| Dr Farooq Haider writes about Maqbool Butt S |
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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. Dr Farooque Haider |