Kashmir Celebrates Eid-i-Milad With Fervor, Despite Confusion Over Public Holiday

Despite confusion about the government's proclamation of the associated public holiday a day before it was to be marked in Jammu and Kashmir, the Valley celebrated Eid-i-Milad, honoring the birth date of Prophet Mohammad, with fervor on Friday.

In spite of the alleged plan by the government of Jammu and Kashmir to force people to celebrate the holiday on Thursday along with many other parts of the country, tens of thousands of pilgrims flocked to important sites, including Hazratbal.

Weeks-long celebrations for Eid-i-Milad take place at Hazratbal and a few other Valley shrines. Two days during the festival are traditionally observed as public holidays: the Friday after the Milad and the 12th of the Islamic month of Rabi-ul-Awal.

Despite it falling on Friday (12th of Rabi-ul-Awal), the administration caused a commotion on Tuesday by announcing a public holiday for Thursday (11th of Rabi-ul-Awal, which falls on September 28). Jammu and Kashmir's state administration did not announce the public holiday on Thursday, despite several other state governments doing so because the Rabi-ul-Awal moon had been observed there the day before.

In place of the Friday holiday, which would have fallen on October 6 if the Jammu and Kashmir calendar had been implemented, the government decided to stick with the Thursday holiday. As a result, Jammu and Kashmir experienced two consecutive public holidays. It's unclear if there will be a public holiday on next Friday to observe Milad on September 29 as planned in Jammu and Kashmir.

Omar Abdullah, a former chief minister, challenged the government to alter other communities' festivals while leading Friday prayers at Hazratbal.

"The festival is today, but the holiday was just announced. Why? We were all aware that the festival was on Friday in advance. Why was the holiday moved up in the calendar? Let them perform it at other celebrations. Let's see, the National Conference leader told reporters at Hazratbal, "let the Diwali holiday this year be a day before the celebration. These actions demonstrate that they have no regard for our feelings at all.

With the National Conference protesting that the government pressured news portals to remove recordings in which they had criticized the Jammu and Kashmir dispensation over the festival dates, the issue has also refocused attention on media freedom.

Omar alleged that instead of making apologies, the recordings were forcibly removed from these channels (portals).