The day of accession became closely associated with both the history and politics of Jammu and Kashmir. However, in a notable development, no government programme was organised this year to mark the occasion, the first such instance since 2019.
Since 1990, Kashmiri separatist organisations have observed October 27, the day the Indian Army entered the Kashmir Valley, as a Black Day. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), meanwhile, turned the accession anniversary into a political issue, while other political parties largely continued to ignore it.
BJP Announces Celebration of Accession Day
On August 5, 2019, the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 was revoked. Following the decision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government announced plans to celebrate October 26 on a grand scale. The BJP also declared that it would observe Kashmir Accession Day.
Four years after the abrogation of Article 370, the nature of the day’s observance had changed. For nearly 70 years, October 26 had been marked by calls for general strikes in the Kashmir Valley. Protests and stone-pelting incidents were also reported during such observances.
However, the situation this year was different. Markets across the Kashmir Valley, including Lal Chowk, remained open. Schools and colleges functioned normally, offices continued their regular operations, and traffic moved as usual on the roads. Political exchanges over the anniversary also took place peacefully.
BJP Holds Public Meeting at Its Office
The BJP had announced programmes across the Union Territory to mark the occasion. However, after permission was not granted for a procession at Lal Chowk in Srinagar, the party organised a public meeting at its own office.
Party workers and leaders thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what they described as the gift of the accession anniversary’s recognition.
On the same occasion, PDP president and BJP critic Mehbooba Mufti described the accession as complete. She said that her party had never opposed Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to India, but added that the India with which the region had acceded was not the same India today.
Amid these political exchanges, people across the region appeared enthusiastic about the day. From the border district of Kupwara to Kulgam in south Kashmir, an area affected by terrorism, residents showed interest in the anniversary.
Neither the Congress nor the ruling National Conference issued a statement to mark the occasion. However, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah told a news agency in an interview that the people of Kashmir had never questioned the accession to India.
The 80th anniversary thus brought together a changed public atmosphere, competing political interpretations and continued differences over the significance of the 1947 accession, even as the absence of a government-organised programme marked a departure from the observances held since 2019.
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