JAMMU: Panun Kashmir, an organisation for displaced Kashmiri Pandits, urged State Government to stop observing 13th July as Martyrs’ Day, owing to the humiliation subjected to the community on this day in 1931.
Speaking to media persons here on Thursday, President, Panun Kashmir Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo said “Various political parties in the Valley observe 13th July as Martyrs’ Day and every year it is observed as a holiday in the State. But this day amounts to rubbing of salt on the wounds of the minority communities of the State.”
He said that it was a travesty of justice with those people who were subjected to untold miseries and brutalities on this particular day in 1931 in the Kashmir valley.
“The minority Hindu community in Kashmir was subjected to loot, arson, murder and mayhem on a large scale in the valley on this day,” he said.
Chrungoo urged the State Government to respect the sentiments of the minority community and stop observing the day as a holiday. People demonstrating against Maharaja Hari Singh’s rule in Kashmir were shot and killed by soldiers on 13th July, 1931.
Although the day is celebrated as Martyrs’ Day in the State, a section of public opinion says that one of the events in the historic episode was of an attack carried out by members of one community against another.
Among those who were present in the press conference President, All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference, H.N Jattu; Chairman All Displaced KP United Forum, D.N Kissu; Chairman Political Affairs Committee (PK), Prof M.L Raina and Official Spokesperson (Joint Forum), Virender Raina.