Maqbool Bhatt Shaheed: Legacy of a Legend

By Shabana Bashir (03/02/2010)
A legend Born on 18th Feb 1938 in Trahagam village hanged on 11 February 1984 in Tihar prison Dehli but is still not berried and does not have a grave as his body and mortal remains still not handed over to his family. A hero was born and was taken away from us way too soon but his legacy still lives on and will always live on. Life seemed too short for this legend but he still lives around us. He is not dead, he is martyred and martyrs never die. I feel his presence around us even though he cannot be seen or heard. But he lives in the heart of every kashmiri; his picture is hung in almost every house in Kashmir. He was the greater son of our soil who lit the light of freedom in the hearts of kashmiris. He gave his life for the freedom of his oppressed nation. He was the man who dared to dream for an independent Kashmir and hence suffered all his life for endorsing this noble cause.
Maqbool Bhatt was the first Kashmiri who demanded independence for Kashmir, he authored the armed Kashmir movement in 1965 which was referred as an ‘insurgency’ by New Delhi but was a ‘freedom struggle’ for the kashmiris. He was a true freedom fighter who was also very intelligent with great thoughts. He knew exactly what he wanted and what his nation wanted, he was not for Pakistan or India, he was for Kashmir and Kashmir was his first and last love. He gave his life for Kashmir; he suffered captivity in Pakistan prison and Tihar prison in India just for Kashmir.
In 1968 Bhatt and his fellow companion were arrested for the murder charge of Amar Chand. He was charged of being Pakistani spy, terrorist, murderer etc. every man in history who stood up for the liberation of his nation has often being called with such names by the tyrant, however, Bhatt was found guilty and sentenced to death. This is where he boasted in the court room when the death sentence was being announced, he proclaimed confidently that “"Judge sahib, woh rassi abhi tak nahin bani jo Maqbool ko phaansi laga sake..." (Judge sahib, nobody has the rope which could hang Maqbool) and he was right at that time as shortly after the death sentence, Bhatt managed to escape from central jail, Srinagar. It is said that the sentencing magistrate fainted in the court room on hearing about maqbool Bhatt’s escape.
However, after his escape to Pakistan he was arrested in Pakistan. In 1971, Bhatt was again blamed for masterminding the hijacking of an Indian Fokker aircraft to Lahore; hence he was arrested in Pakistan and was released in 1974. Two years later, Bhatt returned to India and was captured again. This time Bhatt was not lucky to escape and hence after 8 long years in Tihar prison Delhi he was hanged on 11th Feb 1984. His mission was not complete but his ideology succeeded and at the very same moment many Maqbool Bhatt’s were born in the valley in order to continue his mission.
He was imprisoned and martyred in the world’s largest democracy. It was his martyrdom and sufferings in Tihar Prison that changed the fate of Kashmir and from the very same moment an armed revolution evolved which meant that the struggle for liberation will be continued until his mission is complete. Simultaneously, the whole kashmiri nation had realised that it’s time to fight the tyrant and struggle in order to liberate the great land of Kashmir from the occupiers. His mission may not be complete yet but is certainly not forgotten till date and will never be.
On 11th of Feb the whole nation pays tribute to this legendary leader and demands for his mortal remains from India. 26 years have passed but his mortal remains still not returned. It is sensible to think that Maqbool Bhatt was a threat to India but it looks like they are also scared of his corpse too which is holding them back from not returning his body to his family and lay him to rest in his soil. A man can die but an idea can never die so his idea and mission are still alive. Similarly, his body may not be returned and his awaiting grave may stay without his body but each and every footstep of him is marked on the soil of Kashmir, his voice can still be recalled by the mountains, forests and lakes of Kashmir. He was a legend, a father of the nation, shaheed-e-Kashmir and has become an icon for countless kashmiris living inside the vale of kashmir or outside. His dream, his mission and his legacy lives on and will live on for centuries.