Kashmir Pen News Bureau
Srinagar | July 13: Terming the July 13, 1931 massacre as Kashmir’s Jallianwala Bagh, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday said the 22 men who laid down their lives that day did so in resistance to British rule under the then princely state.
“The 13th July massacre is our Jallianwala Bagh. The people who laid down their lives did so against the British. Kashmir was being ruled under the British Paramountcy,” Omar Abdullah said in a strongly worded statement.
He condemned the modern-day attempts to malign the legacy of these martyrs, asserting that those who fought colonial injustice are today being wrongfully vilified. “What a shame that true heroes who fought against British rule in all its forms are today projected as villains only because they were Muslims,” he stated.
Omar Abdullah further expressed disappointment over restrictions preventing people from paying homage at the Mazar-e-Shuhada, the graveyard where the July 13 martyrs are buried. “We may be denied the opportunity to visit their graves today, but we will not forget their sacrifices,” he affirmed.
The July 13 Martyrs’ Day commemorates 22 Kashmiris who were shot dead by Dogra forces in 1931 during a protest outside Srinagar Central Jail. The day has long been remembered as a symbol of resistance against autocratic and colonial rule in Jammu & Kashmir| Kashmir Pen
