Wall vs Will: CM’s leap of faith

Srinagar, Jul 14: In a display of will against the wall, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Monday took a leap of faith, scaling the gate of the Martyrs Graveyard at Naqshband Sahab shrine in Khawaja Bazaar area of Srinagar downtown to pay tributes to the 22 Kashmiris killed by the Dogra soldiers on July 13, 1931.

The development came a day after CM Omar and his cabinet colleagues, and ruling National Conference (NC) leaders as well as prominent opposition leaders were put under house arrest to thwart their plans of visiting the Martyrs’ Graveyard where they planned to pay tributes to the martyrs of July 13, 1931.

On Sunday, the J&K administration placed a ban on any official commemoration or gatherings at the Martyrs’ Graveyard and placed under house arrest CM Omar as well as most of the ruling NC and prominent opposition leaders.

Finding their plans of visiting the Martyrs Graveyard on Sunday aborted by the authorities, CM Omar and several NC leaders headed toward Khawaja Bazaar on Monday.

However, as CM’s cavalcade was around a kilometre from Khawaja Bazaar, CM Omar got off his vehicle and walked toward the Martyrs’ Graveyard.

However, he found the gates had been locked by the authorities.

Unfazed, CM Omar did not turn his back to the wall and instead climbed over the main gate and entered the graveyard to pay tributes to the July 13 martyrs.

Seeing the CM indulging in acrobatics, other NC leaders and the CM’s security guards followed suit.

Before reaching the Martyrs’ Graveyard, the CM had to break a barrier set up by the Police inside the Naqshband Sahab shrine, which resulted in a scuffle between the NC leaders and Police personnel.

The NC leaders accused the Police of trying to “manhandle” them to stop them from paying tributes to the July 13 martyrs.

Three-time chief minister and NC President Farooq Abdullah took an auto-rickshaw from Khanyar to the Martyrs Graveyard while Minister for Education Sakina Itoo arrived by riding pillion on a scooter.

Talking to reporters outside the Naqshband Sahab shrine, CM Omar lashed out at the J&K administration and Police for preventing him and NC leaders from visiting the Martyrs’ Graveyard at Naqshband Sahab to offer Fateha on the occasion of Martyrs’ Day on July 13.

“It is unfortunate that, on the directions of those who claim responsibility for maintaining security and law and order, we were barred from offering Fateha at the graves of the martyrs,” he said. “We were put under house arrest on Sunday.”

Terming the behaviour of the authorities as brazen, the CM said, “They tried to stop us today as well. They even attempted to manhandle us. At times, the Police forget their own laws.”

He said that the authorities were behaving as if “this is not a free country”.

“They treat us like slaves. But we are not their slaves. We are the servants of the people, not of the administration,” CM Omar said.

He said he and his cabinet and party colleagues managed to reach the Martyrs’ Graveyard, although the authorities tried to stop them and tried to snatch their flag.

He also put out a post on X, reiterating his determination that he would not be stopped today.

The CM also took to the microblogging site ‘X’ and posted, “The unelected government tried to block my way, forcing me to walk from Nowhatta Chowk. They blocked the gate to the Naqshband Sahab shrine, forcing me to scale a wall. They tried to physically grapple me, but I was not going to be stopped today,” he said.

Besides CM Omar, NC President Farooq Abdullah, and Education Minister Sakina Itoo, senior NC leader and party’s General Secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary, Cabinet Minister Javed Dar, Advisor to the CM, Nasir Aslam Wani, Chief Spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq, Provincial President Showkat Mir, along with senior party leaders and legislators including Mubarak Gul, Shameema Firdous, Ahsan Pardesi, Salman Sagar, and Mushtaq Guroo also paid tributes the July 13 martyrs at the Martyrs’ Graveyard at Khawaja Bazaar.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued here, the NC demanded answers from Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s office over what it termed a “brazen manhandling” of CM Omar by Police personnel.

Senior NC leaders termed the Police action a “shocking insult to democratic dignity”.

“There were restrictions yesterday, not today. So, under what law was the CM pushed?” the party leaders asked, calling the incident an “assault on democracy”.

The NC leaders demanded an immediate explanation from the LG’s office, questioning the legal and moral grounds of the Police action.

“This is not just about CM Omar. This is about what kind of democracy we are becoming, where even an elected CM is treated with such contempt. If this is the respect for elected representatives, what hope is left for the people?” they said.

The NC warned that such repeated infringements on constitutional rights and civil liberties risk setting dangerous precedents.

“This isn’t law and order, this is lawlessness in uniform,” the party said.

Following an unprecedented standoff, CM Omar, in an interview with NDTV, accused the Centre of pushing the region back into “authoritarian rule”.

He said that continued attempts to undermine democratic institutions could erode public trust in electoral processes.

CM Omar described as “bizarre” and “shameful” the confrontation between the elected government and the LG’s administration, one that saw the CM and his entire cabinet effectively placed under unofficial house detention, prevented from offering tributes at the Martyrs’ Graveyard in Srinagar on July 13.

“This is not about me or my cabinet. This is about the message you are sending to the people of J&K that their voice, their vote, and their very sentiment don’t matter,” he said. “If you mess with democratically elected institutions, don’t expect Delhi-like voter turnouts in Kashmir. People will simply stop believing in the process.”

According to CM Omar, it wasn’t a security lapse or over-cautious policing but a deliberate political decision.

“When you place CRPF bunkers in front of the CM’s vehicle and push ministers back, it’s not an accident. It’s a message. And it’s one we will not accept,” he said.

Describing the current state of governance in J&K, the CM said, “This is the tyranny of the unelected. We were told we would have a say in governance. We were elected. But power remains concentrated in unelected hands.”