Muslim 'Rage Boy' says he's really angry

AFP ^ | July 5, 2007 | Izhar Wani

[West Coast Conservative]

He has become the face of Muslim fury: an angry young man whose bushy beard and fiery-eyed scowl take centre stage at nearly every pro-Islamic demonstration in Indian Kashmir.

Shakeel Bhat, 31, has been displaying his teeth and shaking his fist over anything from Salman Rushdie's knighthood to Danish cartoons, becoming a photographers' favourite and earning himself the nickname "Rage Boy" in online columns and blogs.

One American columnist has dismissed him as a "professional Muslim protester," while other bloggers have also held him up for ridicule as a person who appears to be very easily enraged about anything.

But Bhat, the man behind the angry face, said he could take any kind of criticism in his stride.

"Whatever I do, I do for Allah and the Prophet Mohammed," said Bhat, who admits to having been an armed militant between 1991 and 1994 with a pro-Pakistan rebel group.

"I can't resist injustice. I protest for all the oppressed Muslims in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan," he told AFP.

Bhat dropped out of school in his early teens, and quickly found his way into the armed struggle against New Delhi's disputed hold over part of the scenic Himalayan region.

The nearly 18-year-old conflict has left at least 42,000 people dead, nearly a third of them civilians.

After escaping scores of police raids, Bhat finally spent three years behind bars -- a lucky escape from the Indian army's "catch and kill" tactics of the 1990s.

While he no longer carries a weapon, Bhat said he was still fuming about the Indian army's often suffocating presence in Kashmir -- where there is one soldier for every four civilians -- and what he sees as a wider international conspiracy against Muslims.

"If my photographs get published across the world, it is because my emotions are real and my looks are not deceptive. The photos show the anger inside," said the full-time demonstrator, who when off the street looks distincly modest and a little shy.

Bhat has been detained more than 300 times since he first took to the streets of Srinagar in late 1997. He even travels to other parts of the picturesque Kashmir valley to vent his Islamist anger.

"Police have registered 40 cases against me for taking part in the protests and I have to shuttle from one court to another to defend myself. I've been in almost every police station," he laughed, clutching a plastic bag full of court papers.

Although not a Shiite Muslim, he says his inspiration is Iran's late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

"I sometimes leave my home and return days later after being in police lock-ups," said Bhat, whose family run a handicrafts business.

"My family members are very supportive. They know I am not doing anything wrong. I am doing what every Muslims needs to do."

Apart from drawing ridicule from bloggers, Bhat has even inspired one American neoconservative website to push "Rage Boy" merchandise -- including T-shirts, beer mugs, mouse pads.

"I don't believe this! I have no knowledge about all this. Why do they do it?" demanded Bhat, who says he has no idea how to use a computer and the Internet.

Bhat also shrugged off his rather unflattering "Rage Boy" nickname.

"I don't need any titles. I am a simple Muslim. Yes, I get enraged if someone, somewhere makes derogatory remarks about our religion or Prophet," he said.

"The Koran is my driving force. I will come out on streets as long as Muslims are victims of oppression, even if it leads to my death."

[Natchez Hawk]

Must take a lot of work to stay that angry—even the most miserable person is accidentally happy some of the time..

[ThePythonicCow]

There is a good background of Rage Boy on SnappedShot.com.

---

Here is the original angle of our iconic "Rage Boy" shot:

SRINAGAR, INDIA: Indian Kashmiri activists of the pro-Pakistani Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (MLJK) shout slogans against Pope Benedict XVI during a protest in Srinagar 15 September 2006. Pope Benedict XVI's attack on Islam has stirred anger in India with the head of the National Commission for Minorities saying he sounded like a medieval crusader. Pope Benedict provoked worldwide outcry with comments 12 September during a visit to his native Germany in which he talked about the "issue of jihad, holy war" a term used by Islamic extremists to justify acts of terror. AFP PHOTO Sajjad HUSSAIN (Photo credit should read SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images)

And check out how tough our "Rage Boy" looks soon thereafter:

