On March 14, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri shared a photograph on Twitter where a group of people were seen holding the Indian National Flag at a theatre in Washington DC where they went to see the film Kashmir Files. In the photograph, the son of late Judge Neelkanth Ganjoo was standing holding the flag with a broad smile on his face.
From Washington DC. The gentleman (4th from left) is swargiya Judge Neelkanth Ganjoo’s son. Indian judiciary & system never punished the terrorists who killed him in broad daylight. #TheKashmirFiles is a small step in bringing justice to Judge Ganjoo’s sacrifice. #RightToJustice pic.twitter.com/VnHXCOZ7WV
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) March 14, 2022
Agnihotri, while mentioning him and Judge Ganjoo in the tweet, said, “From Washington DC. The gentleman (4th from left) is swargiya Judge Neelkanth Ganjoo’s son. Indian judiciary & system never punished the terrorists who killed him in broad daylight. #TheKashmirFiles is a small step in bringing justice to Judge Ganjoo’s sacrifice.”
The murder of Judge Neelkanth Ganjoo
On November 4, 1989, three Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) terrorists shot High Court Judge Neelkanth Ganjoo in broad daylight when he was in Hari Singh Street market near the high court in Srinagar. Judge Ganjoo was brutally murdered for his involvement in the Amar Chand murder trial. As a sessions court judge, he had given death sentence to the terrorist Maqbool Bhat in August 1968.
On the fateful day, the retired judge had gone to Jammu & Kashmir Bank’s branch located on Hari Singh Street Market in Srinagar. The terrorists fired several shots from close range, and he died on the spot. After his murder, an announcement was made on Radio Kashmir, “Unknown assailants gunned down a former Sessions Judge in Maharaj Bazaar, Srinagar.” The death of Judge Ganjoo was the second murder of a prominent Kashmiri Pandit within a few weeks. Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Tika Lal Taploo was murdered in September. Tika Lal Taploo was the first causality of the so-called ‘Azad Kashmir’ movement that finally led to the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits from the valley.
Who was Maqbool Bhat?
Maqbool Bhat was a Kashmiri terrorist who co-founded National Liberation Front (NFL). It was a military wing linked to ‘Azad Kashmir Plebiscite Front’. NFL was a precursor to the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, a banned terrorist organization Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Bhat carried out terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir. He was tried and convicted for the death of two officials. Bhat was hanged to death on February 11, 1984, in Tihar Jail, Delhi.
Bhat was born on February 18, 1938, in the present-day Kupwara district. During his college days, he was associated with Mirza Afzal Beg’s Plebiscite Front. In August 1958, following the arrest of Shiekh Abdullah (father of Farooq Abdullah), Bhat left for Pakistan, where he joined Peshawar University and did MA in Urdu Literature. In 1965 he joined Azad Kashmir Plebiscite Front as publicity secretary.
With an oath to ‘liberate’ Kashmir, he, along with Amanullah Khan, established an underground armed wing of AKPF and called it National Liberation Front (NFL). He was responsible for the overall coordination of the group.
Bhat’s terror outfit was accused of kidnapping and killing CID officer Amar Chand in the valley and Indian diplomat Ravindra Mahatre in the United Kingdom. He was also accused of being involved in the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane named Ganga. The hijackers had demanded the release of 36 NFL terrorists and took the plane to Lahore. However, the passengers were released, and no demands were fulfilled.
Bhat was tried for sabotage and murder. He was convicted and awarded death sentence in September 1968 by then-Session Court Judge Neelkanth Ganjoo. After his multiple petitions were rejected, Bhat was hanged to death on February 11, 1984.
