1931 Martyr’s day | Inquiry ordered over Vikramaditya’s remarks

JAMMU: The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Kishtwar has ordered police to conduct probe against senior Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh for his remarks on ‘Martyr’s Day’ which is observed every year on 13th July.
“Martyrs Day should be honoured for those thousands of heroes who have sacrificed their lives for our Nation. On 13th July 1931, plunder, loot & rape by criminals & jail breakers in Srinagar city was put to an end. It is a blot on J&K that this is glorified as State Martyrs Day,” Vikramadtiya Singh, who was Congress’ candidate from Udhampur parliamentary constituency in recently held Lok Sabha elections, had tweeted on July 13th.
“In my view Brigadier Rajinder Singh, Chief of Army Staff-J&K State Forces and his 100 troops who sacrificed their lives in Uri, 1947 protecting Kashmir valley from Pakistani invaders are our real martyrs and my heroes. Let us honour them instead. #MartyrsDay,” he said in another tweet.
In this regard, councilor of Municipal committee Khistwar and District president of Peoples Conference Sajjad Ahmed has taken up the matter with district court.
Seeking First Information Report (FIR) against the Congress leader, Sajjad Ahmed alleged that Singh hurt the sentiments of people of Jammu and Kashmir in general and majority of the Muslim community in particular and accused him of provoking the breach of peace and harmony in communally sensitive areas of the state.
After receiving the complaint, the court directed Station House Officer (SHO) Police Station Kishtwar to conduct preliminary inquiry to ascertain whether a cognizable offence is made out or not.
“The inquiry should be made in time bound manner and in any case should not exceed 7 days,” court ordered.
“After conducting preliminary inquiry, if any cognizable offence is made out, SHO Police station khistwar is directed to proceed in accordance with law,” the court said.
The Kashmir Martyrs’ Day (Youm-e-Shuhada-e-Kashmir) is observed each 13 July every year to pay homage to 22 Kashmiri people who were killed in 1931 during a revolt against atrocities on 13 July 1931, when people rose against Dogra rule and protested against the prosecution of sympathizer of Kashmir struggle, Abdul Qadeer Khan Ghazi.
The trouble for Singh came at the time when he is already facing difference of opinions from his colleagues in the party.
Historically there is regional divide between Jammu region and Kashmir region over the 1931 martyrs day but this is the probably first time when two leaders of same party especially from the same region has shared different opinion publically.
The issued surfaced when Senior Congress Leader and Former Minister, Ghulam Mohammad Saroori criticized Former Member of J&K Legislative Council and Congress leader, Vikramaditya Singh for his remarks on 1931 martyrs day.
Reacting to the remarks, Ghulam Mohammad Saroori said “What Vikramaditya Singh has said regarding 1931 martyrs is highly condemnable. Congress distanced itself from remarks made by any individual and cautioned its leaders to be careful. Any remark made by any individual is certainly not the opinion of the party," he said while addressing a gathering Kishtwar on Tuesday.
On July 13th 2019, while the Kashmir politicians paid tributes to the martyrs, on other hand several protest were erupted in Jammu region demanding abolishment of the Martyrs’ Day holiday.