• Source:JND
Add as a preferred

A day after Martyrs' Day, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah climbed over the locked gate of the Martyrs' Graveyard in Srinagar to pay tribute. The dramatic moment, captured on video, comes amid growing outrage over restrictions imposed by authorities that barred political leaders from marking the July 13 anniversary, which commemorates the 22 Kashmiri protesters killed in 1931 by the Dogra regime of Maharaja Hari Singh.

Despite police attempts to stop him and other National Conference leaders, Abdullah reached the Mazar-e-Shuhada, located next to the revered shrine of Khwaja Bahawuddin Naqshbandi. He scaled the cemetery wall and offered fatiha (prayers) for the martyrs.

"We were not allowed to read the Fatiha here yesterday. People were kept confined to their homes. When the gates were opened and I informed the control room that I wanted to come here, a bunker was set up in front of my gate and it was not removed till late at night. Today I did not tell them at all. Without telling them, I sat into the car (and drove here)," he told the media after offering prayers.

Abdullah shared another video of the confrontation, stating, "This is the physical grappling I was subjected to but I am made of sterner stuff and was not to be stopped." He added, "I was doing nothing unlawful or illegal. In fact, these 'protectors of the law' need to explain under what law they were trying to stop us from offering Fatiha."

The confrontation follows a tense standoff a day earlier, when security forces prevented senior political leaders, including ministers and opposition members, from visiting the graveyard. Omar Abdullah, who had returned from Delhi on Sunday evening, said he was detained at home soon after his arrival.

"Look at their shamelessness. Even today, they tried to stop us. We parked the car at Nowhatta Chowk. They put a bunker in front of us and tried to manhandle us. These policemen in uniform sometimes forget the law. I want to ask them, under which law did they try to stop us today? The restrictions were for yesterday. They say this is a free country, but sometimes they think we are their slaves. We are not anyone's slaves. If we are slaves, we are the people's slaves," Abdullah said, sharply criticizing the conduct of security forces in the Valley, which operate under the authority of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.

"They tried to stop us, to tear apart our flags, but their attempts failed. We came and read the fatiha," he told NDTV.

In a scathing attack, CM Omar Abdullah claimed he was “locked up” inside his residence shortly after returning from Delhi on Sunday evening. Calling the move a blatant example of the "tyranny of the unelected," Abdullah shared images on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) showing a heavy police presence outside his Srinagar home, including an armoured vehicle stationed at the entrance.

"To borrow from the late Arun Jaitley - Democracy in J&K is a tyranny of the unelected. To put it in terms you will all understand today, the unelected nominees of New Delhi locked up the elected representatives of the people of J&K," Abdullah posted. In a follow-up tweet, he stated, "The unelected government locked up the elected government."

Condemning the detentions and restrictions, Abdullah compared the 1931 killings in Kashmir to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. "13th July massacre is our Jallianwala Bagh. The people who laid down their lives did so against the British. Kashmir was being ruled under the British Paramountcy. What a shame that true heroes who fought against British rule in all its forms are today projected as villains only because they were Muslims. We may be denied the opportunity to visit their graves today, but we will not forget their sacrifices," he said in another post.

On Sunday, several leaders from the ruling and opposition parties, including MLAs and former ministers, were either detained or placed under house arrest in the valley. Among them were senior politicians like National Conference founder Farooq Abdullah and PDP president and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.

ALSO READ: Mumbai Metro Line 11 Update: MMRCL Proposes New Underground Corridor On Green Line In South Mumbai | Details

Mufti took to X to express her outrage at the administration’s clampdown on any observance of the day. "The day you accept our heroes as your own just as Kashmiris have embraced yours, from Mahatma Gandhi to Bhagat Singh that day, as Prime Minister Modi once said, the 'dil ki doori' (distance of hearts) will truly end," she wrote.

"When you lay siege to the Martyrs' Graveyard, lock people in their homes to prevent them from visiting Mazar-e-Shuhada, it speaks volumes. July 13th commemorates our martyrs, those who rose against tyranny, much like countless others across the country. They will always be our heroes," she added.

ALSO READ: 'No Evidence Of Mechanical, Maintenance Issue': Air India CEO On AAIB Initial Report On Ahmedabad Plane Crash

What Happened On July 13, 1931?

Martyrs’ Day commemorates the events of July 13, 1931, when 22 men were killed by the Dogra army while protesting in support of Abdul Qadeer, who had urged Kashmiris to oppose the Dogra monarchy. The massacre sparked widespread unrest and led to political reforms, including the introduction of legislative assembly elections, a major shift in the region’s governance under British administration.

Previously, Martyrs' Day ceremonies were marked by official gun salutes, floral tributes, and visits by political leaders to the graveyard. However, following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 and the conversion of Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory, such events have been increasingly curtailed. In 2020, Martyrs' Day and Sheikh Abdullah’s birthday were dropped from the list of official holidays. Instead, the administration declared September 23, the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh as a public holiday.