news details |
|
|
| Amidst shutdown, leaders rub shoulders at martyrs' graveyard | | In Jammu, KPs observe "Black Day" | |
Jammu, July 13: Amidst a near total shut down in the winter capital, the mainstream and separatist leaders made a beeline ribbing shoulders with each other to offer their homage to the martyrs of 1931.
As warranted by precedence, the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was reported to be the first to visit the martyrs graveyard in downtown Srinagar. Among top mainstream leaders, PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and NC president Omar Abdullah also visited the graveyard.
However, the Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir Pandit organisations here today observed a ''Black Day'' and held demonstrations in protest against what they termed as "loot, plunder and killing of people" during the revolt against the Dogra king in 1931. Members of the All State Kashmir Pandit Conference (ASKPC) wore black badges and held demonstrations at Geeta Bhawan. A large number of activists held demonstrations against the government for observing it as "martyr's day". ASKPC General Secretary H L Chatta told reporters that it was not a day of martyrs, but a day of loot, killing and plunder of Pandits and Dogras in the Valley during the revolt against the Dogra King Maharaja Hari Singh.
In Srinagar, a contingent of J&K Armed Police lowered their arms and the Police Band sounded the last post in memory of the martyrs. On the occasion, Azad said, that July 13, 1931 was a significant day in the history of Jammu and Kashmir when people rose against an autocratic dispensation. He said the people's fight was not against any individual but against a system. He said like the fight against British rule in the rest of the country, the struggle in the State was against autocracy. He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir today remember with a sense of gratitude the martyrs who sacrificed their lives to replace autocracy with democracy in the State.
Former Chief Minister and PDP Patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed accompanied by Minister for Finance, Planing, Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Tariq Hameed Karra, also visited Mazar-e-Shohda at Nowhatta and offered fatiahkhawani on the graveyards of Martyrs of 1931. They also laid wreath on the graves of martyrs.
Talking to media persons on the occasion Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said that the day has great significance in the history of Kashmir and marks the end of autocratic rule. He said that it was a heart rendering incident where the people officered their precious lives to liberate the motherland against the oppressive policies of Dogra regime and achieved martyrdom.
Meanwhile, life in Kashmir valley was affected today following a strike called by separatists to observe "Martyrs Day" in memory of those who laid down their lives 76 years ago protesting against the "autocratic rule" of Maharaja Hari Singh.
Shops and business establishments remained closed and traffic off the roads in Srinagar and all major towns in response to the call given by organisations, including both factions of the Hurriyat Conference, officials said.
Government offices, educational institutions, courts and banks remained closed as government declared a holiday today to observe the Martyrs Day.
Twenty-three people, who were part of a group protesting against the rule of Maharaja Hari Singh, fell to the bullets of the King's forces outside Srinagar central jail in 1931.
The security around the graveyard has been increased, with deployment of police and paramilitary forces, in view of the visits by the VIPs today.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
