Omar Abdullah glorifying rioters, trying to rewrite history: BJP

Omar Abdullah

The BJP on Sunday accused Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of “glorifying rioters” of 1931 and trying to "rewrite history" by comparing the incident to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

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 Lt Governor-led administration had dropped the day from the list of gazetted holidays in 2020.

In a post on X, Chief Minister Abdullah likened the July 13, 1931 incident to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, saying "the people who laid down their lives did so against the British... What a shame that true heroes who fought against British rule... are today projected as villains." The BJP slammed Abdullah for comparing the incident to the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy.

“That was colonial brutality against unarmed civilians. July 13 was a communal mob trying to burn down the order. Do not insult our freedom movement by twisting facts,” BJP national general secretary and incharge of J-K Tarun Chugh said in a statement issued here.

“This is not martyrdom. This is a cover-up of Islamist violence. And it’s coming from the same man whose party stayed silent when Kashmiri Pandits were driven out at gunpoint (in 1990),” he said.

The BJP leader claimed that Abdullah is trying to rewrite history, and he is doing it by “spitting on the memories of victims.” He said the "glorification of Abdul Qadeer, a British agent who incited the 1931 mob, was nothing short of a political fraud”.

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, Chugh said the BJP is not here to gloss over history.

“It’s here to tell it like it happened, and to ensure justice, dignity and return of every displaced Kashmiri Pandit. This is not a narrative battle. It is a fight for truth,” he said.

J-K Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary had on Sunday accused the BJP of peddling “communal narratives”.

“BJP is trying to mislead the public by peddling false narratives because they know that the more they speak against Kashmir, they will benefit in Jammu (during elections)," he alleged.