JAMMU: Political parties, social organisations, civil society and public in general celebrated with great zeal and zest the accession day, marking the 75th anniversary of the integration of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir with the dominion of India.
Rich tributes were paid to the then ruler of J&K Maharaja Hari Singh who had signed the Instrument of Accession with the Governor-General of India, Lord Mountbatten, on October 26, 1947, besides to the ‘saviour of Kashmir’ Brigadier Rajinder Singh, on the occasion, also celebrated as Vilay Diwas.
Among the political circles, Bharatiya Janata Party led the celebrations across the UT, with impressive functions held at all its 20 district headquarters. In Jammu, the event was led by UT President Ravinder Raina at Maharaja Hari Singh Ji Park, near Tawi River, Jammu.
MP Jugal Kishore Sharma, along with senior leaders Dr Nirmal Singh, former Deputy CM Kavinder Gupta, former MP Shamsher Singh Manhas, former Minister Sat Sharma, former MLC Ashok Khajuria, Vice-President Sham Sharma, Vice-President Yudhvir Sethi, former Minister Bali Bhagat, JMC Mayor Rajinder Sharma, Ramesh Arora, Girdhari Lal Raina, former Mayor Chander Mohan Gupta, Dy Mayor Baldev Billawaria, Veenu Khanna, Rekha Mahajan, Sunil Sethi, Abhinav Sharma, Rajni Sethi, Sanjay Baru, Dr. Pardeep Mahotra, Sanjita Dogra, Arun Dev, DDC Suresh Sharma, Prem Gupta, Bawa Sharma, Rajinder Chib, Vinay Gupta, Munish Khajuria and other senior party leaders were also present on the occasion, where rich tributes were paid to Maharaja, and national flag was also hoisted.
Speaking on the occasion, Ravinder Raina said that the whole J&K is celebrating this day which has come after supreme sacrifices by Nationalists.
”Vijay Diwas is like Republic Day and Independence day for us as this was the day when our Maharaja made J&K an integral part of India. Some parts of Jammu and Kashmir are still under the illegal occupation of Pakistan and China and the day is not far when we will hoist the tricolour there as well,” Raina said.
Jugal Kishore Sharma provided insight on the historic events during the accession of J&K with the Union of India, while Dr Nirmal Singh remembered the important role played by the Maharaja Hari Singh ji and chain of events during the unification of J&K with dominion of India and the negative role of the then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru and sheikh Abdullah.
A similar function was organised by the party in Kashmir at its Jawahar Nagar office in Srinagar. The celebrations there were led by BJP senior leader and former minister Sunil Sharma, who extended his wishes to the people of the UT and underlined that the BJP is celebrating the day across J&K including all district headquarters to make the younger generation aware of the importance of the day.
“Accession Day is a momentous event in the history of Jammu and Kashmir, and is being celebrated to remember the sacrifices of those who laid down their lives for their motherland,” said Sharma, while talking to the reporters.
Asserting that Kashmir is moving fast on the path of peace and development, particularly in past 4 years, Sharma said that Article 370 was a ‘closed chapter’.
“Article 370 is a closed chapter. Its abrogation by a government with majority in parliament has sealed the fate, for good. All this talks to restoring this by two families doesn’t make any sense,” he said, indirectly hitting at former chief ministers Farooq and Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.
The people of Kashmir have accepted the fact that Article 370 was a barrier to development and security of the Valley, he added.
The J&K National Panthers Party celebrated Accession Day at its party head Office at Gandhi Nagar in Jammu and paid floral tributes to Maharaja Hari Singh.
Speaking on the occasion, Vilakshan Singh, President of J&K National Panthers Party said that it was because of Maharaja Hari Singh that Jammu and Kashmir became a part of India. Noting that a large portion of the erstwhile state of J&K was still under foreign occupation, Singh demanded that the central government must take steps for the liberation of Pakistan occupied Kashmir and China occupied parts of J & K.
“The liberation of the forcibly occupied parts of J&K would be the real tribute to Maharaja Hari Singh,” he said.
Chief Advisor Bansi Lal Sharma, State General Secretaries Gunwant Singh and Naresh Chib, State Secretary Rajesh Gondhi, Provincial President Sardar Paramjeet Singh Marshal, and Anil Parihar and Abdul Ahad Wani Jahangir Khan were among the prominent present on the occasion.
The Akhil Bhartiya Kshatriya Mahasabha Trust (ABKMT) celebrated Accession Day with great fervour at its Ghou Manhasa Jammu Office. The function was attended by Aadil Manhas, UT President, Rishipal Singh Parmar, National President and Parshotam Amit Manhas, National General Secretary of ABKMT among others.
Meanwhile, tributes were also paid to Brigadier Rajinder Singh, the then Chief of Military Staff, who led a column to fight the thousands of Pakistani invaders, and held off the raiders till help came after 4 days, giving Maharaja sufficient time to sign the accession treaty.
Army veterans, senior government functionaries, civil society members and political leaders laid wreaths at the statue of the legendary soldier here at the Brig Rajinder Singh Chowk in a function organised by the J&K Ex-Services League.
The speakers, including Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar, ADGP Mukesh Singh, former minister Gulchain Singh Charak, Maj Gen (Retd) Goverdhan Singh Jamwal, highlighted the timeline of heroic accomplishments of the brigadier and his supreme sacrifice while protecting the state from the enemies’ invasion in 1947.
Paying tributes to the ‘Saviour of Kashmir’, the president of J&K Ex-Services League, Lt Gen Rakesh Sharma said, ”It is historic day for us. On this day, Brig Rajinder Singh laid down his life to save J&K from going into hands of Pakistan”.
”Had he not sacrificed his life, the map of India would perhaps been without crown Jammu and Kashmir. He stopped tribal raiders for four days, which provided time for Maharaja Hari Singh to sign the Instrument of Accession and time to the Indian troops to land in Kashmir”, he said, adding that it is this brave act that ”saved J&K from Pakistan”.
Paying tributes to Brig Singh and his team of brave soldiers, the divisional commissioner said they fought back Pakistani raiders with limited resources and stopped them at Uri for several days, thus saving the lives of thousands of people.
He said it was because of Brig Rajinder Singh that we live in a state of freedom as he along with scores sacrificed their lives to safeguard J&K.
Cultural programmes based on patriotic themes were also presented by schoolchildren, artistes of the Department of Information and Public Relations and J&K Academy of Art Cultural and Languages.
Yuva Rajput Sabha representatives under the leadership of president Rajan Singh Happy also distributed halwa on the occasion, outside Press Club in Jammu.
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