Srinagar: The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday questioned the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, for scaling the wall of the Martyrs’ graveyard here on July 14 and paying tributes to the martyrs of July 13.
Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the assembly and BJP General Secretary Sunil Sharma said the chief minister and his other colleagues scaled the wall to “play to the public galleries, although its gate was open.” He said the CM and his colleagues hurt the sentiments of Dogras in Jammu and incited separatism.
Omar and his colleagues, including Advisor Nasir Aslam Wani and legislators Tanvir Sadiq, Ahsan Pardesi, and Salman Sagar, scaled the wall of the Martyrs’ graveyard in Srinagar on July 14 to pay tribute to the 22 persons killed on July 13, 1931, by armed forces of Dogra ruler Hari Singh outside Central Jail in Srinagar.
Minister Sakeena Itoo was seen riding a pillion on a scooter to reach the graveyard, while the National Conference (NC) President Farooq Abdullah was seen entering through the gate with Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary.
The chief minister and his government colleagues were not allowed by the Jammu and Kashmir police on July 13 to visit the Martyrs graveyard in the premises of the Naqshband Sahib shrine in Srinagar’s Khanyar.
Omar’s party, the NC, had sought permission from the District Magistrate of Srinagar, but they were denied permission. Instead, Omar and his party functionaries, including his father and the NC president, paid tributes on July 14.
July 13 was commemorated as an official function by the J&K government and observed as an official holiday, but the LG administration removed the holiday in January 2020 and also stopped paying tributes after the abrogation of Article 370.
Sharma said Omar is the chief minister of all of Jammu and Kashmir, but he is “denigrating the chair of the post” by scaling the wall and fighting with the police.
“Why did Omar Abdullah scale the wall when its gate was open?” Sharma asked, pointing out his father, Farooq Abdullah; his minister, Sakeena Itoo; and Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, who entered the graveyard through the gate.
Sharma said the chief minister hurt the sentiments of the people of the Jammu region on July 14 because July 13 is seen as a revolt against Maharaja rule, and those who revolted were traitors. “Omar Sahib is projecting himself as the chief minister of the Kashmir region only by such acts. Hurting sentiments of Dogra Samaj and glorifying those traitors and hooligans,” he said.
Calling out the Congress demand of statehood as “exposing the falsehood of special status” of many INDIA alliance partners, including the National Conference, Sharma said the Congress statehood demand is in sync with that of the BJP.
“In the joint letter, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Parliament Rahul Gandhi have demanded restoration of statehood while not mentioning Article 370 or special status for Jammu and Kashmir. This corroborates Congress’s stand with the Bharatiya Janata Party. Statehood is our clear agenda, and the INDIA alliance is also raising the same demand,” he said.
Ahead of the Monsoon Session of the parliament, Kharge and Rahul wrote a joint letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to restore full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir in the monsoon session of the parliament. This letter was appreciated by the parties in Jammu and Kashmir, including the NC and the PDP.
