Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Friday decided to drop ex-Chief Minister Sheikh Abdullah’s birth anniversary and Martyrs’ Day from the list of public holidays for 2020. Also, October 26 will be celebrated as Accession Day for the first time in Kashmir’s history.

According to the list of holidays for 2020 issued by GL Sharma, the deputy secretary of the General Administration Department of Jammu and Kashmir, 27 public holidays will be observed throughout the union territory next year as compared to 28 holidays this year.

Martyrs’ Day, used to be observed on July 13, has been removed from holidays’ list while the birth anniversary of J&K’s iconic leader Sheikh Abdullah, which used to fall on December 5, is also omitted from the list.

However, Accession Day, which falls on October 26, has been included in the list of holidays of Jammu and Kashmir’s 2020 calendar.

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

The calendar was tweeted by Vikramaditya Singh, grandson of Maharaja Hari Singh. Along with the calendar, he tweeted, “Congratulations to the people of J&K! From next year, 26th October, the day my grandfather, Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession to India will be observed as a state holiday. This is a mark of respect for sacrifices of the J&K State Forces and the Indian Army.”

It should be noted that back on October 26, 1947, J&K’s Maharaja Hari Singh had signed the Instrument of Accession which was accepted by then Governor General of India Lord Mountbatten.

The Martyrs’ Day will be observed in the memory of people killed in firing by soldiers of Dogra ruler Maharaja Hari Singh on July 13, 1931. They were killed during protests against Hari Singh’s rule.