Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 29: Even as leaders of the ruling National Conference have demanded the restoration of holiday on the birth anniversary of the party’s founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, there is no holiday on December 5 in the list of holidays issued by the General Administration Department of Jammu and Kashmir Government.
December 5 is the birthday of Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, who was the founder of the ruling National Conference.
According to the list of holidays issued by the GAD in a Government Order No.2193-JK(GAD) of 2024 dated 29.12.2024, 28 holidays to be observed in across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in the year 2025.
Furthermore, four holidays are to be observed in Kashmir province and three in Jammu province. Seven are the local holidays to be observed in different districts across the year and four are the restricted holidays.
Notable this year, after the formation of a popular government, the National Conference leaders in No holiday on December 5 in the list of holidays.
December 5 is the birthday of NC founder late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.
After the formation of a government, the NC leaders including ministers had raised concerns over the omission of December 5 as a public holiday in J&K.
Some ministers have already announced that the December 5 holiday would be reinstated.
Some ministers have announced that the holiday would be reinstated. “There will be no financial burden on the J&K government if a holiday is declared on Sheikh Abdullah’s birth anniversary. It would be a gesture of respect to the founder of the NC, whose decisions made J&K the crown of India. From next year, December 5 will definitely be a public holiday as we have understood the people’s sentiment,” a minister said while addressing the media.
Following the abrogation of J&K’s special status in 2019, the administration had removed two public holidays: December 5, Sheikh Abdullah’s birth anniversary, and July 13, which commemorated the deaths of protesters killed by the forces of the princely state in 1931.
Sheikh Abdullah, born on December 5, 1905, in the Soura area of Srinagar, was a pivotal figure in shaping the socio-political landscape of the erstwhile state. | 