Restrictions were imposed across Srinagar on Sunday to prevent public gatherings at the Martyrs’ Graveyard in Khawaja Bazar, Nowhatta, where people traditionally assemble on July 13 to pay tribute to the 22 civilians killed by Dogra forces in 1931. The leaders of different parties described it as undemocratic move of the administration.
“In a blatantly undemocratic move homes have been locked from the outside, police and central forces deployed as jailers and major bridges in Srinagar blocked. All to stop people from visiting a historically important graveyard containing the graves of people who laid down their lives to give Kashmiris a voice and to empower them. I will never understand what the Law and Order government is so afraid of,” Omar Abdullah said.
He added, “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.”
However, there was no official confirmation to the house arrest claims made by the leaders.Tanvir Sadiq, Member of Legislative Assembly from Zadibal, said he was also confined to his home.“Since last night, I like many of my colleagues, including the party leadership at Gupkar, the Advisor to the Chief Minister, and a majority of sitting MLAs have been locked inside my home,” he said.
“This is not just unfortunate; it is a deliberate attempt to suppress remembrance and deny us the right to honour the martyrs of July 13. Such actions are not only unnecessary, they are unjustified, deeply insensitive, and reveal a troubling disregard for history,” Sadiq added.
The Srinagar Police issued a public advisory on Saturday evening.Opposition PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said the mistrust between Delhi and Kashmiris will truly end only when India accepted Kashmiri "martyrs" as their own."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 said in a post on X.Peoples Conference president Sajad Gani Lone also claimed that he has been stopped from leaving his residence.
July 13 used to be a public holiday in Jammu and Kashmir before the reorganisation of the erstwhile state into two Union territories in August 2019. However, the administration dropped the day from the list of gazetted holidays in 2020.
Martyrs’ Day, observed on July 13 each year, commemorates the killing of 22 civilians outside Srinagar Central Jail in 1931.
It was declared an official state event in 1948 by Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah. The day was removed from the official calendar in 2018 after the imposition of central rule in Jammu Kashmir.
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