July 13 marks the killing of unarmed Kashmiris who protested against the then Dogra rulers in 1931.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday slammed the administration's sweeping in the Valley, calling it the "tyranny of the unelected" after he and several others were prevented from visiting the graveyard of the 1931 martyrs in Srinagar.

"Democracy in J&K is a tyranny of the unelected," Abdullah posted on X, invoking late BJP leader Arun Jaitley to underline the stand-off between local elected representatives and the administration running Kashmir since the revocation of Article 370.

"Homes have been locked from the outside, police and central forces deployed as jailers — all to stop people from visiting a historically important graveyard," he said, drawing parallels between the 1931 uprising and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Despite no official confirmation, visuals and posts shared by leaders from the ruling National Conference and opposition parties in Jammu and Kashmir showed locked gates and security blockades outside their residences. The Srinagar district administration had denied permission to all applicants, including ruling party leaders, to visit the Naqshband Sahib graveyard in Nowhatta on Martyrs' Day.

July 13, once a public holiday before Jammu and Kashmir's reorganisation in 2019, marked the killing of unarmed Kashmiris who protested against the then Dogra rulers in 1931. Roads leading to the graveyard were sealed off with barricades and heavy police deployment on Sunday.

People Democratic Party (PDP) chief and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti posted photos of her gate locked from the outside on X, calling the restrictions proof of the deep mistrust between Delhi and Kashmir. "When you lay siege to the Martyrs' Graveyard, lock people in their homes, it speaks volumes," she wrote.

"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 Modi once said, the 'dil ki doori' (distance of hearts) will truly end," Mufti added.

Meanwhile, Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, under house arrest since Friday, said the martyrs "live in our hearts and memory" regardless of government attempts to seal graveyards or confine leaders.

"We may be put in jails or under house arrest and threatened with dire consequences, and the martyrs' graveyards may be sealed and blocked, but they live in our hearts and in our memory and will continue to, generation after generation," Farooq said.

Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Chaudhary, speaking in Jammu, claimed that his official residence in Kashmir too was locked. "Locking a deputy chief minister, ministers and MLAs is a threat to democracy," he said, demanding restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

While mainstream leaders condemned the clampdown as a misuse of power, opposition BJP leader Sunil Sharma sparked fresh controversy by calling the 1931 protesters 'traitors' and accusing the ruling National Conference of trying to "revive separatism".

"We consider them as traitors as I have made it clear on the floor of the Assembly," the BJP leader said.

"National Conference is trying to indulge in provocative politics in the name of these traitors, terrorists, separatists and so-called political prisoners to revive the sentiment (of separatism). They are having a misconception but this will never happen again,” he told reporters.

Panun Kashmir and the All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference held counter-protests in Jammu, recalling the violence their community faced in 1931.

Despite the barricades, CPM leader MY Tarigami, Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari and Peoples Conference president Sajad Lone also posted online that they had been confined to their homes.

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