J&K Disallows Public Gatherings at Martyrs’ Memorial

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir police along with Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), on Sunday enforced a temporary partial lockdown in Srinagar to hold back public assemblies at the Mazar-e-Shuhada or ‘martyr’s cemetery’ on the Kashmir martyrs’ day.

Politicians – both mainstream and separatists- who would make a beeline to the commemorative site situated beside the mausoleum of a Sufi saint of Naqshbandi order, a mosque and a Sufi lodge in the Khawaja Bazaar quarter of Kashmiri capital on the occasion in the past too were not allowed to visit it.

Ruling National Conference (NC) chief spokesman and MLA Tanvir Sadiq in a post on 'X' said, "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 added, "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."

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reposted Sadiq’s post with a comment terming the police actions under the direction of the Lieutenant Governor-led administration as “blatantly undemocratic.” He said, “In a blatantly undemocratic move, homes have been locked from the outside, police & central forces deployed as jailers & 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 & to empower them. I will never understand what the Law & Order government is so afraid of."

Earlier in a social media post, the Chief Minister had said, “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.”

The NC, opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) and several other mainstream parties had desired to hold commemorative rallies and prayer meetings at the Mazar-e-Shuhada and most had formally approached Srinagar’s District Magistrate to seek his permission for such gatherings.

However, the Srinagar district administration on Saturday evening announced that it has denied permission to all applicants intending to proceed towards Khawaja Bazaar on July 13. Following this, the police "advised the public "to strictly comply with these instructions and refrain from violating the orders issued by district administration.

It warned, "Any violation of these orders shall invite strict legal action under relevant provisions of law".

Kashmir’s chief Muslim cleric and chairman of his faction of separatist Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, said he has continued to remain under house arrest since Friday morning. He reiterated, "The sacrifices of these martyrs will never be forgotten, and their mission will continue to be nurtured and upheld till its final achievement." He added, "The sacrifices of these martyrs are etched in the collective memory of Kashmir and cannot be undone by restrictions and bans. No living nation can forget the supreme sacrifice of life of its martyrs against tyranny and injustice.”

NC MLA and former Mayor of Srinagar Salman Ali Sagar alleged that several ministers, senior party leaders and scores of workers have been locked inside their homes or they were detained by the police following their trying to relocate to Mazar-e-Shuhada. “I, too, was stopped by cops who almost manhandled me. They misbehaved with some of my party colleagues too.”

However, the police claimed that Sagar was "politely" told not to try to go towards the Mazar-e-Shuhada in view of the district administration's decision not to allow any public gatherings there.

Pertinently, J&K being a Union Territory, the police, and law and order subjects are directly controlled by the Centre through the Lieutenant Governor.

A PDP spokesman said that while its senior leaders had been restricted to their homes, the police detained several party workers and some office-bearers who were on their way to Mazar-e-Shuhada.

PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti in a post on ‘X’ said, “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. When you lay siege to the Martyrs’ Graveyard, lock people in their homes to prevent them from visiting Mazaar-e-Shuhada, it speaks volumes.”

She added, “July 13th commemorates our martyrs, those who rose against tyranny, much like countless others across the country. They will always be our heroes. Continuing with its regressive policies many of our party leaders like Khurshid Allam, Zohaib Mir, Hamid Kohsheen, Arif Liagroo, Sara Nayeema, Tabassum, Basharat Naseem and others who managed to sneak out of their homes have been detained in police stations. They were on their way to Mazar-e-Shuhada. It seems we are getting back into the oppressive times that our 13 July Martyrs fought against”.

Former minister and J&K People’s Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone also took to ‘X’ to say, “Not allowed to move out of home. Detained. I don’t know why the union government is so keen to redefine what is sacred for the people of Kashmir. The sacrifices rendered on July 13 are sacred for all of us. Denigrating these sacrifices and stopping everyone from going to the martyrs graveyard, if anything elevates these sacrifices to a new high. Histories that are etched in blood don’t vanish”.

However, the police allowed groups of BJP and Kashmiri Pandit activists to hold protest demonstrations at places in the Kashmir Valley and Jammu region against what they termed as a “false narrative” that those civilians killed on this day, ninety-four years ago, were martyrs. “They were traitors and terrorists,” said BJP leader Sunil Sharma.

On July 13, 1931, as many as 22 Kashmiri Muslims were killed in firing by autocratic Dogra Maharaja Hari Singh's army outside Srinagar’s central prison where an in-camera trial of Abdul Qadeer Khan, a non-local chef with a British traveller, was being held.

Khan had been charged with sedition and instigating people for violence after he made fiery speeches against the Maharaja’s “oppressive” rule at a Friday congregation and while pointing towards his Palace asked people to raze it “brick by brick.” July 13 is observed as ‘Martyrs’ Day’ on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) since.

Traditionally, the head of the government in erstwhile state of J&K or its representatives would visit Mazar-e-Shuhada to pay obeisance to the martyrs of July 13, 1931 and lay wreaths at their grave. A special contingent of J&K policemen would post the bugle and present the ceremonial guard of honour to the martyrs.

However, no such customary ceremony has taken place at the cemetery since 2020, nor is any resident being allowed to enter the premises. On Saturday evening, both entrances to the mazar were locked by the authorities and gun-wielding policemen stood guard outside it, the witnesses said. The police and CAPFs reinforcements have restricted the movement of people in the localities around the martyrs' cemetery since Sunday dawn, the locals said over the phone.

The J&K Government had in January 2020, six months after the erstwhile state was stripped of its special status and split up into two Union Territories, cancelled the gazetted state holiday on July 13. The decision, however, evoked widespread condemnation by local political parties and vast sections of J&K Muslims termed it as an “onslaught” on their ethos and a “deliberate attempt” to “hurt” their sentiments.

A year later, the Lieutenant Governor-led administration, conceding the demand of various political and ethnic groups of Jammu and the BJP, declared September 23-the birthday of Maharaja Hari Singh- a public holiday.

The political arguments surrounding the day stem from competing narratives about its historical significance and how it should be observed, reflecting deep divisions in the region’s political landscape.

The regional mainstream parties such as NC and PDP view the day as a cornerstone of Kashmiri identity and the struggle for democratic rights and the sacrifice of the 22 slain Kashmiri Muslims as a pivotal moment in the struggle against the autocratic rule. They also insist that the uprising was driven by demands for socio-economic and political rights for Muslims under Dogra oppression, as a fight for democratic reforms within the existing framework of the princely state.

On the other hand, the separatists, including Hurriyat Conference argue that the martyrs’ sacrifice was rooted in a desire for complete independence from Dogra rule and any external domination. They also say that the uprising was a rebellion against not just autocracy but also the broader socio-political subjugation of Kashmiris, with aspirations for self-determination and that accession of J&K to India in 1947 contradicted the spirit of July 13, which they continue to see as a foundational moment in the Kashmiri struggle for sovereignty.

In contrast to these views, the BJP and other like-minded political parties and groups besides the Kashmiri Pandit outfits like Panun Kashmir and Kashmir Vahini allege that July 13, 1931 also marks the beginning of “persecution” of the minority Hindus in the Valley by Muslim majority. The BJP and like-minded parties having strong base in Jammu, the native place of despotic Dogra Maharajas, consider their rule in undivided J&K as a ‘golden period’ and also maintain that Maharaja Hari Singh was a genuine ruler of the State and the rebellion against his administration was “illegitimate”. When ruling J&K with PDP between 2015 and 2018, the BJP ministers in the coalition government would skip the official wreath laying ceremony at Srinagar’s Mazar-e-Shuhada or Martyrs’ cemetery and publicly say “they are not our martyrs”.