Watch: J-K CM Omar Abdullah Hops Over Martyrs' Cemetery Gate To Offer Prayers Amid 'House Arrest' Row

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday jumped over the gate of Mazar-e-Shuhada in Srinagar's Naqshband Sahib to offer prayers after allegedly being stopped by the security forces.

This development came a day after the Jammu and Kashmir Police sealed the Martyrs' cemetery and put top political leaders, including Abdullah, under house arrest to stop them from visiting the Martyrs' Graveyard (Mazar-e-Shuhada), to mark the anniversary of the protesters shot dead by Maharaja Hari Singh's Dogra forces on July 13, 1931.

Abdullah said that he did not inform anyone before visiting the Mazar-e-Shuhada since he was house arrested yesterday on Kashmir Martyrs' Day.

"Paid my respects & offered Fatiha at the graves of the martyrs of 13th July 1931. The unelected government tried to block my way forcing me to walk from Nawhatta chowk. They blocked the gate to Naqshband Sb shrine forcing me to scale a wall. They tried to physically grapple me but I was not going to be stopped today," Abdullah posted on X.

The graveyard is attached to the shrine of Khwaja Bahawuddin Naqshbandi.

Earlier, Abdullah wrote in a post on X, "13th July massacre is our Jallianwala Bagh. The people who laid down their lives did so against the British. Kashmir was being ruled under the British Paramountcy. What a shame that true heroes who fought against British rule in all its forms are today projected as villains only because they were Muslims. We may be denied the opportunity to visit their graves today but we will not forget their sacrifices."

Martyrs' Day in Kashmir which was earlier observed as an official holiday in the State was delisted after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

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