BJP govt criticised over manhandling of Kashmir CM; CPI(M) demands restoration of Martyrs’ Day in J&K
NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR — The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Monday issued a scathing condemnation of the police manhandling of Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the preventive detention of several political leaders, calling the actions a “shameful assault on democratic rights” by the BJP-led Union government.
The incident occurred as leaders tried to pay homage at the Naqshband Sahib graveyard in Srinagar on Martyrs’ Day — a historic date commemorating the killing of 22 Kashmiri protestors by the Dogra army on July 13, 1931.
In a strongly worded statement, the Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) said the assault on Abdullah and the detention of Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, CPI(M) Central Committee member and sitting MLA, along with other leaders, exposed the BJP government’s “authoritarian and sectarian approach” in Jammu & Kashmir.
“It is outrageous that an elected chief minister is manhandled by the police and leaders are placed under house arrest just for attempting to pay tribute to Kashmir’s freedom martyrs,” said the Polit Bureau.
The CPI(M) accused the BJP government of engaging in “deliberate historical revisionism” by abolishing the public holiday on Martyrs’ Day — a long-standing state tradition — and instead declaring a holiday on the birthday of Maharaja Hari Singh, under whose reign the 1931 killings occurred.
“This insult to the martyrs of 1931, who laid the foundation for Kashmir’s political awakening, is a crude attempt to erase the legacy of resistance and impose a singular narrative,” the party stated.
The revocation of the Martyrs’ Day holiday was first implemented in 2020, after the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state. The change has since been widely criticised by mainstream political parties and civil society in Kashmir as an attempt to delegitimise the region’s unique historical memory.
After the repeal of Articles 370 and 35A on August 5, 2019, the state of Jammu and Kashmir was downgraded and bifurcated into two Union Territories, with control over law and order placed directly under the Union government.
Speaking to reporters after being released from detention late Sunday night, CPI(M) leader Tarigami said, “This is not just an insult to the martyrs, but also to the democratic ethos of our Constitution. Preventing elected representatives from offering prayers at a graveyard shows the state of civil liberties in today’s Kashmir.”
Omar Abdullah, president of the National Conference, also took to social media to condemn the police actions. “Being shoved and manhandled by uniformed men for wanting to lay flowers on the graves of our martyrs is a new low, even for this administration,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Sources in Srinagar said heavy deployment of police and paramilitary personnel was seen around the historic Martyrs’ Graveyard in Khanyar. Barricades were erected, and many politicians, activists, and common citizens were reportedly turned away. While no official explanation was given, officers on the ground cited “security concerns” and “law and order” as justification.
The CPI(M) has demanded a public apology from the Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha for what it called the “disgraceful” handling of the situation. The party also called for the restoration of the Martyrs’ Day holiday and immediate cessation of repressive measures in the region.
“The BJP government must stop playing with the sentiments of the people of Jammu & Kashmir,” the statement read. “Democratic rights must be protected, not crushed. This includes the right to commemorate historical events and pay tribute to one’s own heroes.”
The incident has triggered widespread outrage beyond political lines. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Congress, and several civil society groups joined in condemning the move, calling it an attack on Kashmiri identity and memory.
“The government is not just distorting history but criminalising memory,” said Dr Hameeda Nayeem, a retired professor and prominent public intellectual in Srinagar. “July 13 is part of the Kashmiri consciousness — it symbolises our resistance to autocracy and injustice. Stopping people from remembering it amounts to erasing their collective dignity.”
History of July 13, 1931
On July 13, 1931, 22 protestors were shot dead by the Dogra army outside Srinagar Central Jail where they had assembled to demand the release of political prisoner Abdul Qadeer. The massacre is widely seen as a key moment in Kashmir’s political awakening and is regarded as the first organised mass resistance against monarchical rule in the princely state.
Martyrs’ Day was commemorated annually until 2019 with official ceremonies, flag hoisting, and wreath laying. Since the revocation of J&K’s special status and its downgrading to a Union Territory, such commemorations have been systematically curtailed.
“Such actions only confirm what we’ve feared all along — that Kashmir is being ruled, not governed,” said an editorial in a Srinagar-based English daily. “Suppressing peaceful remembrance is not governance. It is coercion.”
