Srinagar: As no official function was held on Martyrs Day- July 13, in Jammu and Kashmir, today, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the country salutes Kashmiris for the “continued struggle against the illegal occupation of India” in J&K.
“Today, on Yaum-e-Shuhada-e-Kashmir, we salute Kashmiris for their continued struggle against the illegal & barbaric Indian occupation of Jammu & Kashmir. The Shuhada of 13 July 1931 were the forefathers of today’s Kashmiri resistance, (sic),” Khan wrote on his twitter handle.
It was first time since 1948 that government excluded the holiday of Martyrs Day from the list of gazetted holidays.
In December last year, the list of gazetted holidays prepared by the government, had no mention of Martyrs’ Day on July 13 and December 5, the birth anniversary of former J&K Prime Minister Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah.
In 2019, soon after the revocation of Article 370 in August, the government of India issued a list of gazette holidays for the erstwhile state. However, July 13 and December 5, were omitted from the list inviting an outcry by the Kashmir centric parties.
July 13, was declared by the then prime minister of J&K, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, as martyrs’ day in memory of those who revolted against the Dogra rule on July 13, 1931. Twenty-two people were killed in the protest against the then Dogra ruler Maharaja Hari Singh.
In the new list of gazette holidays, the government, however, declared October 26 as a gazetted holiday. On this day in 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh had signed the “Instrument of Accession” with the dominion of India, the report added.
According to the list of gazette holidays issued by the government, there will be no holiday and official functions to commemorate Martyrs’ Day in Jammu and Kashmir. The decision passed last year; to not to commemorate the day, is happening for the first time since 1948.
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