Onlykashmir.in News Desk
The Kashmiri Pandit Sangarash Samiti (KPSS) has intensified its call for the government to declare 14th March as Martyrs’ Day in Jammu & Kashmir, honoring the victims of the “targeted violence and forced exodus of 1990”.
In an handout, the Samiti said: this date commemorates the first recorded killing of a Kashmiri Pandit—Smt. Prabhawati—in 1989, an event widely regarded as a precursor to the ethnic cleansing that followed. The demand gains urgency amid a renewed controversy over 13th July, a date tied to historical unrest and recently reignited in political discourse.
“The 1990 exodus saw over 950 Kashmiri Pandits killed, with 467 murdered in that year alone—258 in the brutal months of May and June. Homes were torched, temples desecrated, and a rich cultural heritage systematically erased, forcing families to flee. Decades later, justice remains elusive, with narratives of their suffering often overshadowed by competing historical claims,” the statement reads.
Recent developments have sharpened the debate. In early March 2025, the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly witnessed chaos when a BJP legislator reportedly labeled the 13th July martyrs—commemorating 22 Muslim protesters killed by Dogra forces in 1931—as “traitors.”
The remarks, later expunged by the Speaker, sparked outrage and a walkout by BJP members, highlighting deep divisions over the day’s legacy. Once an official holiday under Sheikh Abdullah to mark resistance against Maharaja Hari Singh’s rule, 13th July was stripped of its status by the Government of India in 2019.
Now, calls to reinstate it as a holiday have resurfaced, with critics arguing it glorifies unrest and undermines the region’s complex history, including the plight of Kashmiri Pandits.
As tensions flare over 13th July, the push for 14th March underscores a broader struggle over memory and identity in Jammu & Kashmir.
