Row over Martyrs' Day: Left parties condemn police 'manhandling' of Omar

New Delhi: Left parties on Monday condemned the alleged police's manhandling of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who scaled the gates of a graveyard in Srinagar to pay tribute to martyrs, with the CPI(M) demanding an apology from the lieutenant governor for the "assault" on the CM.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) also condemned the alleged house arrest of various political leaders, including party MLA Mohd Yusuf Tarigami, to prevent them from going to the Naqshband Sahib graveyard to mark Martyrs' Day on Sunday.

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 pic.twitter.com/8Fj1BKNixQ

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) July 14, 2025

In a statement, the Politburo of the CPI(M) said it "strongly condemns the police manhandling of Omar Abdullah".

"The central government headed by the BJP is trying to enforce its own diktats and regressive points of view, an example of which is the abolition of the holiday on Martyrs' Day. On the other hand, the birthday of the Maharaja, responsible for killing freedom fighters, is declared as a holiday. The Lt. Governor appointed by the central government is undermining the smooth functioning of the duly elected state government," the CPI(M) said.

The party demanded that "the BJP government should stop playing with the sentiments of the people of Jammu & Kashmir, should restore the holiday on Martyrs' Day, and respect and protect the democratic rights of the people of J&K. The Lt. Governor must apologise for the assault on the CM, the political leaders and the people of J&K".

CPI general secretary D Raja shared an image of Abdullah scaling the graveyard's gate, and said, "It is utterly unacceptable that in Jammu & Kashmir, the LG's administration and J&K Police prevented even the elected Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, along with citizens and leaders, from paying their respects at the Martyrs' graveyard on July 13, arresting and manhandling them."

"Adding to this insult, numerous leaders were placed under house arrest, silenced within their own homes on a day of collective remembrance," Raja said.

He said it is not just a breach of democratic norms, "it's a blatant assault on our conscience and a reminder of how far governance in J&K has fallen under authoritarian unaccountable rule".

"CPI demands immediate restoration of statehood, ”no ifs, no buts, ”so that the people's representatives can truly serve, instead of being silenced and subjugated," he said.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called the incident "unfortunate".

"What is wrong in visiting the graveyard of martyrs? This is not only unfortunate, it also snatches the democratic right of a citizen. What happened this morning to an elected Chief Minister @OmarAbdullah is unacceptable. Shocking. Shameful," she said in a post on X.

Dramatic scenes unfolded in Srinagar on Monday, a day after Abdullah and several leaders of the National Conference and opposition parties were allegedly put under house arrest to prevent them from going to the graveyard to pay tribute to 22 people killed by the Dogra army in 1931.

Security forces had sealed the roads leading to the martyrs graveyard from both Khanyar and Nowhatta sides in downtown Srinagar.

The chief minister, who had to climb over the main gate to enter the graveyard premises, said he was subjected to "physical grappling". Later, the gate was finally thrown open.