File picture: Jammu & Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah
| Photo Credit:
ANI
Political parties in the Valley on Sunday accused authorities of placing their leaders under house arrest to prevent them from visiting the graveyard of July 13 martyrs.
On this day in 1931, 22 people lost their lives to the bullets fired by Dogra soldiers while protesting against the autocratic rule of Maharaja Hari Singh.
The incident, commemorated annually on July 13, is seen as a defining moment in Kashmir’s political history.
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…
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) July 13, 2025
“13th July massacre is our Jallianwala Bagh,” Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah posted on X, referring to the 1919 massacre in Amritsar under British rule. “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”, he posted.
Abdullah alleged that authorities had locked homes from the outside, blocked major bridges in Srinagar, and deployed police and paramilitary forces to prevent public movement.
“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,” he said.
The Chief Minister termed the move as blatant undemocratic.
Tanvir Sadiq, the party’s chief spokesperson and legislator from Srinagar’s Zadibal constituency, told businessline that most senior party leaders and legislators were placed under house arrest late Saturday. “I’ve been locked inside my house since last night,” he said.
Former Chief Minister and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti also alleged that police had detained several of her party workers attempting to visit the site.
“It seems we are getting back into the oppressive times that our 13 July Martyrs fought against”, Mufti posted on X.
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… pic.twitter.com/PjZpH7W8We
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) July 13, 2025
“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 wrote.
Senior CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami said that he had also been put under house arrest.
“My gate has been locked, and I am not allowed to step out”, he said.
In the undivided Jammu and Kashmir, July 13 was officially commemorated as the holiday. However, after August 5, 2019, when Jammu and Kashmir lost its special status, the day was deleted from the list of holidays.
Published on July 13, 2025