Maqbool Bhat

Maqbool Bhat
Born (1938-02-18)18 February 1938
Died 11 February 1984(1984-02-11) (aged 45)
Tihar Jail New Delhi, India
Cause of death Hanging [1]
Other names (baba-e-quoom)
Organization Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front

Maqbool Bhat also spelt Maqbool Butt (18 February 1938 – 11 February 1984) was a Kashmiri separatist and co-founder of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front.[2][3] He was hanged on 11 February 1984 in Tihar Jail in New Delhi .

Biography

He was born on 18 February 1938 to a peasant family in Trehgam village Tehsil Trehgam district Kupwara. His father was called Ghulam Qadar Butt. He studied BA in History and Political Science from University of Kashmir and MA Urdu Literature, Peshawar University, Pakistan. He worked for some time as teacher and also a local journalist. Habibullah Bhat disappeared when he had gone to meet Maqbool Bhat at Tihaar Jail. Ghulam Nabi Bhat (Convener of JKLF) and Manzoor Ahmad Bhat - were killed in separate encounters with security forces at Srinagar and Trehgam. Zahoor Bhat (JKLF) recently released by the local police after investigating him for nearly a year for crossing the LOC illegally few days before the 25th Anniversary of Maqbool Bhat. And Two Sisters. Was married twice and had four children.

Maqbool Bhat (left) and JKLF co-founder Hashim Qureshi (center)

On 14 September 1966 Maqbool and other JKNLF militants ambushed police. One separatist "Aurangzeb" was killed. Also killed was Amar Chand, an Inspector of the local Crime Branch CID. Maqbool Bhat and Kala Khan were arrested for his murder. Bhat was accused of being the enemy agent and of involvement in the shootout, was found guilty and subsequently sentenced to death. In 1968, Bhat, along with two others, managed to dig a tunnel under the Srinagar prison and escape to Pakistan, where they were briefly arrested. In the years to come Maqbool Bhat became an inspiration for the younger generation in AJK, and he started advocating for the armed struggle branding AJK rulers as puppets of Pakistani rulers and mortgaging the freedom of Kashmir for money and government posts without any power or authority. The PF also swung towards national liberation and Maqbool Bhat was elected its president. This was followed by a Gilgit Baltistan Week in 1970 and Maqbool Bhat along with Khaliq Ansari and Amanulla Khan went to these areas of Kashmir bared for ‘Azad’ Kashmiri politicians but were thrown out by the Pakistani authorities into forests outside of the state boundaries. This reminds one of Robert Thorpe, a Briton born to a Kashmiri mother who was similarly thrown out of the boundaries of Kashmir in 1867 by the then Maharaja of Kashmir Ranbir Singh. However, the campaign for independent Kashmir continued to grow in popularity among Kashmiris in the Pakistani controlled part.

In 1971,Bhat was accused of masterminding the hijacking of an Indian Airlines passenger airline to Lahore, Pakistan,[4] and the hijackers declared affiliation with JKLF under the leadership of Bhat. The Pakistani authorities then arrested Bhat and a number of others. He was released in 1974, and two years later, sneaked into 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 3 February 1984, Ravindra Mhatre an Indian diplomat in the UK, was kidnapped in Birmingham, England, and a demand to release Maqbool Bhat was put forward by the kidnappers. On 6 February 1984, JKLF militants murdered the diplomat in Birmingham. After this, Bhat's petition for clemency was rejected, and Bhat was executed in the Tihar Jail in New Delhi on 11 February 1984 and buried in the jail premises.[5]

JKLF

Five years after Bhat’s hanging, the JKLF launched a militant movement for separation of the state Jammu and Kashmir from India. Since his death, the JKLF has been demanding that the mortal remains of the party founder, which were buried inside the Tihar Jail, be handed over. Separatist leaders also call for shutdown each year, which is observed in the Valley to mark his anniversary of death .[6] JKLF announced a ceasefire in 1994.[7]

On 4 November 1989, JKLF militants shot dead judge Neelkanth Ganjoo, who had presided over the Amar Chand murder trial, and declared sentence of death on Maqbool Bhat.[8]

Death

In its judgement, delivered on 6 August 1982, the Court observed that in view of the mercy petition pending before the President, Bhat cannot be classed as one 'under sentence of death' and therefore cannot be confined apart from other prisoners. The Court held that his transfer to the death cell on 27 April 1981, is -"arbitrary and illegal". Consequently, Bhat was shifted to Ward l--originally earmarked for "high security risk prisoners".

Several attempts were made by different Kashmiri groups for the release of Maqbool Bhat, including the hijacking of an Indian plane by Abdul Hameed Diwani in 1976 and an unsuccessful attempt to blow up the Delhi conference hall of Non Alignment Movement in 1981. In the first week of February 1984, an unknown group ‘Kashmir Liberation Army’ kidnapped an Indian diplomat Ravindra Mahatrey from India's consulate Birmingham. They demanded the release of Maqbool Bhat and a sum of money from the Indian government but killed him just two days after abduction. Within a week, the Indian government hanged Maqbool Bhat, who was waiting optimistically for the review petition against his sentence on the grounds that the case had several legal flaws from its very beginning in 1966. Several Kashmiri lawyers claim that the action of the Indira Gandhi government ignored Indian law and argue that Maqbool Butt’s hanging was an act of illegal execution by the Indian state. No member of his family was allowed to see him before execution, and his body was not handed over to his family after his death.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The long, deadly trek to Sunjuwan". The Hindu. 14 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  2. ↑ Mushtaq, Sheikh (11 February 2011). "Kashmir seeks return of hanged separatist leader's remains". Reuters. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  3. ↑ Kashmir seeks return of hanged separatist leader’s remains - 11 February 2011 Last Retrieved 9 February 2013
  4. ↑ "The Rediff Interview/Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Liberation Front Chief Hashim Qureshi". Rediff.com. 14 February 2001.
  5. ↑ "After 7 Years, India Hangs Kashmir Nationalist". Los Angeles Times. 12 February 1984.
  6. ↑ "Shutdown on JKLF founder's death anniversary". Zee News. 11 February 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  7. ↑ "JKLF wants all cases against its cadres withdrawn". The Times Of India. 16 January 2013.
  8. ↑ http://archive.asianage.com/columnists/media-fai-ride-933
  • "Pakistan Moves to Block March By Supporters of a Free Kashmir". The New York Times. 11 February 1992.
  • Maqbool Butt Foundation
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