(file photo) Sakina Itoo, Jammu and Kashmir’s Health and Education Minister
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Clad in a pitch-black burqa, Sakina Itoo, Jammu and Kashmir’s Health and Education Minister and the only woman in Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s trimmed cabinet, attempted to visit the Martyrs’ Graveyard in Srinagar’s old city at around 4 a.m. on Monday to pay tributes to those killed in the 1931 uprising.However, security personnel deployed around the graveyard prevented Itoo from entering the premises.On July 13, 1931, 22 unarmed civilians were shot dead by Dogra forces during the Dogra monarchy, an event widely regarded as a watershed moment in Jammu and Kashmir’s political history. “Heavily deployed security personnel and extensive barbed-wire barricading around the graveyard prevented me from entering,” Itoo wrote in a post on X.“Physical barriers cannot prevent us from honouring the supreme sacrifices of our martyrs. Their memory, courage and legacy will forever remain alive in our hearts. We will continue to pay our tributes with dignity and unwavering respect,” she said. Official commemorations of July 13 at the Martyrs’ Graveyard ceased after the Lieutenant Governor’s administration removed the day from the list of gazetted holidays in 2020. Authorities imposed strict restrictions across parts of Srinagar’s old city, sealing with barbed wires and barricades to prevent political leaders from visiting the Martyrs’ Graveyard on the anniversary. Ignoring sacrifices Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and several National Conference leaders were stopped from proceeding to the site, while former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and her daughter, Iltija Mufti, were placed under house arrest.Speaking to reporters at the National Conference headquarters, Nawa-i-Subh, Abdullah described the restrictions as unfortunate.“It is unfortunate that we were denied permission to pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives on July 13 in the struggle against British and autocratic rule and for democracy,” he said.The Chief Minister alleged that those who ordered the sealing of the Martyrs’ Graveyard had chosen to ignore the sacrifices of the July 13 martyrs.“This struggle is viewed through the prism of religion. The sacrifices of these martyrs are ignored because they were Muslims and the Maharaja was not. But this was not a battle over religion; it was a struggle for democracy and independence against British rule,” Abdullah said.He said those preventing political leaders from visiting the graveyard would not remain in power forever, but the sacrifices of the July 13 martyrs would continue to be remembered.“Those who stopped us from visiting the graveyard will not remain there forever, but the sacrifices of these martyrs will live on forever,” he said.National Conference spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar condemned the restrictions, saying party leaders had only intended to offer fateha at the graves of the July 13 martyrs.“We wanted to offer fateha at the graves of the July 13 martyrs, but we were not allowed to do so,” Dar told businessline.Meanwhile, Mehbooba Mufti and her daughter, Iltija Mufti, said they were placed under house arrest ahead of the anniversary.“We have been placed under house arrest on the eve of Martyrs’ Day for reasons best known to the J&K Police,” Iltija Mufti said in a post on X.Published on July 13, 2026
