Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, including the ruling National Conference, on Sunday alleged that the authorities had detained several leaders to prevent them from visiting the graveyard of the 22 civilians who were shot dead by the forces of Dogra ruler Hari Singh in 1931.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah described the action as “blatantly undemocratic”, while the Opposition Peoples Democratic Party said that leaders being locked in their homes and prevented from commemorating Martyrs’ Day shows Kashmir was “getting back into the oppressive times”.

July 13 is marked as Martyrs’ Day to honour the 22 civilians. It was dropped as a public holiday after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government abrogated Article 370 in August 2019, which granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Several regional parties in the Union Territory have been demanding the resumption of the official ceremony to commemorate July 13 as Martyrs’ Day. Leaders had also submitted applications to the deputy commissioner for permission, which were denied, The Hindu reported.

On Saturday, the police warned that action would be taken against those heading to the shrine of Naqsband Sahib in Srinagar, where the 22 civilians are buried. Security forces also barricaded the shrine and the roads leading to it.

In addition, the authorities allegedly locked the homes of several leaders from the outside on Sunday in a bid to stop their movement, the newspaper reported.

National Conference MLA Khanyar Salman Sagar claimed that members were detained at the party headquarters and stopped from going towards the shrine.

“The police misbehaved with us and shoved us around,” The Hindu quoted Sagar as claiming. “We are nationalist forces who have been paying tributes at the graveyard for decades now.”

The party claimed that other members, including Showkat Mir, Imran Nabi Dar, Shafqat Watali, Nasir Aslam Wani and Tanvir Sadiq, were also either detained or put under house arrest.

“In a blatantly undemocratic move homes have been locked from the outside, police and central forces deployed as jailers and major bridges in Srinagar blocked,” Abdullah said on X. “All to stop people from visiting a historically important graveyard containing the graves of people who laid down their lives to give Kashmiris a voice and to empower them.”

The chief minister added that he would never “understand what the law and order government is so afraid of”.

The National Conference leader described the July 13 uprising as “our Jallianwala Bagh”.

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on April 13, 1919, when British General Reginald Dyer ordered his troops to fire at a large crowd in Jallianwala Bagh in Punjab’s Amritsar city. The civilians had gathered at the site to protest against the arrest of two nationalist leaders.

“The people who laid down their lives did so against the British,” Abdullah said on X. “Kashmir was being ruled under the British Paramountcy. What a shame that true heroes who fought against British rule in all its forms are today projected as villains only because they were Muslims.”

Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti posted a photo of locks on the gates of her home on X and.

“The day you accept our heroes as your own just as Kashmiris have embraced yours, from Mahatma Gandhi to Bhagat Singh that day, as Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi once said, the ‘dil ki doori’ [distance of hearts] will truly end,” she said.

Mufti added: “When you lay siege to the Martyrs’ Graveyard, lock people in their homes to prevent them from visiting Mazar-e-Shuhada, it speaks volumes.”

Her party colleague Naeem Akhtar claimed in a social media post that security forces had placed him under house arrest and added that he was denied permission to pay homage to the martyrs.

“Till 2019, it was a government ceremony but now banned,” he said on X. “Found my gate locked overnight with a large contingent of police outside. Detained at home.”

Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari claimed that the authorities had stopped him from visiting the graveyard and also locked his office to prevent him from holding a prayer meeting in memory of the martyrs.

Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference chief Sajad Lone alleged that he detained at his home.

“I don’t know why the Union government is so keen to redefine what is sacred for the people of Kashmir,” Lone said on X. “The sacrifices rendered on July 13 are sacred for all of us. Denigrating these sacrifices and stopping everyone from going to the martyrs graveyard, if anything elevates these sacrifices to a new high. Histories that are etched in blood don’t vanish.”

On Friday, Kashmir’s chief cleric and Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had also claimed that he was detained at his home and not allowed to offer prayers at the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar.

In a post on X, Farooq alleged that the action was taken due to fear that he would mention the Kashmir Martyrs’ Day, observed on July 13, in his Friday sermon.