Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Monday slipped through security barricades and jumped over the boundary wall of Mazar-e-Shuhada (Martyrs Memorial) to pay tributes to Kashmiris killed while protesting Dogra rule in 1931.
Omar Abdullah said that he was stopped by the security forces from reaching the memorial in the Old City of Srinagar. Jammu and Kashmir observed Martyrs on Sunday, July 13. The CM said he came on Monday without informing anyone, as he wasn't allowed to do so on Sunday, and claimed that he was put under house arrest.
Watch | Omar Abdullah scales wall to enter Matryrs' Memorial
"It is unfortunate that by the orders of those who claim their responsibility is to maintain law and order, We were not allowed to read the Fatiha here yesterday. People were kept confined to their homes. When the gates were opened and I informed the control room that I wanted to come here, a bunker was set up in front of my gate and it was not removed till late at night. Today I did not tell them at all. Without telling them, I sat into the car (and drove here)," Abdullah said.
{{/usCountry}}"It is unfortunate that by the orders of those who claim their responsibility is to maintain law and order, We were not allowed to read the Fatiha here yesterday. People were kept confined to their homes. When the gates were opened and I informed the control room that I wanted to come here, a bunker was set up in front of my gate and it was not removed till late at night. Today I did not tell them at all. Without telling them, I sat into the car (and drove here)," Abdullah said.
{{/usCountry}}The National Conference leader said that the security forces tried to stop him from reaching the memorial even today, and asked under which law it was done.
“Look at their shamelessness. Even today, they tried to stop us. We parked the car at Nowhatta Chowk. They put a bunker in front of us and tried to manhandle us. These policemen in uniform sometimes forget the law. I want to ask them, under which law did they try to stop us today? The restrictions were for yesterday. They say this is a free country, but sometimes they think we are their slaves. We are not anyone's slaves. If we are slaves, we are the people's slaves,” he added.
Why is July 13 Martyrs Day in Jammu and Kashmir?
A group of Kashmiri protestors were shot at by the forces of the then-Maharaja Hari Singh Dogra outside the Srinagar jail on July 13, 1931. The protestors supported Abdul Qadeer, who was lodged in jail for calling on Kashmiris to rise against the Dogra ruler and was charged with sedition.
Twenty-two protestors were killed in the firing on that day. For the past 70 years, July 13 has been observed as a historic day in Kashmir and is marked as the first political awakening of Kashmir.