A day after political leaders were stopped from visiting Mazaar-e-Shuhada in Srinagar due to restrictions, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) President Dr Farooq Abdullah, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Deputy Chief Minister, Advisor Nasir Aslam Wani, spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq, provisional president Showkat Mir and other senior leaders visited the site to offer prayers and pay homage to the martyrs of July 13, 1931.
The Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the administration had imposed curbs on political movement, and he and his party colleagues were not allowed to offer Fatiha on Sunday. “According to their clear instructions, we were not allowed to come here and read the Fatiha,” he said. “Everyone was kept in their homes early in the morning.”
Omar Abdullah said that when movement was slowly allowed, he contacted the control room and expressed his intention to visit. “Within minutes, a bunker was set up outside my gate and it was not removed till midnight,” he said.
He said on Monday, he chose not to inform the authorities before visiting the Mazaar. “Without informing them, I sat in the car and they tried to stop us even today,” he said, adding that a CRPF bunker and police vehicle were placed at Navata Chowk to block their way.
“They tried to stop us, they tried to catch us, they tried to tear our flag,” he said. “These policemen who wear uniforms sometimes forget the law.”
Omar Abdullah questioned the legal grounds for the restrictions. “According to which law did they try to stop us today?” he asked. “They say this is a free country, but they think we are their slaves. We are not anyone’s slaves. If we are servants, then we are the servants of the people here.”
He said the visit to the Mazaar-e-Shuhada was ultimately successful. “We came, we read the Fatiha,” he said. “These people have a misunderstanding. These graves are not here only on July 13. They are here all year long — July 12, July 14, December, January, February.”
He also said that the party would continue to visit the site whenever they chose to. “How long will they stop us? We will come here whenever we want. And we will remember these martyrs,” he said.(KNS).
