The National Conference (NC) on Tuesday, July 12, 2022 said the Lieutenant Governor’s administration was not allowing leaders to visit the Mazar-e Shohada (Martyrs Graveyard) in Srinagar on July 13 to observe the anniversary of the 1931 uprising, which started the local Muslims’ assertion in politics during the Dogra monarchy.
An NC spokesman accused the L-G administration of dilly dallying on allowing the party leaders to offer prayers and floral tributes at Mazar-e Shohada in Srinagar’s Khawaja Bazaar, for observing July 13 as ‘Martyrs Day’.
“There has been an inordinate delay by the administration in giving the required permission to the party for offering tributes and ‘fatiha’ at the Martyrs Graveyard. The party’s general secretary had sought permission from the administration for visiting the graveyard, but the concerned office is not in receipt of any communication from the side of administration so far,” NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said.
‘Attempt to rewrite Kashmir’s political history’
He said this year, like in the previous year, the administration was again willfully “closing the gates of Mazar-e-Shuhada for us”. “Locking up the gates leading to the revered graveyard cannot embed the contribution of 13th July martyrs into obscurity. Such attempts are carried out with the sole objective of distorting and rewriting Kashmir’s political history and pale our heroes into insignificance,” Mr. Dar said.
July 13 used to be a holiday in J&K, with local leaders, senior officials and police officers paying floral tributes and gun salutes to those who fell to the bullets of soldiers of Maharaja Hari Singh during a major uprising in Srinagar in 1931. However, immediately after the Centre ended J&K’s special Constitutional position in 2019, the holiday was dropped from the official calendar and regional leaders were barred from visiting the graveyard. Twenty-one locals had died in the firing and all are buried at the graveyard in Srinagar’s Khawaja Bazaar.
Meanwhile, National Conference president and MP Farooq Abdullah and vice-president Omar Abdullah, in a joint tribute, said, “The day is an important landmark in the history of Jammu and Kashmir, which will never go out of our sight. The implications of the day thickened over time and resulted in the transformation of the state from a feudalistic to a democratic one.”
They said the brave men who laid down their lives on 13th of July 1931, belonged to a generation of wisdom and vision.
“July 13th marks the collective defiance of the oppressed. The day is a watershed moment in the people’s struggle for restoration of their universal human rights. It was their valour that inspired millions of others to rise against the then despotic and autocratic regime. We observe the day to reiterate our commitment to fight evil with kindness, violence with non-violence and peaceful struggle,” Mr. Abdullah said.
On the other hand, the L-G administration, for the first time ever, observed the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh as ‘200th Raj Tilak’ on June 17.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha described him as an epitome of bravery, strength, benevolence and spiritual light. “He [Maharaja Hari Singh] was undoubtedly one of the greatest warriors of his time and has a special place in every Indian heart. He was the only great personality who started his life as a soldier and conquered large states with his strength and determination,” he had said during a function held in Jammu.
