STATE TIMES NEWS
Srinagar: For the third consecutive year, no function was held to commemorate the ‘Martyrs’ Day in Kashmir to pay homage to 22 Kashmiri people who were allegedly killed on this day in 1931, officials said on Wednesday.
July 13 was 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 erstwhile state into two union territories by the Centre on August 5, 2019.
No function was held at the Martyrs’ graveyard in the city while no holiday was observed for the third time on Wednesday, the officials said.
The officials said, this year no mainstream political leader visited the graveyard. They added that there were no restrictions on the movement of people.
However, the National Conference said it had applied to the Srinagar District Magistrate for permission to visit the graveyard for paying tributes to the martyrs of 1931 but it was not allowed.
The party decried the dilly-dallying tactics of the administration on not allowing its leaders to offer prayers and floral tributes at Mazar-e-Shuhada’ on Martyrs’ Day, NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said.
