Peerzada Arshad Hamid

Srinagar

For his constant angry postures in the news photos circulated by press photo agencies, some rightwing bloggers in US have promoted him as the face of Muslim fury and resistance from Kashmir. Nicknamed "Islamic rage boy", he has been turned into an international Internet phenomenon and a much talked about subject.

Though, an ordinary political activist from Srinagar, his presence on the web has created a larger than life image of him. While some call him the professional protestor, others argue that he has been unnecessarily used as a tool and means to justify Islam bashing.

Meet Shakeel Ahmad Bhat, 31, of Srinagar. Unaware of the discourse and doctored images with funny cut lines that his photos have generated, Shakeel is engrossed in a world of his own.

A lean man with a thorny beard and crooked nose, his appearance at home is contrary to the one showing him gnashing teeth and raising fists. Smiling intermittently, he talks in a soft tone.

"I consider it my duty to protest against the rights violations and scathing attacks aimed at Islam by its enemies. By holding protests, I want to show solidarity with the Muslim brethren across the globe, who are suffering because of the dirty politics of western powers in several Muslim countries," Bhat said.

Ignorant of the hullabaloo over his photos that inspired cartoons and merchandise, Bhat says he is not bothered how people perceive him.

"Whatever I do, I do it in the name of Allah, the almighty. I am more considered with the world hereafter. Neither Syed Ali Shah Geelani nor Mirwaiz Umar Farooq can guarantee me a place in the heavens. It is only the Allah's approval that will take me there," says Bhat who is often spotted in the protest rallies of the Kashmir's hardline leader Geelani and the moderate cleric Mirwaiz.

"I believe Allah has chosen me for this act," he adds with a tinge of philosophy.

By now Shakeel has become the inseparable part and a hallmark of Kashmir protests. From protests over sexual exploitation of Kashmiri girls by mainstream politicians and Army personnel to unearthing of fake encounters; row over Danish cartoons to Salman Rushdie's knighthood, Shakeel's anger was manifest and USP for the photographers covering these incidents.

Farooq Khan who works with European Pressphoto Agency in Srinagar has captured Shakeel's different postures since years. Khan says Shakeel's is a darling of the photographers and his postures are the perfect grabs from the demonstrations.

"Shakeel's postures are news. We can't ignore him.

"For a particular incident, we usually send five to seven pictures to our headquarters. What I've found with Shakeels's pictures was most of them used to be released. This means his emotions are real. It is what photo editors are always looking for," Khan said.

Shakeel lives with his aged mother and brothers in a three-storied traditionally-built old house at Fateh Kadal, Malik Angan, an old locality in downtown Srinagar known for stone pelting incidents. The area is popularly known as Kashmir 's Gaza strip.

Last month, Muntazir Ahmad, 14, of the adjacent locality was killed in a stone pelting incident. According to witnesses, Muntazir was killed when police opened fire while the ding doing battle between the protestors in downtown and police were on over the human rights violations in the region. Police denied the charge saying Muntazir was hit by a stray tear smoke canister.

Shakeel Ahmad Bhat says at least 40 cases are registered against him in various police stations for participating in protest demonstrations.

Early in the morning Shakeel leaves his home to attend the courts of law. If it is a day to stage a protest demonstration, he slips away to join it. There are instances when he has traveled hundreds of kilometers from his hometown to hold protests.

"Usually I travel on foot to the demonstration spot. However, sometimes if it's far away, I board the Hurriyat vehicle as I don't have the money to reach the spot. Often I get arrested as well but my family is quite cooperative," Bhat said.

Back home his family is used to it and often gets the news that their son has been taken into a lockup.

Shakeel, a school dropout is a former Pakistan-trained militant with a pro-Pakistan militant group, Al-Umar Mujahideen headed by Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar. Soon after the arrest of Zargar, the group lost the strength and was wiped from the scene. However, it again hogged the headlines during 2000 when Zargar was released along with Maulana Masood Azhar and other two in exchange to the passengers of IC 814, airplane that was hijacked and taken to Khandhar ( Afghanistan).

Shakeel's active role as a militant ended up in 1994 after his arrest. After his release in 1997 he continued to be a political activist. Since then he has been a regular in every protest. Till date he has been arrested more than 300 times.

For Bhat,  his popularity in the US, where the two bloggers re-imagined him as a cartoon character and have put him on T-shirts, beer mugs, mouse pads and Valentine cards in a variety of bloodthirsty and furious poses, is his success.

"Though I don't like people making my fun but still if I'm gaining popularity in the West, it's my success. Suppose 10 people see my image out of them if five will look at it sarcastically, other five might look at it seriously. They will come to know why I'm protesting," Bhat pleads.

Soon after the news about his familiarity on the Internet was reported by newspapers, Bhat was once again taken into custody.

"The high rank police officers came to me and told me to shun the path and get married," Bhat laughs.

Shakeel is still a most sought after character in the protests and will remain as far as photojournalists believe that his actions are real and worth capturing.

"We are not exaggerating as was done by the bloggers. We just do our assignments and they re-imagine him," said Rafiq Maqbool, a photographer with Associated Press.
Bhat's mother, Fozia, is not bothered over what people say about her son. "Right from his childhood, he was like this, always inquisitive and emotional. I remember when he used to sing the Urdu couplet ' Aadi roti khayeingey, sar nahien jukayein gein (We won't bow come what may)'," she says pouring tea from the kettle for Shakeel.
Now a days Shakeel is visited frequently by journalists mostly from international media. Shakeel's face may keep on churning out millions for companies in the west, but back home he is dependent on his brothers for pocket money.