In Lucknow we have seen Akhilesh Yadav scaling the fence of Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre, ironically, built by his government, to pay respect to the iconic Socialist leader on his birthday in 2023, when the Yogi Adityanath government denied him permission citing security concerns. What could be the security concern in visiting a memorial is inexplicable. What is understandable, however, is that Akhilesh Yadav is an opposition leader.
But Omar Abdullah is the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. He was denied permission by the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on 13 July, to visit the graveyard of 22 Kashmiris who died on this day in 1931 in police firing ordered by the Dogra ruler Hari Singh. These people were part of a large crowd which had gathered outside Central Jail in Srinagar on the occasion of court hearing of Abdul Qadeer, who had given a call for revolt against the tyrannical rule of the king.
For people of J&K this incident has been part of their freedom struggle which culminated when the ruler abandoned the kingdom along with his Prime Minister in the face of attack from Pakistan sponsored irregulars and Sheikh Abdullah took over the leadership of the state to fight along with the Indian Army to save Kashmir. 13 July is observed every year as Martyrs’ Day in J&K. However, since 2019 when Article 370 was diluted and Article 35A was abrogated, practice of observing a holiday on 13 July was discontinued by the administration, which obviously has not gone down well with the people.
13 July, 2025 will go down as a dark day in Indian democracy. Both National Conference and People’s Democratic Party, the two major political parties of J&K, had asked from Lieutenant Governor permission to observe Martyrs' Day. The graveyard where the above-mentioned 22 people have been buried, Mazar-e-Shuhada, was kept out of bounds for people.
Again, the L-G office cited the ridiculous reason of security concern. What was even more shameful was that CM Omar Abdullah, opposition party leader Mehbooba Mufti and other ministers and leaders were kept under house arrest reminding people of the draconian clampdown in 2019 when special status of the state was revoked.
Another Struggle For Freedom
Then, in an act of defiance, Omar Abdullah scaled the fence of Mazar-e-Shuhada the next day, 14 July, along with other ministers of his government but not before he was manhandled by his own police who were trying to prevent him from reaching the graveyard. It almost appears as if Omar Abdullah is fighting another struggle for freedom – of his elected government under siege from the Union government-imposed administration in J&K. He has expressed his anguish by saying that he has suffered silently for the past eight months.
Can we imagine in any other state of India, the Governor or LG putting the CM and elected members to Assembly under house arrest or the police of the state manhandling its own Chief Minister? This is enough to show that the Union government has different standards for dealing with people of J&K. It got the Assembly elections conducted because of a Supreme Court order but the elected government is subservient to the unelected L-G. There is not even a sham of democracy in J&K. It is outright rule of the Union government with scant regard for the people’s mandate. How do we expect the people of J&K to have any faith in the Indian state?
If the Indian state wants J&K to be integrated with India, then it has to make the people of the state feel that they enjoy the same rights as people of other states. Merely, diluting Article 370 and revoking Article 35A has obviously not served the purpose. The Army rule has to be withdrawn, and power transferred to the elected government.
The first thing that is required in this direction is the restoration of statehood. What is required is a great deal of sensitivity in handling the state whereas the Union government continues to use high-handed methods that it is used to. The key question is how to end the alienation of people of J&K, aptly described by Omar Abdullah?
Who Runs J&K Administration?
Mehbooba Mufti has very poignantly asked if Kashmiris have embraced Indian freedom fighters from Mahatma Gandhi to Bhagat Singh, then why should the government of India not acknowledge the Kashmiri freedom fighters to honour the sentiments of people, especially if it wants to end the ‘Dil Ki Doori,’ in the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi?
The government of India is being insensitive in labeling the people Kashmiris hold in reverence as rioters. If it is on the side of the Dogra ruler then it is disrespecting not only people of J&K but all those people who were fighting their respective rulers in princely states, who eventually merged with the larger Indian freedom struggle under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.
In this context we should also remember what Mahatma Gandhi said about the people of Kashmir, ‘The real sovereign of the state are the people. The ruler is a servant of the people. If he is not so then he is not the ruler. This is my firm belief, and that is why I became a rebel against the British – because the British claimed to be the rulers of India, and I refused to recognize them as such. In Kashmir too the power belongs to the public.’
Is there any doubt who would have Gandhi supported between the Dogra ruler and the people his police fired upon? It is very important to note the Mahatma Gandhi applied the same yardstick to the people of J&K as to the people of India, something which governments of India have not practiced ever since J&K became part of India.
The discriminatory treatment of people of J&K, including the elected government, by the Union government is condemnable. J&K should be run by people’s mandate not by the Union government. Real democracy needs to be restored in J&K which has been usurped by successive Indian governments. It is quite clear from the gesture of defiance by Omar Abdullah that people of J&K are committed to fighting until true democracy is implemented in the state.
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