Politics in Jammu and Kashmir over the legacy of the 1931 martyrs is hotting up with the ruling National Conference and Opposition PDP preparing to mark the day, years after the Centre-run lieutenant governor’s administration restricted its observance.
The LG’s administration had also cancelled the holiday on July 13, observed for decades as Martyrs’ Day, after the 2019 scrapping of special status as part of a campaign to align Jammu and Kashmir politics with the larger Hindutva politics. The political parties were also barred from visiting the martyrs’ graves in downtown Srinagar during this period.
July 13, 1931, marked the formal launch of an agitation against the Hindu Dogra Maharajas after his soldiers killed 22 men in Srinagar.
Before the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, it was customary for the government, including the chief minister, governor and the Opposition, to visit the martyrs’ graves to pay homage.
The NC and the PDP had vowed to restore the holiday if elected to power, but that remains a pipedream as LG Manoj Sinha continues to call the shots in the Union Territory.
Although the two parties have started preparations to observe the day, the LG’s administration has not clarified whether the restrictions will continue. If the restrictions are lifted, that will be a triumph for Valley-based parties and a rebuff to the Centre’s hardline Hindutva goals.
NC general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar on Thursday said they had written to the Srinagar deputy commissioner for permission to observe the day and visit the martyrs’ graveyard.
Sagar had presided over a meeting of party functionaries on Monday to review preparations and arrangements for the commemoration of the day.
An NC leader said they had written to the LG to restore the official July 13 and December 5 holidays, but the LG’s office was “sitting on the file”. December 5, the birth anniversary of NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, was also scrapped following the abrogation of Article 370.
The Opposition PDP has “unanimously resolved” to visit the martyrs’ graveyard at Naqshband Sahib to pay homage. A spokesperson said the party had a meeting at its headquarters, where the leadership resolved to visit the Mazar-e-Shuhada on July 13.
Party vice-president Sartaj Madni underscored the deep historical significance of the day, calling it a reminder to the people’s struggle against “tyranny and injustice”.
PDP general secretary Mohammad Khursheed Alam told the meeting that the martyrs laid the foundation for “political consciousness in Jammu and Kashmir”.
“The present dispensation may have erased the day as an official holiday, but they cannot erase the truth or the history it represents,” Alam said.
Ghulam Nabi Lone, another senior leader, said the official order scrapping the holiday cannot diminish the legacy of the martyrs as their “sacrifice remains etched in the collective memory of the people and will continue to inspire future generations”.