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'Tyranny of unelected', says CM Abdullah as leaders prevented from visiting graveyard on Martyrs' Day

Srinagar: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday said that the "unelected nominees of New Delhi locked up the elected representatives" of the people of Jammu and Kashmir after prominent leaders from ruling and opposition parties were not allowed to leave their houses to prevent them from visiting the graveyard of 1931 martyrs here. Though CM Omar was not in the town and reached here in the afternoon from Delhi, he posted on X likening July 13, 1931 incident to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, "the people who laid down their lives did so against the British... What a shame that true heroes who fought against British rule... are today projected as villains." Abdullah criticised the house detentions, and said "in a blatantly undemocratic move, homes have been locked from the outside, police and central forces deployed as jailers... All to stop people from visiting a historically important graveyard." "To borrow from the late Arun Jaitley Sb - Democracy in J&K is a tyranny of the unelected. To put it in terms you will all understand today the unelected nominees of New Delhi locked up the elected representatives of the people of J&K," the chief minister said. The National Conference leader said, "We may be denied the opportunity to visit their graves today, but we will not forget their sacrifices". The detentions, which were not officially confirmed by police or the administration, were widely reported by leaders who posted videos and pictures showing their gates locked or blocked by security personnel to stop them from going to the graveyard at the Naqshband Sahib shrine near Nowhatta in the old city to pay tributes on Martyrs' Day. The Srinagar district administration had denied permission to all applicants, including the ruling National Conference leaders, to visit the graveyard. All roads leading to the area located in downtown were barricaded with a heavy presence of police personnel on Sunday. July 13 used to be a public holiday in Jammu and Kashmir before the reorganisation of the erstwhile state into two Union territories in August 2019. The administration dropped the day from the list of gazetted holidays in 2020. On the day, mainstream political leaders used to visit the "Martyrs' graveyard" to pay homage to the Kashmiris who fell to the bullets of the forces during a protest against the then Dogra ruler in 1931. Senior National Conference leader and advisor to the chief minister, Nasir Aslam Wani, termed the detentions as a "misuse" of power, specifically highlighting what he called a conflict between the "nominated system" of the central administration and the "elected government". This sentiment was echoed by others who saw the move as an attempt to undermine the authority of the newly elected government. Srinagar Police had issued a public advisory and posted on its handle on X on Saturday that the "District Administration Srinagar has denied permission to all applicants intending to proceed towards Khawaja Bazar, Nowhatta on 13th July 2025 (Sunday)". The district magistrate had also rejected the ruling National Conference's plea seeking permission for NC president Farooq Abdullah and other senior functionaries to visit the graveyard. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti posted pictures of her main door locked and said, "When you lay siege to the Martyrs' Graveyard, lock people in their homes... it speaks volumes." She argued that a genuine end to mistrust between Delhi and Kashmir would only happen when India accepts Kashmiri "martyrs" as their own. "The day you accept our heroes as your own just as Kashmiris have embraced yours, from Mahatma Gandhi to Bhagat Singh, that day, as Prime Minister Modi once said, the 'dil ki doori' (distance of hearts) will truly end," she said in a post on X. Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Chaudhary, who was in Jammu, said that his official residence in Kashmir was also locked by the administration. "This is our condition. Locking a deputy chief minister, ministers and MLAs is a threat to democracy," he said and demanded restoration of statehood to J&K. "The nation that forgets its martyrs does not last long. Those who laid down their lives in 1931 were unarmed civilians fighting for their rights. They were not driven by religion or fighting against any community," the deputy chief minister told reporters at the ruling National Conference headquarters. Peoples Conference president Sajad Gani Lone also claimed that he has been stopped from leaving his residence. "Not allowed to move out of home. Detained. I don't know why the union government is so keen to redefine what is sacred for the people of Kashmir. The sacrifices rendered on July 13 are sacred for all of us," he said. Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari said he has been confined to his home, with police reportedly locking his party's headquarters to prevent a planned prayer event. He described the actions as "clear and blatant examples of highhandedness and authoritarian behaviour." CPM leader and MLA M Y Tarigami posted on X that his gate has been locked and he has been placed under house arrest and denied the right to pay homage to the July 13 martyrs. "This day is etched in our collective memory -- a reminder of those who laid down their lives for the restoration of democracy and a better future for us all," he said. Under house arrest since Friday, Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq marked the day by posting a message on X saying Kashmir "bears witness to the painful saga of the sacrifices made by its sons and daughters," with the martyrs of July 13, 1931 having "led this quest by standing up to the tyranny of the rulers of the day". "We may be put in jails or under house arrest and threatened with dire consequences, and the martyrs' graveyards may be sealed and blocked, but they live in our hearts and in our memory and will continue to, generation after generation," he said.

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