I have never met Maqbool Butt. I have never seen him, except for his photographs. But still he has always remained an inspiration for me. On February 11, every year, spring comes to me with renewed inspiration to continue with his struggle.

When I was arrested on August 6, 1990, I was bleeding profusely, blindfolded, tired and had not slept for two nights. Within another two days later I was shifted to an unknown destination out of Srinagar. On August 8, when the policemen removed the bandage from my eyes I was told that I was in Tihar Jail's death cell. Lucky for me, that's where Maqbool Butt lived for years. A middle aged Jail constable made sarcastic remarks to me in his comparison of me to Maqool Butt.

"You look so depressed and week when your leader was like an iron man, determined to do anything and always hale and hearty", he remarked in Hindi. His comments touched my soul. My exhaustion and weakness vanished. I pledged there and then to follow our great leader's example.

Just like any Kashmiri prisoner I wanted to see the grave of Maqbool Butt Shaheed who was buried within the jail. I remember the very first thing I asked for in Tihar jail was to be shown his grave. I was merely shown the iron-fenced area in the backyard of the jail from a distance. I asked the Jailer if I could go near and touch the grave. The officer stood up and refused permission in a coarse language. I insisted that I wanted to visit the grave to pay my obeisance to my leader but he cruelly ordered his subordinates to take me away.

Sometime later some of the inmates took me near the fenced area. Desperately wanting to touch the grave, I preyed to God for the opportunity to be near it. As I stood there, where no one was allowed to go, heavens opened and water hammered down. Rain became heavy and the water flowed toward me. I felt the eerie air and hissing of nearby trees made me feel as if Maqbool Butt was standing in front of me. I don't know why but I started crying.

Tears rolled out of my eyes and mixed with the rainwater. I just kneeled down and offered Fatiah. When I went back to my cell and wept loudly. As I cried made my second pledge. I vowed not to rest until his dream of independent Kashmir was realised. I pledged not to surrender at any cost.

During my time in that prison, I acquired information about what Maqbool Butt did in Jail, how friendly he became with inmates and prison officers. One of the senior employees in the Jail described him as a perfect man who was meaningful in his ideas and actions. I was told he spoke very little and therefore newcomers usually took a while to notice his presence even when they were in the same barrack. At meal times he ate very little and his food used to remain in front of him for hours, which irritated the jail authorities. For strangers, he was numb as he remained in thought process most of the time, but those who knew him knew well how uneasy he was in chains.

Maqbool Butt was a realist who understood the enormous odds against him. He was a romantic, ready to embrace death for what he believed in.

A 10 years old girl, Mehak, once asked me when we would achieve our goal of freedom. Mehak was one of millions of children from across Jammu-Kashmir who posed this question every day. When I was her age, the same question would float in my mind repeatedly and keep me restless.

I couldn't find an answer then but when I joined the movement it came clear to me. Let me share that secret with you, today. I believe the date for our national freedom was written on the day the father of the nation, Shaheed Maqbool Butt, was hanged to death in Tihar Jail by India.

I have set a goal for myself to discover that date. I am clear in my mind. I have no doubt about our destiny and the date for our independence.

The oppressor may continue to divert your attention and attempt to weaken our movement through false propaganda. But the resolute determination, supreme struggle and sacrifices of Shaheed-e-Kashmir, Maqbool Butt and thousands of his followers who died for the sacred cause of independence will bear fruit. It is our job to make sure that their goal is achieved sooner or later.

When I think of earlier generations who preceded us and the ones who will follow, I am reminded of the progression of water waves moving towards the shore. As one crests another falls, almost in anticipation of its turn. We have arrived here because of those who have gone before us, and the same will be true for the next generation. This natural phenomenon suggests that we too must fallow those who laid the foundation of the revolution in our country for the betterment of our people. Mabool Butt started alone but today hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris are with him. Tomorrow we will achieve his goal and set new goals for progress into the next century as a free nation.

Today, Maqbool Butt lives in every Kashmiri's heart and soul. He shall continue to occupy that place for the centuries to come. He was and always will be a legend and a hero to the patriotic people of Jammu-Kashmir no matter which side of the divide they live in.

For me, great men like martyr Maqbool Butt, who made millions wakeup from deep slumber and made us learn how to lead life with self-respect and die with dignity, their message will never fade. We will hear their message loud and clear every year until victory.

I first met Maqbool Butt in March 1969 when he was released from custody in Muzaffarabad Qilla. He had just escaped from Srinagar jail and managed to cross over to Muzafarabad where he was arrested again. He still had frost-bite in his feet. Mir Abdul Qayyum was with me then. Since that day till May 1976 Maqbool Butt stayed with me in Rawalpindi. He was so much committed to the freedom movement that he had very little time to go home. He had very busy schedule of our work recruiting more members. He was a tireless man with a very strong conviction for freedom. He worked day and night.

I remember when Maqbool Butt, Javed Saghar and myself traveled day and night for 72 hours to supply goods to our underground activists in Jammu for an emergency. When we came back to my house after making safe delivery I could not control myself and immediately fell asleep. At about 4 a.m. when I suddenly woke up I found Maqbool Butt still having discussions with Ayub Khan's group who had arrived to discuss operational matters in the Neelam Sector. Maqbool Butt had another excellent quality, which I never saw in anyone else. He tackled very complicated problems in such a simple way that he bewildered me.

He enjoyed children's company. He was at his happiest with children. Whenever we had to look for him we looked for children's gathering and found him either playing with them or teaching them about the meaning and benefits of true freedom. I still remember his answer to one child who asked him how to be free. Maqbool Butt told him "when you can make yourself believe that you are free, YOU ARE FREE".

He was staunch believer in national and individual freedom. He wanted his nation to be a proud and free nation. His ambition was for an independent homeland where all would be free from evils of the past and of the prevailing era.

It is beyond any doubt that he loved liberty for his people and I can confirm with my hand on my heart that Maqbool Butt believed Azadi was worth having at whatever cost.

I remember that sad February day in 1984 when the news broke out that Mohammed Maqbool Butt had been hanged in Tihar Prison near Delhi by the Indian authorities. Neither Maqbool Butt nor his case was known to me then but as an ordinary Kashmiri I remember feeling an immense sense of loss, anger and helplessness.

Maqbool Butt is quoted to have said, "If they (Indians) think that by executing me they can kill the freedom movement in Kashmir they are simply mistaken. It is after my death the movement will really start".

How right he was! Within hours of his death young Kashmiris were prepared to become "Shaheeds" in following his footsteps in the name of 'Azadi'.

Over the years, following Maqbool Butt's sacrifice I remember feeling a sense of frustration on many occasions when I felt that the western world was not highlighting the very real atrocities imposed upon the Kashmiri people by the Indian soldiers. It was a well known fact that mass murder, torture, rape and humiliation of innocent civilians was common place in Kashmir, yet international community appeared to be turning a blind eye. In some ways though, the lack of support appeared to be strengthen the determination of the Kashmiris. Slowly support for the movement started filtering through.

Documentation on violations of human rights by Indian forces were been published by Amnesty International, Physicians for Human Rights and Asia-Watch. Despite the evidence of excesses India continues to claim the atrocities as 'an internal matter', allocating the international community to a ringside seat as a helpless spectator.

Despite the lack of international intervention support for Maqbool Butt's dream, the right of self-detemination for the Kashmiri people continues to take momentum both in occupied and in Azad Kashmir. What was a dream has become the national cry of over 13 million people of Jammu-Kashmir worldwide.

InshaAllah the floodlights of Azadi will very soon shine through whole of Kashmir.