Our shared legacy

Governor N. N. Vohra should be appreciated for maintaining the dignity of the government with regard to the historic Martyrs’ Day on July 13. By issuing the message of peace on the occasion, he recognized the Day as significant and historic quite in tune with state government’s established position but in quite contravention to BJP’s stand. Ever since BJP came to power in the state in alliance with the PDP in 2014, the rabid Hindutva group used to dishonour the Martyrs by boycotting the official functions on the Day. They instead used to praise Dogra Maharaj, whose tyrant regime had usurped the rights of Kashmiri people. Representing the Dogra political legacy, they viewed it as Kashmiris’ struggle for dominance over Jammu. There had been voices oft and on against Kashmir domination. Some sections there favour a separate statehood for Jammu. What is even more insulting both for the people of Kashmir and the martyrs is that, last year, a BJP leader Ravinder Raina had the audacity of saying that his party did not consider those killed by then Dogra Maharaja’s police as martyrs. As the state is presently running under Governor’s rule, N N Vohra toed established official position. In a message on the occasion, he called upon the leaders of all political and religious parties and social organizations and the people of the state to shed all differences and join hands to make Jammu and Kashmir peaceful, prosperous and among the leading states in the country. He observed that Jammu and Kashmir was known for its glorious pluralistic ethos, amity and brotherhood, and urged the people to work towards restoring the pristine glory of the State as an abode of peace, harmony and prosperity.
July 13 is a significant day in our history. The day is commemorated in memory of the 22 Kashmiris who were shot dead outside the Srinagar Central Jail by the troops of Dogra Maharaja, where they had gathered to witness the court proceedings against one, Abdul Qadeer, who was being tried for his alleged “crime” of instigating Kashmiri people to defy Dogra rule. In political terminology, the day marks the beginning of Kashmir’s’ struggle for justice and human and political rights, which had been trampled upon by the despotic Maharaja ruler. The Maharaja rule ended in 1947 and for those fighting against him the struggle was over and objective achieved. That is the belief people in power hold. National Conference views it as party achievement against Maharaja Rule for the reason that its founder leader Shaikh Mohammad Abdullah was at the forefront in the battle against Maharaja. For quite a long time since 1947, the NC would claim exclusive rights of July 13 martyrs’ as if they were their party cadres. The followers of Mirwaiz Mohammad Yousuf Shah, in parts Srinagar, were the only exception who would observe the day other than NC and people in the government. With the eruption of militancy in 1989-90, the common perception about July 13 martyrs changed squarely. Rather than being a party affair, the people of Kashmir adopted them in general. The separatist sections added a new meaning to the martyrs’ cause by calling that the struggle for justice did not end in 1947. They said that it rather made a new beginning that year. For the coming years, July 13 became a moment of reverence for one and all. Voices were raised loud and clear that the struggle for justice was still on and would be achieved only after India grants right of self-determination to the people of Kashmir. Almost for a decade, the pro India parties and government had to remain away from the martyrs’ graveyard, though the state government, through press statements, continued to pay tributes to the martyrs. That, at least, showed the spirit that, whatever the political differences; the martyrs of July 13, 1931 are our shared legacy.