J&K Authorities Seal Mazhar-e-Shuhada After Parties Seek Permission to Commemorate Martyr's Day

The Wire

12-07-2025

Witnesses said that security forces were deployed in greater numbers around the shrine on Saturday while the worshippers were turned away from offering prayers at a mosque inside the complex.
Srinagar: Authorities foiled the plans of Kashmir-based political parties to commemorate Martyrs' Day by sealing the historic Sufi shrine of Khwaja Bahauddin Naqshbandi in Srinagar on Saturday (12 July). The site houses the graves of Kashmiri protesters who were killed by the Dogra army in 1931.
In an advisory posted on X, Jammu and Kashmir police, without citing any reason, said that the applications from the political parties who had sought permission to commemorate the Martyrs' Day on Sunday (13 July) have been turned down by the authorities.
A CRPF truck parked on the road outside the Sufi shrine in downtown Srinagar. The shrine has multiple entrances. Photo: Ubaid Mukhtar
Earlier this week, the ruling National Conference, the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP), and other political outfits had sought permission to visit the Martyrs' Graveyard or Mazhar-e-Shuhada located in downtown Srinagar's Khawaja Bazar where the 22 victims are buried.
Moderate Hurriyat chairman and Kashmir's chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who continued to remain under house arrest for the second consecutive day on Saturday, had planned to lead a procession from Jamia Masjid to the graveyard on Sunday.
However, the police advisory on Saturday evening warned: 'The General Public is hereby advised to strictly comply with these instructions and refrain from violating the orders issued by District Administration. Any violation of these orders shall invite strict legal action under relevant provisions of law'.
Security forces set up checkpoints at the roads leading to the Martyrs Graveyard on Saturday to foil any commemorations by Kashmir-based political parties. Photo: Ubaid Mukhtar
The advisory was issued less than an hour after Iltija Mufti, daughter of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, posted a 35-second video on X showing her sprinkling red flowers at the graves. The undated video is likely to have left the security agencies red-faced given the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party's (BJP) contempt for the Martyrs' Day commemorations in Jammu and Kashmir.
'Knowing that tomorrow we'd be prevented from moving out, managed to pay tributes to our martyrs who laid down their lives on July 13, 1931 for democracy. Their memory is being wilfully erased yet their voices echo in every Kashmiri's heart that refuses to bow & dares to hope,' the PDP chief's daughter posted on X.
A J&K police mini-truck was also deployed on the main road outside the shrine which wore deserted looks.
Security forces also set up checkpoints on the arterial roads leading to the shrine where some commuters were stopped and frisked before being allowed to proceed to prevent any violation of the police advisory.
The Sufi shrine which is also home to Maryrs Graveyard wearing deserted looks on Saturday evening. Photo: Ubaid Mukhtar
Terming the restrictions 'on a day of profound historical and emotional significance' as 'deeply unfortunate', NC chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said that 'denying people the space to remember their martyrs is fundamentally unjust'.
'July 13 is not a routine date, it is a solemn reminder of the sacrifices made in the pursuit of dignity, justice and rights. We urge the administration to reflect on the gravity of this decision. No order can suppress memory. No restriction can erase (sic) truth. The people of Kashmir will continue to honour their martyrs peacefully, with dignity, and with unwavering resolve,' Sadiq said.
In a statement, Mirwaiz's office said that he paid 'glowing tributes to the first martyrs of Kashmir of July 13, 1931, on their 94th martyrdom anniversary'.
'These martyrs laid down their precious lives in the noble cause and pursuit of the realisation of the basic rights of the people of Kashmir under autocratic and discriminatory rule. Their sacrifices are unforgettable and will always be remembered,' the statement added.
22 Kashmiri protesters who were killed by the Dogra army on July 13, 1931, are buried in the Martyrs Graveyard. Photo: Ubaid Mukhtar
July 13 was observed as a public holiday when Jammu and Kashmir was a state.
However, months after Article 370 was read down by the BJP-led Union government and the state bifurcated and demoted into a Union Territory, the local administration dropped July 13 and December 5 – the birth anniversary of the NC founder Sheikh Abdullah – as a public holiday from the official list.
Both dates were excluded from the list of public holidays issued last year by the General Administration Department, which is under the direct control of J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha, who holds the reins of the UT's top bureaucracy and the police.
People's Conference and others have accused the ruling NC of betraying its own political manifesto by allegedly failing to restore July 13 as a public holiday.
'This is the last year they will be able to do this. From next year, we will mark 13th July with the solemnity and respect this day deserves," Omar Abdullah had written last year he, Mehbooba and others were prevented from visiting the Mazhar-e-Shuhada by the LG administration.
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