Kashmir leaders under house arrest: What is the row over ‘Martyrs’ Day’

Now, Jammu and Kashmir Police have put several leaders across the political divide under house detention to prevent them from visiting the cemetery.

What is the history behind the ‘Martyrs’ day’ and why is a controversy surrounding it?

Martyrs’ Day: The history of July 13

Before the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019, July 13 was officially commemorated as Martyrs’ Day in the erstwhile state as a tribute to 22 people killed by the Dogra regime in 1931. They had been assembled outside Srinagar’s central jail in protest when they were shot by the police.

In the run-up to July 13, 1931, several incidents had already taken place, brewing discontent against the Dogra rulers. It was in this backdrop that Abdul Qadeer Khan, in June 1931, gave a fiery speech against the Dogras and asked the people to rise against them.

Khan, whose origin is not certain, was a cook of a British Army officer who was on a vacation to Kashmir. Khan was charged by the Dogra regime for sedition. As the trial began in July 1931, a large gathering of Kashmiri Muslims assembled outside the court of the Session’s judge in Srinagar. The trial was shifted to Srinagar central jail, which was put under heavy security protection. On July 13, around 4,000 to 5,000 people assembled outside the jail to witness the trial. The people tried to enter inside the premises but were prevented. They camped outside the jail. It was during this protest that the Dogra police opened fire, killing 22 Kashmiri Muslims and injuring many.

There are competing narratives about what led to the firing. While some say that the protestors tried to break the jail gates and pelted stones, the dominant narrative is that they were camped outside the jail and began shouting slogans when the then Srinagar deputy commissioner arrived at the scene.

As a local Muslim stood up to call for the noon prayers, he was fired at by the police. The police then opened fire on the protestors, killing 22.

The slain protestors were taken to Srinagar’s grand mosque and buried in the premises of the shrine of a Muslim saint, Khawja Bahaudin Naqashbandi. It was at this cemetery that Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, then a top leader of Muslim Conference — he later changed the Muslim Conference to a secular National Conference — announced that July 13 would “henceforth be observed as Martyrs’ day”.

Official Holiday and Commemorations

July 13 was officially commemorated as ‘Martyrs’ day’ in Jammu and Kashmir and the day was observed as a state holiday till August 2019. The Chief Minister and political leaders would visit the ‘Martyrs’ cemetery’ in Srinagar to pay tributes. The BJP opposed this.

In 2015, when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) formed a coalition government with the BJP, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti visited the graveyard, but BJP leaders, including the deputy chief minister and ministers, most of whom hailed from Jammu, didn’t join her. Since the formation of the coalition, the BJP leaders and ministers had started to demand a holiday on the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh, the Dogra king in power when the 1931 killings took place.

‘Martyrs’ across the divide

July 13 was perhaps the only occasion where the separatists and the mainstream political parties were unanimous, and that is why the departed were called “martyrs’ of all’. While the government would officially commemorate the day declaring it a holiday, the separatists would call a shutdown on the day to protest against their killing. The protests on July 13, 1931 were seen as the first assertion of Muslim identity in Jammu and Kashmir and the beginning of the struggle for freedom.

Scrapping the Holiday

After the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5, 2019, the Centre-appointed Lt Governor scrapped the official holiday on July 13. The holiday on the birth anniversary of National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was also scrapped. The official commemorations of the ‘Martyrs’ day’ were stopped and the administration prevented political leaders and parties from commemorating the day by sealing the “martyrs’ cemetery’ and putting the leaders under house detention.

In addition, the LG administration in 2022 declared the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh as a public holiday.

Omar Abdullah government in a fix

Since coming to power, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has tried to avoid confrontations with the Centre, earning some criticism over it in the Valley.

For Martyrs’ Day, while the National Conference as a political party had said it would visit the cemetery and sought permission for an event, the government was silent on the issue. There was no word from the government on the official commemoration.

The Peoples Democratic Party already accused the Omar Abdullah government of “shifting the onus from elected government to their party”. “For the first time in 78 years, an elected government in J&K is distancing itself from the martyrs who laid down their lives against autocracy,” the PDP said.

However, on Sunday, after the police (they come under the L-G) put several leaders under house arrest, Omar called it a “blatantly undemocratic move”. “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 CM tweeted.