| Will Govt declare Maharaja Hari Singh’s birthday as holiday? | | Re-examination of past bills, resolutions of JK assembly | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Aug 30: Reports about Jammu and Kashmir government set to re-examine the bills and resolutions passed by the erstwhile state assembly have raised hopes about the birthday of J&K’s last Dogra ruler Maharaja Hari Singh being declared as a holiday.
As per the official sources, the government has decided to scrutinise the bills and resolutions passed by the Jammu and Kashmir assembly in the past and examine their status and relevance on ground. Amid these reports, there are hopes that a resolution passed unanimously by the upper house in J&K over declaring state holiday on the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh will be implemented on ground.
On Jan 24, 2017, the upper house adopted a resolution urging the government to declare holiday on September 23 every year on the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh. The private member resolution was moved by BJP MLC, Ajatshatru Singh, who is the grandson of the late Maharaja.
The resolution was accepted and then Deputy Chairman Jahangir Hussain Mir asked the government to respond.
The then Education Minister and Leader of the House Naeem Akther had said, “Jammu and Kashmir already observes 28 state holidays in addition to provincial, restricted and local holidays,” adding, “In this circumstance it’s not feasible for government to further increase the number of holidays,” and had urged Ajatshatru Singh to withdraw the resolution.
Normally members withdraw resolutions after reply from the government but in this case Ajatshatru Singh refused to withdraw it and pressed for discussion and voting. Several legislators from PDP and BJP praised the administration of late Maharaja.
The National Conference and Congress politicised the issue and opposed the resolution, however they couldn’t stop it from getting passed by the majority in J&K’s upper house. However, as per sources, the government has kept the final decision in this regard in limbo.
Later, a wide debate erupted over the contributions of Maharaja Hari Singh towards the welfare of Jammu and Kashmir. The critics were slammed after records of the series of welfare measures taken by the late Maharaja came to the fore. From creation of Jammu and Kashmir Bank to making education compulsory in the erstwhile princely state, Maharaja Hari Singh did everything to take J&K out of the morass of deprivation and agony. |
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