THE DARING ESCAPE OF RAMESH MARHATTA FROM THE CLUTCHES OF THE TERRORISTS
Ramesh Marhatta is a dedicated broadcaster at Akashvani, Jammu. It was a different experience to be his guest for a recording session in March 2023. Thoroughly professional and definition of a gentleman, Marhatta has a special flair for recording features and programmes relating to the cultural heritage of Kashmir. He is soft-spoken, smiling and affable. There is something more to his person that needs to be known. After my recording at Akashvani Jammu was over, I requested Ramesh Marhatta to narrate the unbelievable story of his escape.
During the early 1990s, Ramesh Marhatta joined Akashvani, Srinagar as a casual announcer and moved down from his naïve village to live in Srinagar city’s Badami Bagh locality. A spine-chilling story of a poor, innocent and casual announcer being branded as an Indian agent or Mukhbir and picked up from his residence by the gun-wielding killers. It is the story of a period when the gun-wielding terrorists succeeded in creating a situation where every pro-India person in general and Kashmiri Pandits, in particular, were looked at with suspicion, disdain and scorn. It was a period when the killers made innocent Kashmiri Pandits their soft targets to test the newly acquired weapons. It was a period when 'Hit Lists 'were daily pasted at prominent places in every Pandit locality branding listed Pandits as Indian agents, informants and Mukhbirs who were to be eliminated if they failed to leave the valley. Frightened, terrified and shell-shocked, Kashmiri Pandits left the valley en-masse to save their lives and honour
It is the story of a period when a good number of families belonging to the majority community also opted to move out of the valley for the education of their children or their known pro-India leanings. It was a period when all sane voices in the valley had been silenced by the fear and fright of the gun. This fear had torn apart the fabric of centuries-old goodwill and composite living in the valley. Fear was visible on roads, in markets, in lanes, in offices in public transport vehicles and even inside closed doors. And Kashmir had become a dangerous place to live.
This young broadcaster had a providential survival from the bullets fired at him after being abducted by the terrorists in the Kashmir valley in the early 1990s of the last century. In the captivity, he was subjected to all types of torture. As per Marhatta, the commander of the terrorist organisation had ordered his killing after subjecting him to many rounds of interrogation. Wounded in the gunfire and bleeding profusely, Ramesh Marhatta made a daring escape from the clutches of the killers. In his urgency to seek help, he ran here and there and finally reached the gate of the nearby army camp. The guard on duty alerted his seniors who subjected Marhatta to some verification. As per Marhatta, the army was already knowing that some Kashmiri Pandit announcer of Akashvani, Srinagar had been abducted from his residence in Badami Bagh, Srinagar and search operations had already begun. He was immediately rushed to the BB Cantt hospital. Once inside the hospital, he didn't know what happened for the next 5 days. He had multiple surgeries to regain consciousness.
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I saw the scars of the bullets and burnt cigarette butts on Marhatta’s body. Very painful. His miraculous survival is simply unbelievable. I can only salute his saviour, the great Indian Army. I also salute his courage and presence of mind. The tragic saga of Ramesh Marhatta also appears in a moving short story penned by eminent Hindi writer Dr Kshama Kaul in her book " 19 January ke Baad".This is what Dr K N Pandita wrote about this incident in the Daily Excelsior dated 8th December 2019:-
“The terrorists collected some gunny bags and rope lengths. They again blindfolded Ramesh. After about thirty minutes of walk, the terrorists put him in a vehicle and moved away to execute him. After reaching some unknown destination, the car stopped and Ramesh was pulled out of the vehicle and pushed towards something like a nullah. Ramesh knew that he would be killed in a couple of minutes and thus begged for life saying he had done nothing to punish him with death. In this disorderly situation, Ramesh’s handcuff became loose and he removed the blindfold from his eyes. As he opened his eyes he caught the sight of some light atop the Shankaracharya temple on the sombre and serene hillock. As he looked around, he found about 15 terrorists surrounding him and some more sitting in a Contessa car parked at a little distance. All terrorists had aimed their guns at Ramesh. The dance of death began. A young boy with a gun stood behind Ramesh. He fired four shots at him. Three of the four shots hit him in the right hip and abdomen area. With bullets embedded in his body, Ramesh in desperation took to his heels and ran away in a zigzag manner while the terrorists continued showering bullets on him. Fortunately, none of those bullets hit him, Ramesh ran towards a nearby army camp about 200 meters away and asked the guard on the gate to let him in to save his life. The guard suspecting that Ramesh was a terrorist, aimed his gun at him and asked him for his hands up. The wounded Ramesh had no strength to lift his hands and fell on the earth. The guard dragged him inside the gate. When Ramesh spoke to the teashop owner close to the gate of the camp, the vendor came to know that he was a Hindu who had been kidnapped by the terrorists and wanted a safe place. The guard immediately informed his superiors and instantly there was movement in the camp because the news had been flashed across last night that a Hindu radio announcer had been kidnapped in the Sonawar area by the terrorists. The army authorities reacted immediately and brought an ambulance and Ramesh was admitted to the Badami Bagh cantonment hospital. The army doctors operated on him. Three days later he regained consciousness. The surgeons told him that the bullets were removed after 18 hours of surgery. The message went across that the kidnapped person had miraculously escaped death and was being treated in the hospital for the gunshots. The day Ramesh regained consciousness, Governor Girish Chander Saxena accompanied by the Director-General of Police visited Ramesh in the hospital, consoled him and praised him for his bravery and fortitude in going through such a deadly ordeal in captivity. The DGP asked him if he could bring to his mind the locality where he had been kept as a captive for the night. Ramesh had no clue but told the DGP that the sound of the Azaan he had heard at 4 am while in captivity of the terrorists was precisely the same which came out from a loudspeaker fitted atop the three-storey house of the locality in Sonawar where he lived. A few days later the DGP visited Ramesh again and told him that his guess was correct and the police had swooped on the hideout of the terrorists in the same locality wherefrom a large cache of arms and ammunition was recovered.”
The daring escape and bravery demonstrated by Ramesh Marhatta need appreciation and encouragement. That is also a way of sending a clear message to those indulging in such inhuman acts apart from patting the brave and the daring.I also feel that Ramesh Marhatta's story remains still unknown to people in general.
( Avtar Mota )
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.
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