Walk, Auto, Scooty… different modes, one destination for Abdullahs, NC leaders
Srinagar, Jul 14: Jammu Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah did a virtual power walk, security personnel struggling to keep pace with him, his father Farooq Abdullah took an auto and Minister Sakina Ittoo drove pillion on a scooty.
Unprecedented scenes played out in Srinagar on Monday as National Conference leaders made their way to the Naqshband Sahib graveyard to pay tribute to 22 protestors died in the state police firing on July 13, 1931. On Sunday, observed as Martyrs’ Day, the leaders were allegedly put under house arrest and prevented from accessing the Naqsband graveyard.
A day later, they were determined they would not be stopped – even if police had sealed the road and locked the gates.
So Omar Abdullah, the 55-year-old Chief Minister, nimbly vaulted over the gates of the graveyard.
Police had bolted the gates in the hope of stopping him and his entourage from entering the premises and were taken by surprise when he just decided to scale the side fence.
Omar Abdullah gave a tough time to security officials as they tried to keep pace with him as he decided to walk from Khanyar Chowk to the Naqshband Sahib in the old city after his vehicle was stopped from proceeding with police sealing the road.
The chief minister is a ‘Z’ Plus protectee and his personal security detail kept up, step for step, through the one-kilometre walk. His security men and several other National Conference leaders also clambered over before the gate was finally thrown open.
There was more drama to unfold.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah took an autorickshaw to reach the martyrs memorial after police stopped his vehicle at Khanyar Chowk.
Ittoo, the only woman minister in the Omar Abdullah cabinet, had her own surprise for her party leaders and media persons as she reached the martyrs memorial riding pillion on a scooty.
The minister reportedly asked a passer-by for a lift after police stopped her car at Khanyar Chowk.
That was not the end of it.
Police officials did not give up and tried to physically stop the chief minister while he was heading towards the specific graves but Abdullah managed to brush past their flailing hands.
Talking to reporters, Omar lashed out at Lt Governor for issuing directions to lock up the elected representatives. “It is very sad that the people who would themselves claim that their responsibility is only security and law and order, as per their clear instruction, we were not allowed to offer Fatiha here yesterday. Everyone was kept locked up in their homes early in the morning,” Omar told reporters at the graveyard.
Recalling yesterday’s events, Omar said, “When the gates began to open, I told the Control Room that I wanted to visit the graveyard to offer the Fatiha. Within minutes, a bunker was set up outside my gate and it was not removed until midnight.”
He said today, he did not inform the authorities about his plan to visit the graveyard.
“I sat in the car without informing them. Look at their shamelessness. Even today, they tried to stop us. They parked their vehicle in the Nowhatta square and set up a CRPF bunker in front of it. They also tried to manhandle. The police who wear uniforms sometimes forget the law. I want to ask them under what law they tried to stop us today. If there was a restriction, it was for yesterday,” he asked.
“They say that this is a free country. But sometimes they think that we are their slaves. We are not anyone’s slaves. If we are slaves, then we are the slaves of the people here. If we are servants, then we are the servants of the people here,” Omar added.
Omar also posted a video on X showing physical grappling by police.
“This is the physical grappling I was subjected to but I am made of sterner stuff & was not to be stopped. I was doing nothing unlawful or illegal. In fact these “protectors of the law” need to explain under what law they were trying to stop us from offering Fatiha,” he said.
The Chief Minister told reporters that the administration was mistaken if it believed it could erase the significance of Martyrs’ Day by restricting access to the graveyard on July 13.
“They forget that these graves belong to our martyrs. They are here all year long. If not July 13th, then July 12th, July 14th, July 15th, December, January, February. How long will they stop us? We will come here whenever we want. And we will remember these martyrs,” he asserted.
