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Shakeel Ahmad Bhat

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Shakeel Ahmad Bhat
Bornc. 1979
Jammu and Kashmir, India
OccupationIslamic activist
Known forMuslim Rage Boy internet meme

Shakeel Ahmad Bhat is a Kashmiri activist and former militant[1] who has become a minor internet celebrity.[2] Photographs depicting close-ups of him angrily participating in protests in Srinagar appeared in many international newspapers in 2007 and became an internet meme,[3] with several bloggers nicknaming him Islamic Rage Boy.[4] He has been featured in newspapers such as the Times of India,[5] Middle East Times,[6] France 24,[7] and The Sunday Mail.[8][9][2][1]

Biography

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Bhat was born into a Sufi Muslim family in Jammu and Kashmir, India, sometime in the late 1970s.[10] His father was associated with Jammu and Kashmir Plebiscite Front.[11] In 1986, during a police raid on his home, his sister Sharifa was thrown down a flight of stairs, resulting in her becoming bedridden.[10] She died in 1992 at the age of 18 due to complications resulting from her injuries.[10] Bhat dropped out of school as a teenager, and in 1991, at the age of 13, he joined a pro-Pakistan militant group called Al-Umar-Mujahideen,[11] which he remained part of until his arrest in 1994.[12][13] He was arrested and spent three years in prison, during which he was tortured and subjected to electric shocks. A nail was driven through his jaw.[14] [15]He lives in Srinagar, where he began participating in demonstrations in 1997. Due to his angry look, he was often photographed by journalists. He took part in protests against the Indian Army, Israel, Pope Benedict XVI, Salman Rushdie, and the Muhammad cartoons.[16] According to Free Press Kashmir, he has "intermittently spent 24 years and 4 months" in different prisons across India and has 276 FIRs against him.[10] In 2020, he got married.[10]

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He was featured in numerous blogs and articles by Christopher Hitchens,[17] Kathleen Parker,[18] Michelle Malkin,[19] and others. On various blogs, he was photoshopped as Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler or as an opera singer.[20][21] His picture has also been printed on T-shirts, posters, mouse-pads, and beer mugs.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Butt, Riazat (23 July 2007). "All the rage - victim of US bloggers' cartoon hits back". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  2. ^ a b Vali Nasr (15 September 2009). Forces of Fortune: The Rise of the New Hindu Middle Class and What It Will Mean for Our World. Free Press. pp. 256–. ISBN 978-1-4165-9194-8. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  3. ^ Hussain, Ashiq (25 February 2011). "9th case against Kashmir's 'Islamic poster-boy'". Hindustan Times.
  4. ^ Rajghatta, Chidanand (1 July 2007). "Kashmir's 'Rage Boy' invites humour, mirth". The Times of India. India. Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  5. ^ a b Rajghatta, Chidanand (1 July 2007). "Kashmir's 'Rage Boy' invites humour, mirth". Indiatimes. Archived from the original on 28 October 2007. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  6. ^ Wani, Izhar (5 July 2007). "Muslim 'Rage Boy' says he is really angry". Middle East News. SRINAGAR, India. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  7. ^ France 24 Archived 20 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Patrick French (27 January 2011). India: A Portrait. Penguin Books Limited. pp. 464–. ISBN 978-0-14-194700-6. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  9. ^ Stuart Croft (9 February 2012). Securitizing Islam: Identity and the Search for Security. Cambridge University Press. p. 216. ISBN 978-1-107-02046-7. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d e Zainab (2021). "How blasphemy' gave birth to Kashmir's 'Rage Boy'". Free Press Kashmir.
  11. ^ a b Hussain, Ashiq (25 February 2011). "9th case against Kashmir's 'Islamic poster-boy'". Hindustan Times.
  12. ^ Wani, Izhar (5 July 2007). "Muslim 'Rage Boy' says he is really angry". Middle East News. SRINAGAR, India. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  13. ^ Butt, Riazat (23 July 2007). "All the rage - victim of US bloggers' cartoon hits back". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  14. ^ "The sad tale of Shakeel Bhat, AKA Islamic Rage Boy..... - AR15.COM". www.ar15.com. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  15. ^ French, Patrick (27 January 2011). India: A Portrait. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-0-14-194700-6.
  16. ^ Rajghatta, Chidanand (1 July 2007). "Kashmir's 'Rage Boy' invites humour, mirth". Indiatimes. Archived from the original on 28 October 2007. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  17. ^ Christopher Hitchens (25 June 2007). "Let's stop channeling angry Muslims". Slate Magazine. Archived from the original on 18 September 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  18. ^ Parker, Kathleen (29 June 2007). "Rage Boy vs. Civilization". RealClearPolitics. Washington. Archived from the original on 26 November 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  19. ^ Malkin, Michelle (29 June 2007). "Laughing at Islamic Rage Boy". michellemalkin.com. Archived from the original on 20 November 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  20. ^ Ledbetter, Brian C. (22 June 2007). "Islamic Rage Boy Parody Roundup". Snapped Shot. Archived from the original on 21 December 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  21. ^ lumberjack (29 June 2007). "Rage Boy". Are We Lumberjacks?. Blogger. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
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