SRINAGAR: Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) leader Iltija Mufti on Saturday paid floral tributes to the people who fell to the bullets of the Dogra army on July 13, 1931.
July 13 was observed as ‘Martyrs’ Day’ in Jammu and Kashmir before the reorganisation of the erstwhile state into two Union territories in August 2019. However, the administration dropped the day from the list of gazetted holidays in 2020 after the reorganisation of J-K.
On the day, mainstream political leaders also used to visit the “martyrs’ graveyard” to pay homage to the 22 Kashmiris who fell to the bullets of the Dogra army while protesting the rule of the Maharaja.
Last year, several leaders, including Mehbooba Mufti, were put under house arrest to prevent them from visiting the graveyard.
“Knowing that tomorrow we’d be prevented from moving out, managed to pay tributes to our martyrs who laid down their lives on 13th July 1931 for democracy,” Iltija Mufti said in a post on X.
She also posted a video showing her offering flowers on some of the graves of the July 13, 1931, “martyrs”.
“Their memory is being wilfully erased yet their voices echo in every Kashmiri’s heart that refuses to bow & dares to hope,” she said.
