“This is not martyrdom. This is a cover-up of Islamist violence," says BJP
A day after 'house arrest' of National Conference leaders, Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah scales wall to reach Martyrs' Graveyard day
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah climbed a railing along with his cabinet ministers to visit the Martyrs' Graveyard in Nowhatta and pay floral tributes. On Sunday, several leaders from the ruling National Conference were put under house arrest in a bid to stop them from marking Martyrs' Day today.
In a video that went viral, Abdullah can be seen marching toward the graveyard along with his cabinet ministers, surrounded by police and security personnel. As the gate appeared to be locked, Abdullah climbed over it and scaled the wall to enter the graveyard.
Lashing out at the centre, Abdullah tweeted, "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.
July 13 is commemorated as ‘Martyrs Day’ in Jammu and Kashmir as a tribute to 22 people killed by the Dogra army outside Srinagar’s central jail in 1931. The Lt Governor-led administration had dropped the day from the list of gazetted holidays in 2020.
Several leaders from the ruling National Conference were put under house arrest on Sunday in a bid to stop them from marking Martyrs' Day today.
In an earlier post, Abdullah had compared the 1931 killings to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. "What a shame that true heroes who fought against British rule... are today projected as villains," he tweeted.
In response, BJP national general secretary and Jammu and Kashmir in-charge Tarun Chugh slammed Abdullah for likening the 1931 killings to the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy.
“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,” he said.
“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),” Chugh added.
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