Srinagar , July 14 : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday trained guns at the JK police for trying to stop him from reciting Fatiha (prayers) in the memory of 22 “martyrs” who were killed for protesting against Maharaja Hari Singh’s rule.
“We are nobody’s slaves,” Abdullah asserted, adding that he must be informed under which law he was stopped from visiting the Mazar-e-Shuhada in Srinagar’s Naqshband Sahib. The Jammu and Kashmir CM said that despite attempts to stop him, he was able to recite prayers.
“I want to know under which law I was stopped. Restrictions were imposed only yesterday. They say that this is a free country, but they think that we are their slaves. We are nobody’s slaves. We are only the slaves of the people here. We foiled their attempts. They tried to tear our flag. But we came here and recited the Fatiha. They forget that these graves will always remain here. They stopped us on July 13, but for how long can they continue to do so? We will come here whenever we want and remember the martyrs,” Abdullah told reporters here.
The CM claimed that everyone was put under “house arrest” and bunkers were installed outside his residence after he expressed the will to recite prayers at the Naqshband Sahib graveyard. He said that this is why he visited the “martyrs’ graveyard” today without informing.
“It is unfortunate that, by the orders of those who claim their responsibility is to maintain law and order, we were not allowed to recite the Fatiha yesterday. Everyone was house-arrested since the morning. When I told the control room that I wanted to come here to recite Fatiha, bunkers were installed outside my house within minutes. And they remained there till 12-1 AM. Today, I came here without informing them. Look at their shamelessness; they tried to stop us again today. These police personnel sometimes forget to follow the law,” Abdullah said.
Abdullah jumped over the boundary wall of Mazar-e-Shuhada in Srinagar’s Naqshband Sahib to offer prayers after allegedly being stopped by the security forces.
The development came a day after the Jammu and Kashmir Police sealed the Martyrs’ cemetery and confined top political leaders, including Abdullah, inside their residences, barring them from visiting the Martyrs’ Graveyard (Mazar-e-Shuhada), to mark the anniversary of the protesters shot dead by Maharaja Hari Singh’s Dogra forces on July 13, 1931.
Abdullah said that he did not inform anyone before visiting the Mazar-e-Shuhada since he was house arrested yesterday on Kashmir Martyrs’ Day.
“Paid my respects & offered Fatiha at the graves of the martyrs of 13th July 1931. The unelected government tried to block my way, forcing me to walk from Nowhatta Chowk. They blocked the gate to Naqshband Sb shrine, forcing me to scale a wall. They tried to physically grapple m,e but I was not going to be stopped today,” Abdullah posted on X.
The graveyard is attached to the shrine of Khwaja Bahawuddin Naqshbandi.
Earlier today, the Chief Minister expressed anguish over the lack of media coverage in local newspapers on the issue of “the entire elected government being locked up”.
“Take a look at our local newspapers – both from Jammu and from Srinagar, English & vernacular. You’ll be able to distinguish the cowards from the ones with guts. The cowards have completely buried the fact that the entire elected government was locked up yesterday, along with most elected representatives. The newspapers with some guts have put it on the front page. Shame on the sellouts who buried the story, I hope the size of the envelope was worth it,” Abdullah posted on X.
Abdullah also came down heavily on the “unelected nominees of New Delhi” for allegedly locking up the elected representatives of Jammu and Kashmir.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami also posted on X, saying, “A padlock on my gate, placed under house arrest and denied the right to pay homage to the July 13 martyrs. This day is etched in our collective memory — a reminder of those who laid down their lives for the restoration of democracy and a better future for us all,”
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) chief spokesperson and Zadibal MLA Tanvir Sadiq had also alleged that the elected representatives in the union territory were detained inside their homes to stop them from paying tribute to the martyrs.
“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. 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 posted on X.
After not being allowed to visit the martyrs’ graveyard, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti said that the “dil ki doori (distance of hearts)” between Kashmir and the rest of India would end when the Centre accepts Kashmir’s heroes as its own, just as Kashmiris have embraced national figures.
“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,” the PDP chief wrote on X.
“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 13 commemorates our martyrs, those who rose against tyranny, much like countless others across the country. They will always be our heroes,” she added.
Martyrs’ Day in Kashmir which was earlier observed as an official holiday in the State was delisted after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. (ANI)
