Srinagar: For the first time since the year 1948, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh did not observe ‘Martyrs Day’ as an official holiday, but Kashmiri political groups and netizens paid rich tributes to the July 3 martyrs.
The commemoration of the killing of 22 Kashmiris by forces of the Dogra Maharaja on July 13, 1931, would usually see important government functionaries and pro-freedom leaders pay homage at the Mazar-e-Shuhada where the slain lie buried. The age-old custom was undone last year when the Government of India scrapped Article 370 and removed July 13 from the list of official holidays.
The forces of Dogra ruler Maharaja Hari Singh shot dead 22 Kashmiris who had gathered outside Srinagar Central Jail to protest against the arrest of Abdul Qadeer who was seen as a crusader against the Dogra ruler.
Though there was no official function today, many political parties came out with statements drawing parallels with the Dogra regime and the current government.
The political parties also denounced government curbs on paying of homage to the slain martyrs at the Mazar-e-Shuhuda.
A statement issued by the Altaf Bukhari-led Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) said that the martyrs’ graveyard in old Srinagar symbolises the legacy of those bravehearts who laid their lives for democracy and justice.
“Putting curbs on the visit of political parties to martyrs’ graves for paying homage to our heroes who laid down their precious lives against autocracy and oppression is unjustifiable,” Bukhari was quoted as saying in the party statement.
Kashmir’s oldest regional party, the National Conference, in a statement said that Jammu and Kashmir will never forget the valour, determination, and sacrifices of the July 13 martyrs.
The party also condemned the administration’s move to not allow its functionaries to offer Fateha prayers and floral tributes at the martyrs’ graveyard.
National Conference (NC) vice-president and former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah said that July 13 marks “the collective defiance of the oppressed against oppressors”.
“The day is the 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,” the NC leader said in a statement.
“We observe the day to reiterate our commitment to fight evil with kindness, violence with non-violence and peaceful struggle. I on this day pay my humble tributes to all the martyrs who laid their lives for securing a dignified life to future generations,” said Abdullah.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in a statement paid tributes to the July 13 martyrs and said that their memory cannot be erased by changing the government calendar of holidays.
Apart from Martyr’s Day, the birth anniversary of Sheikh Abdullah on December 5 was also omitted as a public holiday in a new list released in December last year.

NUSRAT SIDIQ