Mohammed Maqbool Bhatt is a 'high risk security prisoner'. He is guarded by Delhi Armed Police men and some intelligence 'shadows' who have virtually taken over his custody-"in contravention of the rules", according to Bhatt.
Mohammed Maqbool Bhatt is alleged to be the leader of the "National Liberation Front"-a political party in Pakistan. According to Intelligence' reports, Bhatt is alleged to have been "allotted by Pakistan intelligence... and sent to Kashmir twice." The main aim was to allegedly instigate the youth of Jammu and Kashmir and motivate them to join their party to liberate, by terror and arson, the State of Jammu and Kashmir from India.
Armed with firearms, explosives and other weapons of the terrorist, Maqbool first infiltrated into Kashmir in 1966. He committed dacoities in several places in Baramullah in Jammu and Kashmir. He also allegedly murdered a C.I.D. Inspector Amar Chand. He was arrested on September 14,1966.
Two First Information Reports were registered against Maqbool Bhatt. The first was lodged at Police Station Sopore, Kashmir (F.I.R. 84/66). Of the five charges, the most important was that Maqbool Bhatt had crossed the "ceasefire line dividing the Pakistan held territory and the State of Jammu and Kashmir" from Lashadat without a valid legal permit and for an allegedly illegal purpose. The other charges include extortion, dacoity and criminal conspiracy to overthrow the lawfully established Government of Jammu and Kashmir.
He was convicted under the Enemy Agents Ordinance. The second F.I.R. was registered at Police Station Panzala, Kashmir (F.I.R. 38/66). In this Maqbool Bhatt was charged with murder. It was alleged that Bhatt, along with Mohammed Dar (another accused who later turned approver) had taken cash, ornaments and other documents from C.I.D. Inspector Amar Chand's house. It was further alleged that they had also abducted Amar Chand and murdered him.
In his defence Maqbool Bhatt denied all charges except that he had without a valid legal permit crossed the ceasefire line in June 1966. He added that he did not think it necessary to obtain a permit because he believed that he was moving from one part of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to another.
The Court decided to execute him.
But Maqbool Bhatt decided to move the court-for a special leave petition to appeal against the judgement of the Chief Justice of the High Court, Jammu and Kashmir, dated October 30, 1970. He was shifted from the Central Jail Srinagar to a subsidiary jail at Jalali village Sonawar. Bhatt was subsequently moved to Delhi's Tihar Jail where he is lodged at present. He moved the special leave petition which was dismissed on October 8, 1976.
According to reports, the Bench hearing the petition rejected Bhatt's prayer for a counsel of his choice. Bhatt had expressed his desire to be represented by Pearey Lal Handoo instead of an amicus-curie (a defence counsel provided by the State).
The question of Maqbool's release has been coming up now and then. Activists have allegedly been - trying to send the message across in several ways.
When the Indian Airlines aircraft, Ganga, was hijacked from India in 1971 and another in 1976, these activists were alleged to have demanded the release of Maqbool Bhatt.
During the Non-Aligned Conference of Foreign Ministers held in New Delhi in 1981, anonymous callers allegedly caused a lot of ripples on the surface of the Capital's otherwise calm political waters. Reports have it that Mark Tully, the BBC correspondent stationed in Delhi was telephoned on February 11, 1981 and allegedly told that if Maqbool Bhatt was not released the Vigyan Bhawan and the Ashoka Hotel would be blown up: Vigyan Bhawan was housing the Conference and Ashoka Hotel the delegates.
A day earlier a "warning" was sent to the diplomats attending the Conference by way of "bombs in perfume tubes" in Cuban Embassy envelopes. The Intelligence agencies intercepted the' 'tubes". On examination it was discovered that it contained incendiary material which if broken would have set fire to the premises.
The message as dictated on telephone to Mark Tully--from 5.30 a.m. to 6 a.m. on February 11,1981 read thus:
"I am a Kashmiri freedom fighter. We have planted very strong and sophisticated explosives in 8 buildings where delegates to the non-aligned Conference and media representatives accompanying them are staying and where main and committee meetings are being held. These explosives are under remote control system and will go off and blow up all buildings after a button is pressed from any place within a radius of about three kilometers from the explosives. These buildings will be blown up if our following two genuine demands are not met within the time given for each.
1. The conference should, through a unanimous or at least all overwhelming majority vote, declare its full support to Kashmiri peoples unfettered right of self determination and call upon the governments of India and Pakistan to concede to Kashmiris this right within the next six months. The Secretary General of the United Nations should also publicly call upon India and Pakistan to do so. By the word unfettered we mean that Kashmiris should be given the right to determine whether the whole state of Jammu and Kashmir should form part of India or of Pakistan or should it emerge as a free and independent state.
2. Mr Mohammad Maqbool Butt, the famous Kashmiri freedom-fighter and a prominent leader of Jammu Kashmir National Liberation Front who is now under death sentence in Tihar Jail, New Delhi and his two compatriots Hameed and Riaz now in jail in Srinagar, Kashmir be taken out of their respective jails and flown to Rawalpindi, Pakistan accompanied by three foreign, preferably African or Arab journalists so as to be there within next four hours. These are the two demands, now details.
