Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir – July 14, 2025 – In a dramatic act of defiance against the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s administration, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday scaled a wall and climbed over a locked gate to reach the Martyrs’ Graveyard in Nowhatta, Srinagar, where he paid floral tributes to the 22 people killed by the Dogra army on July 13, 1931. This move came despite the administration’s ban on all events commemorating the anniversary of the killings and the reported house arrest of several National Conference (NC) leaders.
The Lieutenant Governor-led administration had barred any events on July 13, a date historically observed as ‘Martyrs’ Day’ in Jammu and Kashmir, since dropping it from the list of gazetted holidays in 2020. This year, the clampdown included placing several NC leaders under house arrest on Sunday to prevent them from marking the day.
A video widely shared shows Abdullah, accompanied by his cabinet ministers and surrounded by police and security personnel, approaching the graveyard. Finding the main gate locked, he is seen climbing over the railing and then scaling a wall to gain entry.
Abdullah later took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the video and express his condemnation. “Paid my respects & offered Fatiha at the graves of the martyrs of 13th July 1931. The unelected government tried to block my way forcing me to walk from Nawhatta chowk. They blocked the gate to Naqshband Sb shrine forcing me to scale a wall. They tried to physically grapple me but I was not going to be stopped today,” he wrote.
He further shared another video alleging that he was manhandled inside the cemetery, tweeting, “This is the physical grappling I was subjected to but I am made of sterner stuff & was not to be stopped. I was doing nothing unlawful or illegal. In fact these ‘protectors of the law’ need to explain under what law they were trying to stop us from offering Fatiha.”
The July 13, 1931 incident commemorates the killing of 22 Kashmiris outside Srinagar’s central jail during protests against the then-ruler of the princely state, Maharaja Hari Singh. The event is seen by many in Kashmir as a pivotal moment in their political awakening.
Earlier, Abdullah had drawn a comparison between the 1931 killings and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, stating on X, “What a shame that true heroes who fought against British rule… are today projected as villains.”
This comparison, however, drew sharp criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). BJP national general secretary and Jammu and Kashmir in-charge Tarun Chugh slammed Abdullah, asserting, “That was colonial brutality against unarmed civilians. July 13 was a communal mob trying to burn down the order.
Do not insult our freedom movement by twisting facts.” Chugh further added, “This is not martyrdom. This is a cover-up of Islamist violence. And it’s coming from the same man whose party stayed silent when Kashmiri Pandits were driven out at gunpoint (in 1990).”
The actions of the Lieutenant Governor’s administration and Omar Abdullah’s defiant response highlight the ongoing political and historical tensions surrounding the narrative of the 1931 events in Jammu and Kashmir.
