J&K is celebrating Constitution Day for the first time in its history | India News – Times of India

SRINAGAR: The J&K government on Monday issued instructions for the grand celebration of “Samvidhan Diwas”, commemorating the adoption of the Constitution on November 26, 1950. This will be the first such event since J&K’s accession to India in 1947.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha will officiate the ceremony in Srinagar. Tuesday’s event will consist of a reading of the preamble by the LG and ministers of CM Omar Abdullah’s government. However, Omar will not be there when he left for Saudi Arabia on Monday to perform Umrah in Mecca – a non-Haj pilgrimage.
On October 16, Omar became the first CM of J&K to swear allegiance to the Indian Constitution while taking the oath of office. His seventeen predecessors had taken oath on the J&K Constitution.
J&K operated under its own constitution and flag, with the head of government designated as Prime Minister and the Head of State Sadr-e-Riyasat (President). These titles were replaced by CM and Governor in 1965. However, the constitution and flag survived until J&K lost its special status when Article 370 was annulled in 2019 and the state was bifurcated into Union Territories, including Ladakh.