J&K Administration Drops Sheikh Abdullah’s Birthday, Martyrs’ Day From 2020 Public Holidays List

Nearly two months after the formation of the Union Territory of the Jammu and Kashmir, the J&K administration on Friday (27 December) released the list of public holidays for 2020.

While the birth anniversary of former J&K Chief Minister Sheikh Abdullah and Martyr’s Day has been removed from the holidays list, the Accession Day (26 October) has been included in it.

According to the holidays list issued on late Friday night by GL Sharma, the deputy secretary of the General Administration Department, around 27 public holidays will be observed in the J&K UT in 2020, compared to 28 in the previous calendar year, reports Hindustan Times.

The public holidays dropped from the list for the year 2020 are Martyr’s Day observed on 13 July and birth anniversary of Sheikh Abdullah on 5 December. However, 26 October, which is observed as Accession Day, has been included in the list.

On 26 October 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh had signed the Instrument of Accession which was duly accepted and signed a day later by Lord Mountbatten, the then Governor General of India.

Apart from these, there are 46 holidays, including four provincial holidays for Kashmir region, three for Jammu, eight local holidays and four restricted holidays in 2020 compared to 47 holidays in the previous calendar year.