13/07/2025
Like many of my colleagues,I have been unjustly placed under house arrest, confined to my home without explanation or legal basis. My party workers were stopped at multiple checkpoints, blocked and dispersed to prevent them from reaching Mazar-e-Shuhadaa in Handwara. These heavy-handed and authoritarian tactics have nothing to do with public safety , they are a blatant assault on civil liberties and democratic values.
Every entry point into Handwara was sealed, placing the town under an undeclared lockdown. Access to Mazar-e-Shuhadaa and Chowdry Manzil was deliberately cut off, with massive deployment of police and CRPF forces, all to prevent peaceful citizens from offering Fatiha to the martyrs of July 13, 1931.
Handwara is one of only four sacred places in Jammu & Kashmir where these brave souls laid down their lives, resisting tyranny, injustice and autocracy. They didn’t just die,they built the foundation of democracy, equality and people’s dignity in this region. To stop the people from honouring them is not only undemocratic, it is morally bankrupt and shameful.
We had formally requested permission two days in advance for the program. Yet there was complete silence from the authorities. And today, instead of cooperation, we were met with barricades and house arrests. This isn’t about law and order, it is a coordinated effort to prevent homage, to deny the people of Jammu & Kashmir the right to honour those who laid down their lives for justice, democracy and dignity.
As per the section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, every State or Union Territory has the power to declare days of public observance, including holidays and commemorative events. Yet, here in J&K, the memory of those who fought for democracy is being actively erased,censored and dishonoured.
No force, no barricade, no repression will succeed in silencing the memory of our martyrs. Their blood runs in the conscience of this land. Their sacrifice is eternal. And their legacy will continue to inspire resistance against injustice for generations to come.