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REMEMBERING MAQBOOL BHAT

Muhammad Maqbool Bhat (February 18, 1938 - February 11, 1984):

Muhammad Maqbool Bhat was born in village Trehgam of district Kupwara inthe year of 1938 and was viciously buried in Tihar jail, Delhi. He was first

wrongfully imprisoned by Pakistan and later unlawfully noosed by India

exactly one week before his 46th birthday, while awaiting trial for a case

registered against him.

Today, Muhammad Maqbool Bhat is known as the Shaheed-e-Azam and

Shaheed-e-Kashmir. He was the first Kashmiri to be judicially murdered on Indian soil - making

him the first authentic martyr of the Kashmiri independence movement.

Critics of the Kashmiri freedom movement dubbed him as an '''enemy agent' to undermine his

struggle for the liberation of his motherland. Mr. Maqbool crossed over to other part of

Kashmir (PaK) via Sialkot border in the year of 1958. It was the same time when Indian state

oppression increased against Sheikh Abdullah's supporters. Later from Muzaffarabad (Azad

Kashmir's capital), he moved to Peshawar and settled there. He used to work in a daily

newspaper in the day time and attended post-graduate classes in Urdu literature during the

evenings at the University.

In the year of 1962, Muhammad Maqbool Bhat formed a movement called Kashmir

Independence Committee (KIC). This group was later merged into the newly formed JammuKashmir Mahaz-Rayee-Shumari (Plebiscite Front) in Azad Kashmir, which was a crusade for

complete independence from india.

The 1965 war and the subsequent Tashkent Agreement between India and Pakistan brought

many changes in Muhammad Maqbool Bhat's political belief. He disapproved role of Pakistanis

from the struggle for independence of Kashmir.

The leadership of the struggle must be in the hands of the Kashmiris was his view point. He

believed that the divisive war between India and Pakistan had debilitated the advancement of

the Kashmiri struggle movement. With these things in his mind, he put all his energy and power

in organizing all the Kashmiris under one common banner called the National Liberation Front

(NLF). National Liberation Front was the first Kashmiri organization to take up the arms against

the Indian imperialism.

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In the year of 1966, Muhammad Maqbool Bhat along with his enthusiastic group of NLF

activists barged into Indian Occupied Kashmir and established underground cells. But when the

group was returning back from the occupied territory, they were spotted by an Indian

intelligence officer and the group was ambushed. Muhammad Maqbool Bhat and his three

comrades were arrested and taken to Srinagar's Bagh-e-Mehtab interrogation camp. Mr.Maqbool was sentenced to death by a special court on the charges of murder. The unique

feature of this hearing was that it was held within prison walls.

Two years later, in December 1968, Muhammad Maqbool Bhat along with Mr. Mir Ahmed and

Mr. Ghulam Yasin succeeded in breaking the prison by digging a 38-foot underground tunnel.

The trio some how managed to reach Azad Kashmir only after playing much hide and seek with

Indian forces. But as soon as they stepped on the land of 'liberated' territory, they were

arrested, dragged and beaten by the army and sent to the notorious Black Fort of Muzaffarabad

by the puppet state authority. They were brutally interrogated in the black fort. However, after

three months they were released as agitations for their freedom intensified all over Azad

Kashmir. After release Muhammad Maqbool Bhat shared his experience with his Kashmiri

brothers

Muzaffarabad's Black Fort was not much different to Bagh-e-Mehtab and Red-16 (sonwar) at

the hands of the enemies of the Kashmiri freedom movement

While narrating this bitter episode in a letter to dearest friend, he wrote:

I was happy to be safe in my home but this happiness was short lived... What happened in theBlack Fort had shaken me and forced me to rethink on who was a friend and who was a foe.

Muhammad Maqbool Bhat was the man with iron will. In the year of 1969, Maqbool Bhat was

chosen as the president of the Plebiscite Front in Azad Kashmir. As a first step he launched an

awareness campaign throughout Azad Kashmir and the Gilgit-Baltistan territories in which Mr.

Abdul Khalik Ansari supported him by all his means. He again faced bitter consequences by the

state authorities, as they thought that the campaign to be anti-Pakistan. However, he

continued to build his underground movement and recruit and train young activists.

In the year 1970, two teenage activists of NLF (Muhammad Hashim Qurashi (16) and

Muhammad Ashraf Qurashi (17)) hijacked an Indian aeroplane (friendship-focus) code-named

"Ganga" from Srinagar airport to Lahore.

This event added fuel to the ongoing struggle for freedom. It not only highlighted problems of

Kashmiri but also gave a new dimension to the struggle. The aftermath left a deep impact and

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repercussions for all the Kashmiris as well as for Pakistan. NLF and Plebiscite Front were

shattered and party workers were imprisoned by Pakistan's military. They were later released

with the title "Kashmir's true patriots."

In the year of 1976, Muhammad Maqbool Bhat without consulting his seniors and trust-worthy

people went to Indian occupied Kashmir where he was charged for murder of a police officer,

which he denied as he had not committed. During the trials he was transferred to the top

security Tihar jails in 1980 as rumors of a possible 'rescue' attempt were in full swing.

Kashmir's political scene had now turned in favor of India as Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah and

Mrs. Indra Gandhi signed a new accord. This was not the end of Kashmir's tragedy. In February

1984, activists of NLF and plebiscite front kidnapped and later killed a member of India's

Consulate staff in Birmingham, England. They demanded immediate release of Muhammad

Maqbool Bhat.

As the news of the death of this man (member of India's Consulate staff) reached to the Indian

government headed by Indira Gandhi they decided to noose Maqbool Bhat in vengeance.

Shaheed-e-Kashmir was noosed in the early hours of 11th February. His family members,

friends and well-wishers were not allowed to meet him for the last time as they all were

arrested at Srinagar airport. On this event Mr. Muhammad Yousuf Gilkar Said,

we had lost the true son of Kashmir with tears in his eyes. He was the man with iron-will. He

never thought of himself but for his motherland. His martyrdom will be an example for whole

the world. It is worth while to mention here here that the people who were the critics of Mr.Maqbool in the beginning now regard him as the great martyr while I was first to regard him as

greatest

Ever since his execution Kashmir has never been the same again. Our so called leaders have

forgotten their main objective. They are busy in solving their own feuds. On the fateful day of

11th February every Tom, Dick and Harry speaks about the goal and message of Shaheed-e-

Kashmir but no one follows it by true heart.