REMEMBERING MAQBOOL BHAT

Muhammad Maqbool Bhat (February 18, 1938 - February 11, 1984): Muhammad Maqbool Bhat was born in village Trehgam of district Kupwara in the 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 Jammu Kashmir 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.

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 the Black 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

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-eKashmir but no one follows it by true heart.