CM Omar Abdullah Climbs Kashmir Memorial Gate Amid Martyrs’ Day Row

SRINAGAR, Jul 14: In a dramatic move, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah drove to the Martyrs’ Graveyard this morning, resisted police’s attempts to stop him and other National Conference leaders from visiting the memorial, scaled a wall and paid tributes to Kashmiri protesters shot dead by Maharaja Hari Singh’s Dogra forces on July 13, 1931.
The Chief Minister’s surprise feat comes a day after he and top Jammu and Kashmir leaders were barred from visiting the Martyrs’ Graveyard, or Mazar-e-Shuhada, to mark the anniversary of the July 13 killings. The graveyard is attached to the shrine of Khwaja Bahawuddin Naqshbandi.
“We were not allowed to read the Fatiha here yesterday. People were kept confined to their homes. When the gates were opened and I informed the control room that I wanted to come here, a bunker was set up in front of my gate and it was not removed till late at night. Today I did not tell them at all. Without telling them, I sat into the car (and drove here),” he told the media after offering his tribute at the memorial.
“Look at their shamelessness. Even today, they tried to stop us. We parked the car at Nowhatta Chowk. They put a bunker in front of us and tried to manhandle us. These policemen in uniform sometimes forget the law. I want to ask them, under which law did they try to stop us today? The restrictions were for yesterday. They say this is a free country, but sometimes they think we are their slaves. We are not anyone’s slaves. If we are slaves, we are the people’s slaves,” the National Conference leader said, targeting the security forces in the Valley, which are under Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s control. “They tried to stop us, to tear apart our flags, but their attempts failed. We came and read the fatiha,” he said.

The post CM Omar Abdullah Climbs Kashmir Memorial Gate Amid Martyrs’ Day Row appeared first on Daily Excelsior.

News