Apni Party leaders stopped from visiting ‘martyrs’ graveyard’ in Srinagar

Srinagar, Jul 13 (PTI) Police on Saturday stopped leaders of the Apni Party from visiting the “martyrs’ graveyard” here to pay homage to 22 Kashmiri people who were killed by the army of a Dogra ruler on this day in 1931, officials said.

Members of the Apni Party, led by their president Altaf Bukhari, tried to march from the party’s Sheikh Bagh office here to the graveyard, around 5 km in Naqshband, but were stopped by police, they said.

Later, the leaders held “fateh” prayers on the road and paid tributes to the 22 Kashmiris.

July 13 used to be a public holiday in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and a grand official function was held every year on this day where the chief minister or the governor would be the chief guest.

However, the administration dropped the day from the list of gazetted holidays in 2020, after the abrogation of article 370 and splitting of the state into two union territories — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh — by the Centre in 2019.

Besides the official function, 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 Maharaja Hari Singh.

However, no function was held this year, and officials said some restrictions on the assembly of people were in place in the the Naqshbandh area of Nowhatta here to thwart any gatherings.