Restrictions on July 13 tributes unfortunate ; CM Omar Abdullah

Srinagar, Jul 13  : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday termed the denial of access to political leaders at the Martyrs’ Graveyard here as “unfortunate” and asserted that the 1931 movement was a struggle against oppression and British paramountcy, not a religious fight.

“I don’t think more than 150 people would have gone there to pay tributes, yet they treated it as a threat. This itself contradicts the repeated claims that everything is normal,” Abdullah told reporters at the National Conference headquarters as per news agency Kashmir News Service (KNS) where he paid floral tributes to the July 13 martyrs.

The Chief Minister said the authorities should have understood the historical context of the day before imposing restrictions on Mazar-e-Shuhada.

“Those who decided to seal Mazar-e-Shuhada should have first read the history of Jammu and Kashmir. It is unfortunate that those who fought against oppression and to protect the dignity of Jammu and Kashmir are today being denied tributes,” he said.
CM Omar also rejected attempts to frame the 1931 events along religious lines. “This was not a religious fight. It was a struggle against oppression, for democracy and against British paramountcy. Today, attempts are being made to present it as something else,” he said.
The Chief Minister further remarked that the restrictions were imposed despite no major public gathering being planned. He also drew a comparison with previous years, saying such curbs were not enforced even during the Amarnath Yatra in the past.

“We are repeatedly told everything is normal, but the ground reality says otherwise. Earlier, such restrictions were never imposed during the Yatra. Today they are doing it,” he said.

CM Omar asserting that the current dispensation enforcing the curbs was temporary. “Those who managed to stop us from going to Mazar-e-Shuhada today are here temporarily. The people of Jammu and Kashmir will remain here. If not today, then tomorrow or the day after, we will certainly go there and pay our tributes,” he said. (KNS)