Maqbool Bhat

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Maqbool Bhat
Born 18 February 1938
Trehgam, Kupwara district, Jammu and Kashmir
Died 11 February 1984
New Delhi

Maqbool Bhat (Butt), (1938-02-18 - 1984-02-11) was an early Kashmiri militant fighting for Kashmiri independence. He was the organizer of the Jammu Kashmir National Liberation Front (or JKNLF), the Kashmir valley branch of the JKLF[1], and was instrumental in one hijacking and several killings. He was sentenced to death for murder by India, and was hanged on 11 February 1984 at New Delhi[2].

Bhat is considered a freedom fighter by many Kashmiri Muslims and Pakistanis, but a terrorist by many Indians. He seems to have been of the view that all the territories that belonged to the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir should be reunited and administered as a secular, sovereign, and democratic state. His last name is sometimes spelt as "Butt".

[edit] Biography

Maqbool Bhat was born in Trehgam village[3] in the Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. After studying at a local school and at St Joseph's College, Srinagar, he joined the University of Peshawar where he studied Urdu. Then he went to Britain, where the JKLF was originally founded in Birmingham, England. Subsequently, he broke off into the JKNLF which started out as the armed wing of the Plebiscite Front [4], and was prominent in the armed uprising against Indian forces in Kashmir.

In June 1966, an Indian Officer, Amar Chand, intercepted Bhat and several others in the forests of Baramulla, trying to pass on some information to the Pakistanis. In the ensuing firefight, Amar Chand was killed, along with Aurangzeb, a JKLF militant with Bhat. [5]. Bhat and another person were arrested, and tried for murder. The defence argued that Amar Chand had been killed by the bullets from Aurangzeb, and indeed the first FIR against Bhat had not listed murder[6]. Naturally, the Pandits view Bhat as a terrorist and murderer. The Muslim population in Kashmir, on the other hand, view him as a martyr, and in Srinagar his death anniversary is commemorated each year, often with a strike.[7] Another sore point is that neither his remains after his hanging, nor his personal effects, were ever returned to his family.


[edit] References

  1. ^ Pakistan Moves to Block March By Supporters of a Free Kashmir February 11, 1992
  2. ^ AROUND THE WORLD; India Hangs Kashmiri For Slaying Banker February 12, 1984
  3. ^ rediff.com visited Trehgam, the village wherefrom Maqbool Bhat hailed... February 2001
  4. ^ The Rediff Interview/JKDLF Chief Hashim Qureshi February 2001
  5. ^ Maqbool Bhat, an enigma? Nah, he was just another selfish guy, by Samvit Rawal
  6. ^ [http://www.maqboolbutt.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=800&Itemid=349 Maqbool Butt. However, Maqbool was also involved in the shootout, and was found guilty and sentenced to death. In 1968 however, Bhat, along with two others, managed to dig a tunnel under the Srinagar prison, and escaped to Pakistan, where also they were briefly arrested. In 1971, Maqbool Bhat masterminded the hijacking of an Indian Fokker aircraft to Lahore<ref></ref>, Pakistan, and the hijackers declared affiliation with JKLF under the leadership of Maqbool Bhat. The Pakistani authorities then arrested Bhat and a number of others. He was released in 1974, and two years later, Bhat later returned to India, where he was soon captured. His earlier death sentence was still valid, and he petitioned to the President of India Giyani Zail Singh for clemency on the grounds of an unfair trial. On February 6, 1984, the JKLF murdered the Indian diplomat Ravindra Mhatre, in Birmingham. One of the demands in this kidnap was that Maqbool Bhat be released. After this, his petition for clemency was quickly rejected, and Bhat was executed in the Tihar Jail in New Delhi on February 11, 1984. Maqbool Bhat remains a divisive figure in Kashmir. The Hindus of Kashmir (Kashmiri Pandits) were forced to flee the valley under islamic terrorist threats between 1989 and 1990 -- several thousands were killed, and more than three hundred thousand Pandits fled their homes in the valley and are now settled in refugee camps<ref> [http://www.indianembassy.org/policy/Kashmir/Kashmir_MEA/paki_1984-1998.html A Comprehensive Note on Jammu & Kashmir: Pakistan's Aggression: 1984-1998] Embassy of India, Washington DC</li> <li id="_note-5">'''[[#_ref-5|^]]''' [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Bandh_in_Kashmir_valley/articleshow/1592662.cms Bandh in Kashmir valley] Times of India, Feb 11, 2007</li></ol></ref>

    [edit] External Links

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