Kashmir Remembers July 13 Heroes Today

Geelani, Mirwaiz Placed Under House Arrest 

Srinagar: While Kashmiris on either side of the Line of Control are observing the Martyrs Day today, Kashmir’s key separatist leaders have been placed under house arrest to scuttle their plans to march to martyrs graveyard to mark the occasion. While Syed Ali Geelani, the Hurriyat (G) Chairman, is under continuous house arrest for the last many months at his Hyderpora residence, Hurriyat (M) Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar, was put under house arrest on Friday to prevent him from leading the July 13 procession.  

Both separatist and mainstream camps are meanwhile vying with each other to pay tributes to the martyrs who fell to the bullets of the Dogra forces on July 13, 1931. 

Hurriyat factions and JKLF have called for a complete shutdown and asked the people to march towards the old martyrs’ graveyard located in the premises of Naqashband Sahib shrine in Srinagar, the state government is gearing up to pay tributes to the martyrs by offering a guard of honour and floral tributes.

On July 13 in 1931, the Dogra troops shot dead 22 Kashmiris, one after the other, outside the Srinagar Central Jail.

On Friday, the JKLF Chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik, addressing a mammoth gathering at Shopian Chowk, reaffirmed the Kashmiris’ pledge to continue the July 1931 martyrs’ mission till its “logical conclusion despite all odds”. He warned the international community that continued ignorance towards the resolution of the Kashmir dispute would undermine the peace in the region.

Ayaz Akhbar, the spokesman of Hurriyat (G), said that the Chairman of the party, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, was continued to be under house arrest.

“He was not even allowed to offer the first Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramdhan. In fact, more policeman were deployed outside his (Hyderpora) residence,” he said, adding, “The recent statement by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah that Geelani sahib is a freeman and that there are no restrictions on him to offer prayers is nothing but a white lie and far from the reality.”     

He said, “Geelani was allowed to offer a few Friday prayers in 2012, but this year, so far, he has not been allowed to do so even once since his return from New Delhi in March.”     

Meanwhile, Hurriyat (M) Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was also placed under house arrest and barred from addressing a Friday gathering at the historic Jamia Masjid here.

In a statement, Mirwaiz expressed his anger and condemned the state authorities for not allowing him to offer the first Friday prayer of Ramadhan by placing him under house arrest.

He alleged the authorities had usurped the political, religious and economical rights of Kashmiris and “are now hell bent to suppress the peoples voices under jackboots”.

In his telephonic address to a mammoth Jamia Masjid Friday gathering, Mirwaiz said, “Restrictions and house detentions will in no way deter us in pursuing the cause neither would it suppress the genuine voices of the Kashmiris.”

Paying rich tributes to the July 13 martyrs, he said, “On this day, Kashmir rose against the monarchical and despotic rule of the Dogras and demanded their political and economic rights. On this day, Kashmiris did not bow before the despotic rulers who were ruling by spreading fear. On this day, Kashmiris laid down their lives demanding their rights thereby laying the foundation of the freedom struggle in Jammu and Kashmir.” 

The Hurriyat (M) Chairman said “political and economic enslavement of Kashmiris since 1931 continues till date”. He said the rights of Kashmiris over their water and natural resources had been usurped. “It was a deliberate policy of the government to make Kashmiris economically dependent,” he said.

Mirwaiz appealed Kashmiris to make the July 13 programme, announced by Hurriyat (M), a success.  

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