Sheikh Abdullah’s image removed from police medals in J&K

L-G administration’s decision sparks outrage from political parties

Political parties in Jammu & Kashmir on Tuesday expressed outrage over the Lieutenant-Governor-led administration’s decision to replace the image of National Conference (NC) founder and the first elected Prime Minister of the then princely State of J&K, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, with the national emblem, in police medals from this year.

Scores of NC leaders posted with the hashtag “ShereKashmirliveson” on Twitter to protest against the L-G administration’s move to drop senior Abdullah’s name and face from the police medals.

“Efforts [are being] made to tamper with the rich history of Kashmir. Dropping Sher-e-Kashmir’s name from the gallantry awards in the absence of an elected government would mean imposing laws without the consent of the people, which in a democracy is unacceptable,” NC spokesperson Sarah Hayat Shah said.

Participating in the party’s Twitter storm, Tanvir Sadiq, another NC leader, posted late American President John F. Kennedy’s famous quote: “A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death.”

“Sher-e-Kashmir is not just a prefix that you can erase. Sher-e-Kashmir was, is and will always be the only Sher-e-Kashmir,” Mr. Sadiq said.

Senior Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Naeem Akhtar condemned the move. “Sheikh Abdullah is another Aurangzeb [for the BJP]. The man without whom Kashmir may not have acceded to India ‘demonetised’, as the Sher-i-Kashmir is replaced with the national emblem,” Mr. Akhtar said.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said it showed the “narrow-mindedness of the rulers”. “It was the Sheikh who took the big and bold decision to accede to secular India in opposition to the two-nation theory. And the same name is now being erased,” she said.