Accession Day to be celebrated as Diwali: BJP

BJP and many other organisations and groups have said that they would celebrate the anniversary of Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India on October 26 in the same way as the festival of lights.

BJP and many other organisations and groups have said that they would celebrate the anniversary of Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India on October 26 in the same way as the festival of lights.

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"October 26 will be celebrated like the festival of Diwali by illuminating buildings and bursting of crackers in Jammu and other district headquarters," J and K Pradesh BJP President Shamsher Singh Manhas told reporters.

BJP and its Yuva Morcha activists will organise programmes, take out rallies in each district of the state to celebrate Accession Day, he said.

Apart from BJP, other organisations which have decided to participate in the celebrations include Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP), VHP, Shiv Sena, ABVP, Jammu State Morcha (JSM), Jammu Joint Peoples Front (JJPF), Sangrash Samiti, Dogra Liberation Front, Jammu Joint Students Front (JJSF), Jammu Bar Association, All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference (ASKPC), Kranti Dal, Dogri Sanstha, Panun Kashmir.

"For us, Accession Day is like Diwali and we are going to celebrate it as Vijay Divas," MLA and JKNPP President Balwant Singh Mankotia said.

"We will celebrate it for the first time at Historical place Mubarak Mandi, which was the seat of power of the last King Maharaja Hari Singh, in Jammu at 10:30 AM by unfurling the national flag and taking out rallies amid illuminations in various JKNPP offices," he said.

JJPF, a conglomerate of trade, transport and social organisations advocating the cause of the people of Jammu region, has said it will take out rallies in Jammu city and other district headquarters.

Maharaja Hari Singh, the last ruling Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, had signed the Instrument of Accession with Lord Mountbatten on October 26, 1947.