First you had the salute selfie for Independence Day. Movie stars and cricketers pouting patriotically as they saluted into a cell phone camera. But that is so last year. This season, nothing says nationalism like a good old Accession Day selfie.

Jammu Kashmir Now, a website dedicated to “Completing India” is inviting all right-minded nationals to take a selfie with a poster celebrating #Vilay Diwas, or Accession Day, and mail it to them. The pictures, which have already started appearing on social media, will then be collected into one big, fuzzy, nationalistic collage and put up on Facebook. Because, of course, nothing says nationalism like a Facebook post. Keyboard warriors, unite.

October 26 or 27

For the shockingly uninitiated and patriotically lacking, Accession Day is when Maharaja Hari Singh, the Dogra king, signed the Instrument of Accession, under which Jammu and Kashmir joined the Dominion of India. It was 1947 and guns were blazing at the frontier. Tribesmen from across the border had overrun the state, helped by rebels within.

For months, the Dogra ruler had been dithering between India and Pakistan, keeping the governments of both guessing. But when tribal forces backed by Pakistan launched an invasion on October 22, sacking one town after another, he made up his mind quickly.

Which day he signed is a matter of furious scholarly debate. Historians and writers such as Srinath Raghavan and Prem Shankar Jha say it was almost certainly on October 27. But officially India has always claimed it happened on October 26. So October 26 it is. Jammu Kashmir Now has obligingly posted videos that will clear up any doubt on the matter.

Festive cheer

This year, Accession Day will be greeted with some very pointed festive cheer, at least in Jammu. Not content with a single day, the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party had already declared Accession Week. It marked this with a rally that started in Poonch, passed through several towns and lasted seven days before ending in a mammoth gathering at Reasi.

But the Panthers are reserving the biggest celebrations for October 27, since that was the day on which the governor accepted the Instrument of Accession, according to the official version of history.

Assorted politicians have suggested that it be celebrated officially to counter the "lies spread by separatists". The Bharatiya Janata Party, part of the coalition government ruling the state, had demanded that October 26 be declared a gazetted holiday but then thought better of it. But that is not going to cast a damper on celebrations. The BJP and NPP have a packed patriotic programme - seminars called "Accession of J&K to India is full and final", party lights, flags on district headquarters in Jammu.

Days of the patriot

This year, the festivities have an added edge. They follow months of protest in the Kashmir Valley, where thousands took to the streets demanding azadi, or freedom. The Accession Day selfie seems to be the patriot's answer to the protests, the visual equivalent of hollering "full and final".

So as the season of protests gives way to the season of patriotism, right-minded nationals might want to dig up more days that could be appropriated for the patriotic cause and duly marked with a selfie. Desh Prem Divas, also known as Subhas Chandra Bose's birthday, and Quit India Movement Day are sitting ducks.

But everyone should consider branching out. How about a Goa Liberation Day selfie, great excuse to visit Goa at the height of the tourist season? Or a Rabindra Jayanti selfie, which should really be called the National Anthem Day selfie? And every nationalist worth their salt knows what to do this Christmas. Take that Good Governance Day selfie and post it on Facebook at once.