Indian Army renovates grave of Kashmiri youth who misguided Pakistani raiders in 1947

The Indian Army on Thursday held remembrance prayers at the renovated grave of Janab Maqbool Sherwani, a Kashmir youth who was killed by raiders from Pakistan in 1947 for delaying their march towards Srinagar on the Uri-Muzaffarabad highway.

The grave of Maqbool Sherwani is located in the old town, Baramulla. The Army began the renovation work of the grave in April 2021 and it now stands completed.

In November 1947, the raiders from Pakistan were indulging in plunder, raid, and murder of innocent people in Kashmir. Maqbool Sherwani had successfully misguided the raiders on to the wrong path when he was asked to guide them towards Srinagar airport.

Maqbool Sherwani and his volunteers, comprising various communities with no military training, set up roadblocks and demolished bridges, thus protecting the fastest access to Srinagar. When the raiders realized that they have been misled, they caught Maqbool Sherwani, mutilated his body, and crucified him before firing 14 bullets on it.

The body was nailed to a plank and tied till the Indian Army got it down. Maqbool Sherwani died on November 7, 1947.

Two weeks after his death, Mahatma Gandhi paid tribute to him in a prayer meeting in Delhi to honor him.