Srinagar, July 10, KDC: A political storm is brewing in Jammu and Kashmir after PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti criticised the Speaker’s outright rejection of a resolution earlier moved by party legislator Waheed Ur Rehman Para to declare July 13 as an official Martyrs’ Day holiday.
Waheed Para, MLA from Pulwama, had submitted the resolution during the last Assembly session, urging the House to commemorate July 13 as a mark of respect to the 1931 protestors who, he said, “stood against autocratic monarch forces” and sparked the democratic awakening.
In his resolution, Para stated: “This Legislative Assembly upholds and resolves to declare 13 July as official holiday to remember the sacrifices of the protestors against the autocratic monarch forces. This House affirms 13 July to be remembered as the beginning of the political awakening among the people of Jammu and Kashmir for democratic rights.”
The proposal, however, was rejected by the Speaker—prompting Mehbooba Mufti to issue a sharp response on social media, calling the move “unexpected and disappointing.” “Omar Abdullah government’s proposal sent to LG about declaring July 13 and December 5 as public holidays would have carried weight if the Speaker had supported PDP’s resolution for the same in the assembly,” Mehbooba posted on X (formerly Twitter).
“The Speaker’s outright rejection of the resolution was unexpected & disappointing. Today’s exercise looks more like a lip service than any serious effort,” she added, referring to the National Conference’s recent communication with the LG administration seeking to reinstate the two dates as official holidays.
The NC’s proposal includes declaring July 13—observed earlier as Martyrs’ Day—and December 5, the birth anniversary of Sheikh Abdullah, as public holidays once again. But Mehbooba Mufti suggested that without legislative support, such gestures remain symbolic at best. (KDC)
