Omar Abdullah shares video of ‘grappling with J&K police during Martyrs’ Day visit

A day after the Jammu and Kashmir Police prevented Kashmiri leaders, including ministers, from visiting the historic martyrs’ graveyard by house arresting them, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and other National Conference leaders reached Srinagar’s old city on Monday morning to pay tributes to the 22 civilians killed on July 13, 1931.

Omar also said he was “grappled" by police during the visit.

He, however, scaled a wall to reach the graveyard. “Paid my respects & offered Fatiha at the graves of the martyrs of July 13, 1931.  The unelected government tried to block my way, forcing me to walk from Nawhatta Chowk. They blocked the gate to Naqshband Sahab shrine, forcing me to scale a wall,” Omar wrote on X.

“They tried to physically grapple me, but I was not going to be stopped today.”

In a video he posted on X, Omar said he was “physically grappled." “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,” Omar said.

Not only the CM, but also Jammu and Kashmir Minister Sakina Itoo arrived at the graveyard on a scooter.

The Srinagar district administration on Saturday had denied permission to political parties to visit the historic Martyrs’ Graveyard on Martyrs’ Day. On Sunday, valley leaders were placed under house arrest. Martyrs’ Day commemorates the killing of 22 civilians by the Dogra forces on July 13, 1931, during a protest against autocratic rule.

The day has traditionally been marked by visits and tributes at the Nowhatta graveyard, once a state-sanctioned function. After 2019, the tradition was stopped by the LG administration.

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