SRINAGAR, INDIA: Indian policemen arrest Indian Kashmiri activists of the pro-Pakistani Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (MLJK) as they stage a protest against Pope Benedict XVI in Srinagar 15 September 2006. Pope Benedict XVI's attack on Islam has stirred anger in India with the head of the National Commission for Minorities saying he sounded like a medieval crusader. Pope Benedict provoked worldwide outcry with comments 12 September during a visit to his native Germany in which he talked about the "issue of jihad, holy war" a term used by Islamic extremists to justify acts of terror. AFP PHOTO Sajjad HUSSAIN (Photo credit should read SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Even farther back, it seems our Rage Boy had some thoughts on the DANISH CARTOON CRISIS (which was before the epoch of Snapped Shot) as well:

SRINAGAR, INDIA: Kashmiri Muslims hold a Holy Koran as they shout anti-US and anti-Danish slogans during a demonstration in Srinagar, 03 March 2006. Thousand of activists protested against the visit of US President Bush to India and the publication of cartoons depicting The Prophet Mohammed in European papers. Kashmir is in the grip of a 16-year-old insurgency against Indian rule that has left more than 44,000 people dead by official count. Seperatists put the toll twice high. AFP PHOTO/Tauseef MUSTAFA (Photo credit should read TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP/Getty Images)

[Publius6961]

Hey!
This is just like "green helmet" in Lebanon.

They got a madrassas just for training uncontrolled psychotics?

[colorado tanker]

If Muslims put as much time into working and making money as they do into their perpetual enragement, they might actually start to improve their dogsh@t economies.

[MarineDad]

"After escaping scores of police raids, Bhat finally spent three years
behind bars -- a lucky escape from the Indian army's "catch and kill" tactics of the 1990s."

Hmm, even the name of that policy is might appealing when it comes to dealing with ragheads.

I just wish in his case that his luck had run out on that occasion...

[dead]

Spending a fun day at the ballpark.

[AU72]

Sasha Cohen should drop Borat and channel Rage Boy.

[LilyBean]

Post of the day.

Hubby, who follows no news whatsoever, seen a little blip one night about Muslims rioting somewhere in the world. He looked at me, and his only comment was “Don’t these people work.”

They spend way to much time and energy on hatred. And little on improving their own lot in life. They care more about blaming everything on Israel, and expending little, if no effort on improving themselves, and their surroundings. They are do nothings. They do nothing, and expect everything. I would not even care to see what Israel would look like under the care of these do nothings.

I’m sure she wouldn’t be the productive country she is today. Muslims kill everything they touch. And if they don’t kill it, they turn it into a garbage dump.

[gcruse]

No Brit, Elmer Fudd would never say ‘veddy.’ Right, Elmer?

“Wight. And thank you vewy, vewy, much. Oh, and death to wabbits!”

[aruanan]

My Muslim name translates into English as Cletus.

[river rat]

Would ANYONE hesitate to squeeze the trigger with that asshole’s head centered in the scope?

Not even for a New York second!

That man’s visage simply screams out “KILL ME”, before I kill you.

Whack the bastard and rack another round — feeling no more that perhaps some recoil.....

[reagan_fanatic]

[beethovenfan]

Ugly f**ker ain’t he?

[scottdeus12]

“I can’t resist injustice. I protest for all the oppressed Muslims in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan,” he told AFP.”

Are you kidding me?

Question; Who oppresses more Muslims than anyone else?

Answer; Other Muslims.

Get a grip, buddy.

[stevio]

Or his grossly overweight sister, Phat Bhat.

Is she the one who just got married? I think her name is now Phat Bhat-Estard.

[colorado tanker]

FReegards to you and hubby!

[Doomonyou]

"Whatever I do, I do for Allah and the Prophet Mohammed,"

Evidently allah has a liking for Whiners.

[Gideon T. Reader]

EXCELLENT! THAT is funny.

[Law is not justice but process]

What about the brother no one talks about - Frooit Bhat?