Several events were on Thursday organised here to mark the 127th birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh amid demands that the day is declared a public holiday.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha paid tributes to the ruler on his birth anniversary.
“He made an immense contribution to India’s freedom movement. His distinguishable and unmatchable services in the field of education, agriculture, administrative, social, and economic reforms will always be remembered,” he said.
On this occasion, many social and political organisations of the Jammu region, including the Congress, demanded that September 23 be declared as a public holiday.
Hari Singh was a Dogra ruler, who had signed the Instrument of Accession on October 26 1947, the legal document that ceded J&K to the dominion of India as per the Indian Independence Act 1947.
The BJP also celebrated the day by installing a statue of the ruler at the party headquarters in his memory.
J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina, along with Lok Sabha member Jugal Kishore Sharma, Major General Govardhan Singh (retd), and other senior party leaders unveiled the statue amid much fanfare and the presence of a large number of prominent civil society members and party leaders and activists.
The statue of Hari Singh was made and gifted by famous Jammu sculptor Ravinder Jamwal.
Raina, while unveiling the statue, recalled how the BJP installed various statues of Maharaja at prominent places in Jammu.
Maharaja Hari Singh’s grandson Vikramaditya Singh, said, “Our demand for this day to be marked as state holiday remains unequivocal.”
President of J&K High Court Bar Association, Jammu, MK Bhardwaj also urged L-G Sinha to declare September 23 as a gazetted holiday.
“We feel proud and realise how great visionary Hari Singh was. We, being Dogras, feel proud in glorifying the great visionary ruler,” he said.
