J&K panel to decide on Maharaja Hari Singh's birthday commemoration

Jammu, Jan 11 (IANS) In a significant development, Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday constituted a committee of senior officers regarding the issue of commemoration of Dogra Maharaja Hari Singh's birthday and its observance as a public holiday.An order issued by the J&K administrative department said a 4-member committee headed by the principal Secretary General administration department will go into the issue of commemoration of late Dogra Maharaja Hari Singh's birthday and its observance as a general/public holiday under the negotiable instruments act 1881.Maharaja Hari Singh was born on September 23, 1895 in Jammu city and he died on April 26, 1961 in Mumbai.There has been a growing demand by the residents of Jammu, especially the Dogra Rajput community, to observe the late Dogra Maharaja's birthday on an official scale and declare it as a public holiday.Late Maharaja Hari Singh is seen as an icon of the Dogra pride and valour although the end of his rule in 1947 is observed as the Independence Day of Jammu and Kashmir.The late Maharaja was negotiating a standstill agreement with India and Pakistan in 1947 when the Afridi tribals invaded the state and started looting and plunder with the support of Pakistan.The decision to encourage and support the tribal invasion of J&K in 1947 by Pakistan is believed to have been prompted by the efforts of late Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah who was negotiating the accession of the Muslim majority state with India against the doctrine of the Two Nation Theory.
--IANS sq/dpb

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