RSS-BJP’s New Plan For Kashmir — Prop Up Maharaja Hari Singh As A Nationalist theprint.in

Having scrapped Article 370 that granted Jammu and Kashmir special status, the Modi government is now looking to change the narrative on the newly-formed union territory through two new elements — establishing credentials of Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir when it acceded to India, as a nationalist, and two, highlighting the legal and moral sanctity of the ‘Instrument of Accession(IOA)’ that formally united J&K with India.

The first significant step in this direction has been initiated with the new administration declaring 26 October, the day the Instrument of Accession was signed in 1947, as a public holiday in the union territory. This is the first time since Independence that the ‘Accession Day’ has been declared a public holiday in Jammu and Kashmir.