Amid tight security arrangements for Martyrs’ Day in Jammu and Kashmir, former Chief Minister and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti was placed under house arrest on Monday (July 13, 2026). On July 13 each year, ‘Martyrs’ Day’ is observed in Jammu and Kashmir in remembrance of 22 Muslims killed by Dogra forces in 1931.
The mass murder of the 22 Kashmiris galvanised tension among Muslims, seeking civil rights and justice against the killings. Later, the events accelerated the formation of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference in 1932 under leaders such as Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas. In 1939, the party was renamed the National Conference. After India’s Independence, when Kashmir’s ruler agreed to aceeding the State to India, Sheikh Abdullah became it’s first “Prime Minister”. The same year, he declared July 13 as ‘J&K Martyr’s Day.
The July 13, 1931 shootings, observed by many in Kashmir as Martyrs’ Day (Youm-e-Shuhada), mark one of the most consequential episodes in the region’s modern political history. In 1931, Jammu and Kashmir was ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh. Although the State had a Muslim-majority population, political power rested with the Dogra monarchy. This brewed dissatisfaction among Kashmiri Muslims, who sought adequate representation in government jobs, equal political rights, and free civil rights.
The consequential trigger hit the valley in June 1931 as a man named Abdul Qadeer delivered a fiery speech at Srinagar’s Khanqah-e-Moula. The speech took a dig at the Dogra administration, urging people to resist authoritarian rule. He was later arrested on the charges of sedition, marking a widespread public outrage. Later, his trial was scheduled to be commenced in the Central Jail Srinagar by the local administration.
On the fateful day, thousands of Kashmiris flocked to the Central Jail in Srinagar to catch a glimpse of Abdul Qadeer. As the time for obligatory Zuhr prayer approached, a Kashmiri named Khawaja Abdul Khaliq Shora stood up to deliver the adhan (Islamic call for prayer). He was ordered by the Dogra guards to stop the prayers. As the man resisted, the Dogra governor, Raizada Tartilok Chand, ordered his soldiers to open fire on them, killing 22 Kashmiris. The people carried the dead through the streets of Maharajganj, Srinagar, chanting slogans opposing Dogra brutality. The incident shook the State, bringing the entire movement into a grinding halt, and a week-long period of mourning was observed.
Abdul Qadeer Khan was an employee of an English army officer, Major Butt of the Yorkshire Regiment posted at Peshawar, who was taking a vacation in Kashmir. On June 21, 1931, he attended the protest meetings at Khanqah-i-Maula, leading to an impromptu impassioned speech to the crowd.
Tarikh-i-Hurriyat, a prominent historical book, by Urdu author Rashid Taseer shares elaborate account of Abdul’s speech. The urdu book highlights the political and freedom struggles of Kashmir.
Here is what the recorded speech in the book wrote: “Muslim brothers: the time has now come when we should not meet force by great force to put an end to the tyrannies and brutalities to which you are subjected, nor will they solve the issue of disrespect to Holy Quran to your satisfaction. You must rely up on your own strength and wage a relentless war against oppression”; pointing his finger towards the palace he shouted, : “raze it to the ground”. He said, “We have no machine guns. But we have plenty of stones and brickbats”.
The BJP considers September 13 as ‘Martyr’s Day’, to commemorate the muder of its party leader and Kashmiri Pandit Tika Lal Taploo, who was slained by militants in 1989. The party’s leaders have downplayed the 1931 killings as a law and order issue.
Since the Centre ended J&K’s special status in 2019, the L-G administration has disallowed regional parties from visiting the graveyard and paying tributes. J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha removed July 13 as an official holiday from the calendar after 2019.
Published - July 13, 2026 12:19 pm IST