Normal life was hit in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday following a strike called by the two groups of the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference even as the official function to mark the 76th martyrdom of those killed fighting the autocratic rule in the state was held in summer capital Srinagar.
Shops and businesses remained shut in capital Srinagar and other towns. Skeletal public and private transport, however, plied on Srinagar roads. State government offices, banks, educational institutions, are closed throughout the state, because of a public holiday to mark the occasion.
State Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad visited the downtown martyrs' graveyard in the lawns of a local shrine in Srinagar under tight security.
Azad laid wreaths on graves of the martyrs and offered fateha (Prayers After Death).
The memorial function was held with traditional colour and solemnity. A neatly-dressed
contingent of Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police lowered their arms and the police band sounded the last post in memory of the martyrs.
Later, talking to media persons, Azad said July 13, 1931 was a significant day in the history of Jammu and Kashmir when people rose against an autocratic dispensation.
He said, "The people's fight was not against any individual but against a system. Like the fight against British rule in the rest of the country, the struggle in the state was against autocracy."
Azad attributed the dawn of 'free and democratic atmosphere' in the state to their sacrifices.
"People of the state are today masters of their destiny, enjoying the right to elect their representatives in the state legislature," the chief minister said, adding, "People of Jammu and Kashmir today remember with a sense of gratitude the martyrs who sacrificed their lives to replace autocracy with democracy in the state."