Confronting the NC in assembly and reacting sharply to the NC’s stance on the ground BJP Jammu Kashmir unit leaders stated that there is no comparison whatsoever between Maharaja Hari Singh and Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and first time in the history of the Jammu Kashmir BJP, they celebrated Maharaja Hari Singh’s birthday today and explained his role, contributions, and stature in Jammu and Kashmir and said it was several times larger than Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the grandfather of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The BJP stated it was Maharaja Hari Singh who played the monumental and historic role in formally merging Jammu and Kashmir with the Union of India.
BJP Jammu-Kashmir spokesperson Altaf Thakur said, “The Maharaja was a great personality, a great leader, and a great guide. When people in Kashmir were not even wearing shalwar-kameez or pajamas during the National Conference era, he emphasized education here, improved the health sector, brought development, and talked about women’s empowerment. That is the difference. And today, you cannot compare Sheikh Abdullah and Maharaja. Look at all the big institutions this flood channel, SVS, SMHS, SP College, Jammu and Kashmir Bank—how big Maharaja’s contribution is! And the biggest contribution Maharaja made was the accession, or merger, that he did with the Union of India, and today we are called the greatest democracy in the world because of Maharaja’s vision. On the other hand, if Sheikh Abdullah is spoken of, cases like plebiscites and FIRs for anti-national activities were filed against him. You cannot compare these two people, and the holiday given in Maharaja’s name today is even less. Because Maharaja’s personality was such; he was a ruler of course, but more than that, he was a human being who served humanity.
If there should be a holiday for Sheikh Abdullah’s birth or death anniversary, then what about Mir Sahib, Mufti Saeed Sahib, and other chief ministers who served here? Why not them? You cannot compare Maharaja and Sheikh Abdullah under any circumstances. Maharaja joined with India, while the National Conference and Sheikh Abdullah’s policy was always to stay away from India and break away. Therefore, you cannot view these two personalities together.
The BJP championed the Maharaja as a truly secular ruler who treated all communities Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs equally, noting that his popularity spanned across regions.
From pioneering infrastructure like the flood channels and medical institutes such as SMHS hospital, introducing state subjects, and launching the “land-to-the-tiller” reform, the Maharaja’s foundational developments continue to serve the people to this day. The BJP accused the National Conference of playing divisive politics and harboring a persistence against the enduring legacy of the Dogra ruler.
R S Pathaniya MLA BJP said, “Not just his birthday, but his ideology and his thoughts, such as what was said in India about “The Idea of India,” and the idea of Jammu and Kashmir that those people gave, have found relevance today, several years after his passing. On behalf of myself and my party, I have offered floral tributes and my heartfelt respects to him today.
Some political parties and political elements, with their petty, narrow-minded, and narrow-hearted vision under a political lens, tried to blacken Maharaja Hari Singh’s name, paint his history and his era with a black brush, and create an atmosphere of uncertainty. But today, Jammu and Kashmir and the Government of India recognised and acknowledged that after a continuous struggle not just in Jammu but in Kashmir, Ladakh, and everywhere else, his birthday should be declared a holiday. Today, that holiday has been declared, and the National Conference and Congress are feeling a stomachache. The Bharatiya Janata Party will not tolerate this. This is a part of Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat, and Maharaja Hari Singh’s ideology, though he was called a Hindu, his popularity was higher among Muslims than Hindus. and land-to-the-tiller, let me tell you, land-to-the-tiller was also started by Maharaja Hari Singh.
Dr Bharat Bushan, MLA BJP, said, “We are offering tributes to such a king today, and future generations will always remember his contribution to the growth, development, and promotion of brotherhood, and his contribution to ecology and environment in Jammu and Kashmir. NC MLA Laramie Sahib, an honorable MLA, raised an issue that Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah’s birthday should also be a holiday. But the way he put it, instead of Maharaja’s holiday, cancel that and do this: everyone has the right to put forth their views in a democracy, but to oppose the holiday of a ruler like Maharaja, who has had such a great contribution and been such a good ruler, is wrong somewhere. We all should condemn it, and all of us MLAs today in Gandhi Nagar, Jammu, and Jawahar Nagar, Kashmir, have paid tributes to Maharaja Ji.
The chaos unfolded yesterday in assembly when National Conference MLA Abdul Majeed Larmi raised the issue of the official government holiday calendar. Larmi pointed out that September 23 is observed as a public holiday to mark the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh. He aggressively demanded that the government should either restore the public holiday on the birth anniversary of NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah on December 5 or else reconsider and scrap the existing holiday on Maharaja Hari Singh’s birth anniversary.
The remark immediately triggered outrage. BJP legislators vehemently objected to any suggestion of undermining or canceling the holiday dedicated to Maharaja Hari Singh, leading to chaotic scenes and loud sloganeering inside the House. Other Parties Congress attempted to strike a middle ground, stating they support honoring Sheikh Abdullah but oppose any move to scrap the holiday celebrating Maharaja Hari Singh. PDP MLAs backed the demand for the Sheikh Abdullah holiday while pushing for the reinstatement of July 13 (Martyrs’ Day) to commemorate the 1931 protests against the Dogra rule. On this BJP members staged a noisy walkout from the Assembly while raising slogans praising Maharaja Hari Singh, making it clear they will fiercely resist any attempt to dilute his historical footprint.
