Kashmiri civil society pays homage to Maqbool Sherwani, who failed Pakistani raiders' invasion in 1947

He was brutally murdered by the raiders for misleading them on the way to Srinagar which delayed their attack on the airport and resulted in their defeat.

On 27th October 1947, the 1 Sikh regiment of the Indian Army landed at Srinagar Airport, a day after Maharaja Hari Singh, ruler of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir signed the Instrument of Accession with the Union of India on October 26, 1947.

The 16-day-long invasion failed in Kashmir due to a strong military response from the Indian Army soon after Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession with India on October 26, 1947. Had Sherwani not misled the marauders, they would have most probably captured the airport and the capital city of Srinagar would have fallen well before the Indian Army's arrival.

The Kashmiri civil society led by noted Human Rights Activist Javed Ahmad Beigh, who has represented India at the Geneva, Switzerland-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) organized a special event wherein they paid homage to the sacrifice of Maqbool Sherwani and marked the day as "Youm-e-Shahadat".

The civilian initiative was the first of its kind to highlight the key role of Maqbool Sherwani as most of the Kashmiris have a blurred idea as to who Maqbool Sherwani was. Earlier, only the Indian Army would organize events paying homage to Maqbool Sherwani but this time, ordinary Kashmiris decided to do this on their own.

Javed Ahmad Beigh, convenor of the event said that in light of the recent unabated terrorist attack by Pakistan-backed terrorists in different parts of Jammu and Kashmir, ordinary Kashmiris decided to organize this event to send a stern message to Pakistan that Kashmiris don't approve of Pakistani terrorism in Kashmir Valley anymore.

Javed Ahmad Beigh added that another purpose of organizing the event was to also counter yearly Pakistani propaganda of their marking today as the so-called Black Day.

The main event was held at Maqbool Sherwani Community Hall in Baramulla town. Javed Ahmad Beigh spoke about the valour and sacrifice of Maqbool Sherwani who played an instrumental role in the defeat of Pashtun tribal raiders sent by Pakistan to illegally capture Kashmir Valley in October 1947.

Javed Beigh also made a presentation on the atrocities committed by Pakistan-backed Pashtun tribal raiders. Others who spoke on the occasion were the close family members of Shaheed Maqbool Sherwani including his nephew Manzoor Sherwani and social activists Irfan Attari and Rohit Raina Razdan.

The event was attended by a large number of ordinary Kashmiris, especially Kashmiri youth. Afterwards, a floral tribute was paid by those gathered at the memorial of Shaheed Maqbool Sherwani near Sherwani Community Hall.Later on, hundreds of members of Kashmiri civil society visited the graveyard of Shaheed Mohammad Maqbool Sherwani at his ancestral graveyard near Jamia Qadeem Masjid in the old town of Baramulla and paid their respects. (ANI)