks of MLA Larmi, supported by other NC legislators, sparked high-pitched sloganeering and protests from the BJP legislators. “How can they talk about cancelling a holiday?” said BJP legislator R.S. Pathania.

Meanwhile, Opposition PDP legislator Waheed-ur-Rehman Para also supported the NC demand. “It’s a legitimate demand of the NC. There should be a holiday on July 13 too, which we observe as Martyrs’ Day,” said Mr. Parra. Another PDP legislator, Muntazir Mehdi, displayed a placard demanding a holiday on July 13, when around 22 Kashmiri civilians were in an uprising against the Dogra monarch in 1931.

The Lieutenant Governor administration included Maharaja Hari Singh’s birth anniversary a public holiday in 2022. Earlier, it dropped the official holiday observed on Mr. Abdullah’s anniversaries and July 13. 

Meanwhile, PDP’s Para also raised the issue of the closure of highways in Kashmir during the movement of convoys of security forces. “Locals provided land for highways. The same people are being discriminated against. It’s like the ‘Berlin Wall’. The entire population cannot be punished for a single act of violence,” said Mr. Parra. 

He demanded that the Omar Abdullah government should “take the issue up with the Unified Command to end the discrimination and humiliation.

NC MLA Larmi seconded the demand of Mr. Parra. “This House should pass a resolution urging the Government of India to take action. We are not against the security apparatus. However, the procedures laid down cause inconvenience to locals, students, and patients. Ambulances get stuck, students miss their exams and the passengers miss their flights,” said Mr. Larmi.

Mr. Larmi said the Home department may not be under the Chief Minister in a Union Territory, “but the government should intervene to stop it”.