Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who was placed under house arrest on July 13, Martyrs’ Day, climbed over a fence to reach the memorial and pay his respects. He also shared a video showing police attempting to stop him as he made his way to the Martyrs’ cemetery. Abdullah further claimed that when the house arrest was lifted, he informed the control room that he wanted to visit the ceremonial. After this, he claimed that a bunker was set up and was not removed until late at night. Today, he said, he made his way towards the cemetery without informing the police.

‘Protectors of the law need to explain’

Abdullah, while sharing the video, said that the so-called “protectors of the law” need to explain this. 

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“This is the physical grappling I was subjected to, but I am made of sterner stuff & was not to be stopped. I was doing nothing unlawful or illegal,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter), before adding, “In fact, these ‘protectors of the law’ need to explain under what law they were trying to stop us from offering Fatiha.”

‘Unelected govt of New Delhi locked up elected govt of J&K’

In yet another post, he said that he paid his respects and offered Fatiha at the graves of the martyrs of 13th July 1931 despite attempts being made by the “unelected government” to stop him. 

“They blocked the gate to the Naqshband shrine, forcing me to scale a wall. They tried to physically grapple me, but I was not going to be stopped today,” he further wrote while sharing another video.

The video opens to show Omar Abdullah making his way on foot with his security guards. Moments later, he scales the wall to visit the memorial. Later, he offered his prayers. NDTV reported that Abdullah was accompanied by his father and former CM of J&K, Farooq Abdullah and paid tributes to the Kashmiri protesters shot dead by Maharaja Hari Singh’s Dogra forces on July 13, 1931.

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“We were not allowed to read the Fatiha here yesterday. People were kept confined to their homes. When the gates were opened and I informed the control room that I wanted to come here, a bunker was set up in front of my gate, and it was not removed till late at night. Today I did not tell them at all. Without telling them, I sat into the car (and drove here),” he told the media after offering his tribute at the memorial. 

He also expressed his anguish over the missing media coverage in local newspapers on the issue of “the entire elected government being locked up”.

He also alleged that some newspapers buried the news story about several elected representatives being confined to their homes on the Kashmir Martyrs’ Day completely. 

“The cowards have completely buried the fact that the entire elected government was locked up yesterday, along with most elected representatives. The newspapers with some guts have put it on the front page. Shame on the sellouts who buried the story, I hope the size of the envelope was worth it,” he wrote five hours back on social media. 

‘Democracy in J&K is a tyranny of the unelected’

On July 13, he shared photos of heavy police deployment outside his house and posted, “To borrow from the late Arun Jaitley – Democracy in J&K is a tyranny of the unelected. To put it in terms you will all understand today, the unelected nominees of New Delhi locked up the elected representatives of the people of J-K.”

“The unelected government locked up the elected government,” he added.

The 55-year-old also compared Kashmir’s Martyrs’ Day to Punjab’s Jallianwalah Bagh massacre, saying, 

“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. 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. We may be denied the opportunity to visit their graves today but we will not forget their sacrifices.”

Mehbooba Mufti’s dilli ki doori jibe

Amid this, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti said that the “dil ki doori (distance of hearts)” between Kashmir and the rest of India would end when the Centre accepts Kashmir’s heroes as its own, just as Kashmiris have embraced national figures.

“The day you accept our heroes as your own just as Kashmiris have embraced yours, from Mahatma Gandhi to Bhagat Singh, that day, as Prime Minister Modi once said, the ‘dil ki doori’ (distance of hearts) will truly end,” the PDP chief wrote on X.

She added, “When you lay siege to the Martyrs’ Graveyard, lock people in their homes to prevent them from visiting Mazar-e-Shuhada, it speaks volumes. July 13th commemorates our martyrs, those who rose against tyranny, much like countless others across the country. They will always be our heroes.”

Martyrs’ Day was earlier an official holiday in the state. It was delisted after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

‘Unacceptable. Shocking. Shameful’

“What is wrong in visiting the graveyard of martyrs? This is not only unfortunate, it also snatches the democratic right of a citizen,”: wrote Mamata Banerjee on X (formerly Twitter). 

She further added, “What happened this morning to an elected Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is unacceptable,” before tagging it as “shocking” and “shameful”.