
Watch Viral Video: Omar Abdullah scales graveyard wall, confronts cops amid Martyrs' Day row in Kashmir
'Paid my respects and offered Fatiha at the graves of the martyrs of 13th July 1931. The unelected government tried to block my way forcing me to walk from Nawhatta chowk. They blocked the gate to Naqshband Sb shrine forcing me to scale a wall. They tried to physically grapple me but I was not going to be stopped today,' Abdullah said in a post on X accompanying the video.
Abdullah drove to the Martyrs' Graveyard in the old city's Nowhatta neighbourhood on Monday morning, a day after being locked indoors and prevented by police from visiting the graveyard
Abdullah lambasted the Lieutenant Governor and the police for trying to stop him and his entourage from entering the martyrs' graveyard.
It is sad that on the instructions of the people who claim that their responsibility is the security and law and order, we were not allowed to offer 'fateha' here.
"It is sad that on the instructions of the people who claim that their responsibility is the security and law and order, we were not allowed to offer 'fateha' here. We were kept in house arrest (on Sunday). When gates opened, I expressed to the control room my desire to offer fateha. Within minutes, bunkers were put up and they were not removed late into the night," Abdullah told reporters after paying tributes at the graveyard.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Restoration of Jammu & Kashmir statehood not a concession but essential course correction: Omar Abdullah writes to chiefs of parties
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday wrote to the presidents of over 40 political parties seeking their support for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, saying it "must not be viewed as a concession, but as an essential course correction". According to officials, Abdullah, in his two-page letter, called for bringing a legislation for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir during the current Parliament session. Productivity Tool Zero to Hero in Microsoft Excel: Complete Excel guide By Metla Sudha Sekhar View Program Finance Introduction to Technical Analysis & Candlestick Theory By Dinesh Nagpal View Program Finance Financial Literacy i e Lets Crack the Billionaire Code By CA Rahul Gupta View Program Digital Marketing Digital Marketing Masterclass by Neil Patel By Neil Patel View Program Finance Technical Analysis Demystified- A Complete Guide to Trading By Kunal Patel View Program Productivity Tool Excel Essentials to Expert: Your Complete Guide By Study at home View Program Artificial Intelligence AI For Business Professionals Batch 2 By Ansh Mehra View Program The chief minister's appeal comes nine months after his government's unanimous resolution calling for immediate statehood restoration, which, he says, was personally handed to the Prime Minister with an assurance of progress. It also comes on the sixth anniversary of the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and its bifurcation into two Union Territories -- Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir. "Restoration must not be viewed as a concession, but as an essential course correction -- one that prevents us from sliding down a dangerous and slippery slope where the statehood of our constituent states is no longer regarded as a foundational and sacred constitutional right but reduced instead to a discretionary favour bestowed at the will of the central government," the letter said.


Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
‘Thousands of police deployed… this tells the story of J&K': Parties across Valley protest to mark 6 years since Article 370 abrogation
Mainstream political parties in the Kashmir Valley took to the streets on Tuesday to mark six years since the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 of the Constitution. The National Conference, the Peoples Democratic Party and the Congress staged demonstrations at their respective headquarters in Srinagar. A large number of police and paramilitary personnel were deployed at the PDP's headquarters, where party president Mehbooba Mufti led the protest. 'August 5 is a black day' and 'Restore Article 370 and 35A' were among the placards that made an appearance. 'The people have assembled here (at the office), and outside the gate, thousands of police and security forces are deployed,' Mufti told mediapersons. 'This tells you the story of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.' In a post on X, Mufti wrote, 'August 5 is not just a black day for but for the entire nation. On this day, the Constitution was subverted not by foreign hands, but from within, by a brute majority in the heart of our democracy. The unconstitutional abrogation of J&K's special status was not an end; it was the beginning of a broader assault on constitutional values.' 'J&K was turned into a laboratory… its people disempowered, its land dispossessed, its demography targeted. What many saw as a local issue was a warning for all. Today, that warning is unfolding across the country. In Bihar, SIR threatens to disenfranchise lakhs. From Tamil Nadu to Kashmir, non-local voters are being added en masse, paving the way for demographic manipulation and electoral distortion. If India does not wake up now, what began in J&K will soon define the nation.' The National Conference also staged a protest at Nawai Subh, the party headquarters in Srinagar, demanding the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's special status and statehood. Calling August 5 a 'black day,' Congress workers gathered at their headquarters in Srinagar and raised slogans such as 'Return our rights.' Peoples Conference president Sajad Lone posted on X: 'August 5 will always be a brutal reminder of the undermining of democracy. And an ugly example of selective targeting. This was the day when whatever little was left from the glories of the past was taken away. I will never lose hope. We will get what has been taken away. If the glories don't last, the inglorious won't last either.'


The Hindu
6 hours ago
- The Hindu
Political parties hit the streets in J&K for statehood, denounce BJP
Congress, National Conference, and PDP workers on Tuesday (August 5, 2025) hit the streets in J&K, demanding the restoration of the statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. The protests were held on the sixth anniversary of the revocation of the erstwhile state's special status under Article 370, and its bifurcation into two Union Territories. The three parties, along with Jammu-based All Parties United Morcha (APUM), a group of various social and political parties, observed August 5 as a "black day" in a denunciation of the downgrading of the state in 2019. Pradesh Congress Committee working president Raman Bhalla, along with former Minister Lal Singh and Taranjit Singh Tony, used a crane to garland the statue of the last Dogra ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, at Tawi bridge in the heart of the city. "Today's black day protest is part of our intensified campaign under 'Hamari Riyasat Hamara Haq' to seek restoration of pride and glory of this historic Dogra state, which was destroyed by the BJP on August 5, 2019," Mr. Bhalla told reporters while leading the protest. The party's J&K chief spokesperson, Ravinder Sharma, said the BJP undermined the democratically elected government and is running the affairs through a "remote control" from Lt Governor Manoj Sinha's office. "The Assembly elections were held on the directions of the Supreme Court last year, but the popular government is not allowed to work. They have lost the elections but are still running the government through the LG office, and as a result of the dual rule, the people are suffering," he said. He said the Supreme Court has directed for restoration of statehood to J&K "as soon as possible," but even after 10 months of the order, the Centre remains reluctant to restore statehood. "Our demand for restoration of full-fledged statehood under 'Hamari Riyasat Hamara Haq' will continue to mobilise support and expose the BJP. We are now going for a chain hunger strike from August 9 to 21, hoping that the BJP will see reason and restore statehood to J&K during the ongoing Monsoon session of the parliament," Mr. Sharma said. The Congress staged similar demonstrations at all district headquarters. An attempt by its workers to take out a rally was scuttled in Rajouri by police, who also briefly detained MLA Iftikhar Ahmad and several others. Workers of the ruling National Conference, led by provincial president Rattan Lal Gupta, staged a protest outside party headquarters on Residency Road in Jammu. The protesters had to abort their march when police stopped them, and they were forced to return to the party office. PDP workers raised a demonstration outside party headquarters in the Gandhi Nagar area of the city.