Kashmir observes shutdown to mark 'Martyrs' Day'

{image-kashmir map_13072008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Srinagar, Jul 13 : Kashmir on Sunday, July 13. observed shutdown to mark the 'Martyrs Day' in the Valley, which is observed every year in the memory of 23 Kashmiri prisoners executed in 1931 by the forces of then ruler Hari Singh.

Singh had ordered indiscriminate firing against thousands of peaceful people who were protesting outside Srinagar's Central Jail. The Kashmiris had gathered in front of the jail when the trial of a youth Abdul Qadeer accused of being involved in a case of agitation was going on. Hurriyat, a Kashmiri separatist group, in memory of those who had laid down their lives in 1931, called the shutdown.

"We are observing shutdown today in memory of those who laid down their lives for the cause of their community," said Bashir Ahmed, a local.

The dead were laid to rest at the Mazar-e-Shuhada (martyrs' graveyard) in the lawns of Khawaja Bahauddin Naqashband Sahib's shrine in old Srinagar, where tributes and prayers are offered every year on this day.

ANI