Maqbool Bhat
| Maqbool Bhat | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | February 18, 1938 |
| Died | February 11, 1984 (aged 45) Tihar Jail New Delhi, India |
| Other names | (baba-e-quoom) |
Maqbool Bhat (مقبول بٹ ) (Nastaleeq)) or Maqbool Butt (February 18, 1938 – February 11, 1984) was a Kashmiri separatist and co-founder of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front. He was hanged on February 11, 1984 in Tihar Jail in New Delhi .
He was born on 18 February 1938 to a peasant family in Trahagam village Tehsil Handwara, 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 an 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.
On 14 September 1966 Maqbool and other JKNLF militants, ambushed police. One separatist "Aurangzeb" was killed. Also dead was Amar Chand, an Inspector of the local Crime Branch CID. Maqbool Bhat and Kala Khan were arrested for the murder. Bhat accused of being the enemy agent and his involvement in the shootout, was found guilty and subsequently sentenced to death. During the trial Maqbool stood up and told the court “I have no objection in accepting all the charges levelled against me but remember I am not the agent of your enemy. Look at me! I am your enemy, I am the enemy of your colonial mindset. Have a good look, I am your enemy’’. 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 aspiration 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 in forests outside of the state boundaries. This reminds one of Robert Thorpe, a British 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.
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