Mufti pays tribute at martyrs' graveyard, appeals for calm

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday morning paid tributes to the martyrs of 1931 struggle against Dogra autocratic rule, and appealed for calm in the violence gripped valley.

Under heavy security, Mufti went to the martyrs' graveyard in Naqashband Sahib area of old Srinagar city where a guard of honour was presented to her.

The chief minister appealed for calm across Kashmir Valley where violence has plagued normal life for the last five days after a top militant, Burhan Wani, was killed by the security forces on Friday evening.

At least 34 people, including 33 civilians and a policeman, have been killed in the clashes between the security forces and unruly mobs during the last four days in the valley.

Mufti laid a wreath at the graveyard to commemorate the martyrdom of those who fell to the bullets of Dogra Maharaja's soldiers this day in 1931 outside the central jail in Srinagar city.

People had stormed the central jail in Srinagar on July 13, 1931 where the trial of Abdul Qadeer Khan, an Afghan cook of a British official, was going on.

Qadeer had been arrested for delivering a fiery speech against the oppression of Kashmiris by autocratic rulers.

--IANS

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