July 13, 1931, is one of the most contested events in Kashmir’s history. It is regarded by many as the start of political consciousness while others have called into question its place in history.
The happenings in Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on March 5, 2025 highlight a further deepening of the disputations over the day.
This came to the surface when BJP’s Sunil Sharma referred to July 13, 1931 martyrs as "traitors", rankling the National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party, CPI (M) and Peoples Conference legislators who sought an apology and expunging of Sharma's remark from the Assembly records.
Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather agreed, resulting in a walkout by 28 BJP members, who accused the Speaker of bias.
Sharma made these remarks in reaction to PDP MLA Waheed-ur-Rehman Para’s demand for re-inclusion of July 13 Martyrs' Day and birthday of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in the list of public holidays. Both these were taken out of the official calendar following the revocation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.
This political confrontation over Kashmir's history highlights the continued contestation over Kashmir's historical memory and how it is understood today.
What Happened on July 13, 1931?
The events of July 13, 1931, took place during the reign of Maharaja Hari Singh, the last Dogra ruler of Jammu and Kashmir. Discontent was brewing in the Valley reeling under years of economic discrimination, religious marginalisation, and repressive taxation policies. These created increasing resentment among Kashmiri Muslims, the majority population.
The immediate cause was the trial of Abdul Qadeer, an employee of young English army officer, who had given an inflammatory speech against Dogra domination. His speech, which purported to call for burning down the palace of the Maharaja, had resulted in his arrest and indictment for sedition.
On 13 July 1931, while Qadeer's trial was in progress at Central Jail, Srinagar, thousands of Kashmiris protested outside. It turned ugly when police fired on unarmed protesters, killing 22 men — each of them shot while attempting to call the azaan (Islamic call to prayer).
This massacre is regarded as the first political resistance in Kashmir's contemporary history. It sparked mass unrest, which resulted in the emergence of political movements calling for constitutional rights and an end to autocratic rule.
The Maharaja Hari Singh government had first treated the agitations as a law-and-order problem, but the killings compelled him to form the Glancy Commission, which recognized the demands of Kashmiri Muslims. The recommendations of the commission opened up some political opportunities, such as the extension of limited political rights to Kashmiris.
How July 13 Was Remembered in Kashmir?
Ever since, July 13th was celebrated as Kashmir's Martyrs' Day. Post 1947, the National Conference led by Sheikh Abdullah, Jammu and Kashmir’s first prime minister institutionalised its memory and it was observed as a symbol of resistance against tyranny.
With Sheikh Abdullah, July 13 came to be formally commemorated as a public holiday, and the political leaders offered their tributes at the Naqshband Sahib Graveyard in Srinagar for years. July 13 was a state holiday till 2019 when Jammu and Kashmir’s special status was revoked and its was reduced to a Union Territory.
After the reading down of Article 370 in 2019, July 13 was excised from public holidays by the government, hinting towards an alteration of the official views concerning Kashmiri historiographies.
The history of the events of 1931 has been widely analysed by historians and scholars who present varying points of view on their importance.
Khalid Bashir Ahmad, author of ‘Kashmir: Exposing the Myth Behind the Narrative’ challenges the traditional nationalist view of July 13, 1931. He argues that while the martyrs were undoubtedly victims of state brutality, the uprising itself was not purely political but also shaped by social and economic factors.
Bashir highlights the ways in which discriminatory policies of the Dogra administration had economically kept Kashmiri Muslims marginalised, to which they eventually rose in revolt in 1931. Bashir also avers that subsequent political leaders like Sheikh Abdullah later co-opted the 1931 movement to advance their own political ends.
'Kashmir: A Disputed Legacy'
Alastair Lamb, author of ‘Kashmir: A Disputed Legacy’ describes the July 13 massacre as the start of organised resistance to autocratic rule in Kashmir. He regards it as a harbinger of the larger struggle that would eventually characterize Kashmiri politics, including the controversies over accession to India and Pakistan.
Sumantra Bose, author of ‘Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace’ underscores that July 13, 1931, was a turning point in Kashmir's history but also underlines how its interpretation has shifted between political hues.
Pro-India politicians, such as Sheikh Abdullah, used to present it as the beginning of Kashmiri self-governance.
Pakistan tended to connect it with the overall Kashmiri resistance movement.
The Indian state after 2019 has attempted to play it down, looking at it in law-and-order terms.
The Political Fallout of the 2025 Assembly Controversy
The recent scandal in the J&K Legislative Assembly is a continuation of the struggle over Kashmir's historical memory. BJP legislator Sunil Sharma's statement, referring to the martyrs as "traitors," is an expression of the party's larger effort to reframe Kashmiri history.
This is part of a wider trend in political discourse since 2019, where the focus is on minimising historical resistance movements in Kashmir, erasing allusions to events that contradict the prevailing Indian nationalist narrative, and shifting attention from pre-1947 grievances to post-1947 integration with India.
Opposition parties like PDP, NC, and CPI(M) claim that these actions are an erasure of Kashmiri history and identity. PDP leader Waheed Para reacted to the Assembly incident by stating, "History cannot be altered by doing away with a public holiday. The people of Kashmir will keep remembering and paying tributes to the martyrs of 1931."
Conclusion: The Ongoing Struggle Over Kashmir's Past
The controversy surrounding 13 July, 1931, is more than a historic incident — it concerns how Kashmir constructs itself. It represents to one group of people the martyrs as resistance fighters against oppression — whether it is under the Dogras or later administrations. Others see them as an event which initiated awakening of political conscience that led toward contemporary Kashmiri identity.
The 2025 Assembly controversy also points to the profound disagreements over how this history is remembered. Official holidays or not, the memory of July 13 is deeply embedded and continues to shape Kashmiri consciousness. The struggle over this history is by no means complete — it is an ongoing part of Kashmir's political and cultural conversation.
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