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IN 1814, Jammu became part of the Sikh Kingdom of the Punjab, under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Ranjit Singh bestowed the place as a jagir on Gulab Singh, who belonged to the Jamwal Rajput clan that ruled Jammu. As a jagirdar for the Sikhs, Gulab Singh extended the boundaries of the Sikh kingdom to western Tibet with the help of Zorawar Singh. The Sikh rule was then extended beyond the Jammu Region and the Kashmir Valley to include the Tibetan Buddhist Kingdom of Ladakh and the Emirates of Hunza, Gilgit and Nagar.
After the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1846, Sir Henry Lawrence was appointed British Resident and Lal Singh was asked to surrender Kashmir. Under the terms of the Treaty of Amritsar, the British government then sold Kashmir for a sum of 7.5 million rupees to Maharaja Gulab Singh, who had been their loyal ally against the Sikhs. Jammu again became an independent Rajput Kingdom under Maharaja Gulab Singh, as per the treaties, Treaty of Lahore, signed between the British and the Sikhs.
The origin of Marty’s Day in Kashmir can be traced back to the struggle that was born on July 13, 1931 when Kashmiris raised rebellion against the despotic ruler Hari Singh.
Here is a brief history of Marty’s Day of Kashmir.
On April 19, 1931, the Dogra King applied the ban of Eid Khutba (Sermon). It ignited widespread demonstrations in the Jummu city for a number of days. It was followed by alleged desecration of the Holy Qur’an at the hands of Dogra forces. It resulted into outrage among the Muslims throughout the state. In Srinagar, people gathered in Jamia Masjid to denounce this incidnet. One such get-together was held in Khankah-e-Muella Srinagar, which was addressed by prominent Kashmiris. When the meeting was concluded, a youth, Abdul Qadeer, pointing his finger to the Maharaja’s palace, raised slogans “destroy its every brick”. With the accusation of sedition, he was arrested forthwith. Abdul Qadir was to be tried in the court but due to large public resentment, the court was shifted to Central Jail Srinagar.
On July 12, 1931, in response to the shifting of court, intense public protests were held throughout the city. The next day, on July 13, 1931, thousands of people thronged the Central Jail Srinagar to witness the in-camera trial of Abdul Qadeer. As the time for obligatory prayer approached, a young Kashmiri stood for Azan. The Dogra Governor, Ray Zada Tartilok Chand ordered soldiers to open fire at him. When he got martyred, another young man took his place and started Azan. He was also shot dead. In this way, 22 Kashmiris were killed in their efforts to complete the Azan.
The people carried the dead and paraded through the streets of Srinagar, chanting slogans against Dogra brutalities. Complete strike was observed in the city, which was followed by weeklong mourning. This incident shook the whole state and the traffic from Srinagar to Rawalpindi and Srinagar to Jammu came to halt from July 13 to 26, 1931. The 22 martyrs are buried in Martyrs’ Graveyard at Khawaja Bazar, Srinagar. Kasmiris commemorated this day as marty’s Day.
Omar Abdullah visited the martyrs’ graveyard in the early hours of Monday morning along with senior state government officers and offered tributes to the martyrs under tight security.
Moderate leadership of the pro-freedom camp who had announced a march from the martyrs graveyard to the Red Square of the capital city, were either arrested or detained in their respective houses.
Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, leader of the moderate faction, had asked people to gather at the martyrs’ graveyard situated adjacent to the shrine of Sufi sant Baha-ud-din Naqashbandi in the old part of this city and later march to Red Square. Hurriyat had also announced that during the mammoth rally there. Despite stringent security a slogan shouting small group of people led by second wrung Hurriyat leaders managed to reach near the square but were immediately arrested. IRNA
