Says Present Govt. Has Chosen Amnesia Over Restoring July 13 Holiday
Srinagar, July 13: J&K Peoples Conference President and MLA Handwara, Sajad Gani Lone, paid floral tributes on Sunday to the martyrs of July 13, 1931, describing the day as one inscribed not merely in history but in the collective conscience of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
He said the occasion represents a long denied recognition that continues to await the dignity it deserves.
Speaking on the occasion, Lone launched a scathing attack on the present dispensation, accusing it of relegating history to irrelevance while substituting governance with political spectacle.
“This government has made no sincere effort to restore this public holiday, honouring the sacrifice of our native heroes. It has chosen theatre over truth, rhetoric over resolve and in doing so, has turned its back on history itself,” he said.
Lone asserted that collective memory cannot be extinguished through executive decrees.
“No government order can erase what a people choose to remember,” he remarked, adding that the restoration of July 13 as a public holiday is not a concession but a long overdue obligation rooted in historical justice.
Restoring the day as a public holiday, he said, would transcend symbolism.
“It would constitute an act of moral and historical restitution, restoring to those who laid down their lives the honour they rightfully deserve and reaffirming Jammu and Kashmir’s commitment to an honest remembrance of its past,” he concluded.
