SRINAGAR: A lesser-known Kashmiri poet has no regrets about losing his 30 years of work, entire poetry collection and his house which was burnt down last week in an operation by security forces to kill three holed-up al Qaida terrorists On March 15, following a failed weapon-snatching bid in Khanmoh area near Srinagar, three terrorists of the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind — the al Qaida cell in Kashmir — had sought refuge in poet Ghulam Mohammad Bhat (52) alias Madhosh Balhami’s house in Balhama of Pampore in south Kashmir. The three— Rasiq Nabi Butt of Tral, Shabbir Ahmad Dar of Aghanzipora and Pakistani terrorist Abu Hamas— were killed in an encounter with security forces.During the operation, Balhami's house was razed down. Balhami claims two of his poetry books, ‘Sadaye Abu Zar’ and ‘Dard-e-Furqat’, and a collection of about 400 books were destroyed in the blaze. “The handwritten Urdu manuscripts and 30 years of a lifetime’s work could have shaped at least 20 books,” he said.But Balhami doesn’t have a trace of anguish about his loss. “Houses can be rebuilt. The collection of books and a lifetime of work may be precious for a poet, but they have no value as compared to the cause of such militants. I can sacrifice hundreds of such houses, thousands of such poetry collections for jihad (holy war),” he said.“I was writing last Thursday afternoon when three young men — two armed and one with his right leg bleeding from a gunshot wound — barged into my compound. When my wife tried to resist their entry, they forced their way inside and one of them pointed a gun at her,” Balhami said.The poet said the militants later apologized for barging into his house and warned him that it may get destroyed in the fight against security forces. “They, however, promised to repay me by sharing half of their good deeds with me on the Day of Judgment. Moved by their behaviour, I allowed them to take refuge in the house after evacuating my five-member family and six other relatives from the place,” he said.“I cannot forget their glowing faces till the last day of my life. Pehle yeh ghar mere liye bas ek makaan tha, ab yeh jagah mere liye ek aastan hai (Earlier, this was my home. After the militants’ martyrdom, it has now become a shrine),” said Balhami, adding that the terrorists even offered two ‘rakahs’ of ‘Nimaz-e-Shahadat’ (special prayers before attaining martyrdom).The media focused more on the loss of his property and manuscripts, but he wanted to share his experience with the Ghazwat-ul-Hind members, Balhami told TOI.

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