Mamata slams house arrest of J-K CM, other ministers to prevent them from visiting graveyard

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday slammed the house arrest of her Jammu and Kashmir counterpart Omar Abdullah and his ministers to prevent them from visiting the graveyard of those killed by Dogra forces in 1931. She described the move as "unfortunate" and said it amounted to snatching the democratic rights of a citizen. "What is wrong in visiting the graveyard of martyrs? This is not only unfortunate, it also snatches the democratic right of a citizen," Banerjee posted on X. "What happened to an elected Chief Minister @OmarAbdullah is unacceptable. Shocking. Shameful," she added.

Abdullah and several leaders of the National Conference and opposition parties were put under house arrest on Sunday to prevent them from going to the Naqshband Sahib graveyard in Srinagar to mark Martyrs' Day. A defiant Omar Abdullah, however, on Monday scaled the gates of the graveyard to pay tributes to the 22 people killed by the Dogra army on July 13, 1931. July 13 is commemorated as 'Martyrs Day' in Jammu and Kashmir as a tribute to 22 people killed by the Dogra army outside Srinagar's central jail in 1931. The L-G administration had dropped the day from the list of gazetted holidays in 2020.