Ghulam Muhammad Kar alias Bulla was born to Ghulam Rasool Kar of Nowhamam, Sopore in October 1951. Like all Kashmiris, Bulla resented what he called the occupation of Kashmir by Indian troops.
Besides Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Bulla had associations with Nazir Wani, S Hamid, Shabir Ahmad Shah and others, who later formed the Jammu Kashmir Peoples League (JKPL).
In 1975, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah signed the infamous Indra-Abdullah accord. The Plebiscite Front was sacrificed and Sheikh Abdullah became the Chief Minister of the state. The accord evoked massive protests across the Valley.
On February 11, Bulla registered strong protest against the infamous accord and hoisted Pakistani flag in Sopore Chowk. On the same day he was arrested and severely tortured. He was immediately shifted to Srinagar Central jail. Bulla’s woes did not end in the jail as well. The torture continued and Bulla fell seriously ill. Instead of providing Medicare to him, the jail authorities perpetually tortured him.
Finally, the incessant torture proved fatal and Bulla succumbed on February 15. The police, on the same night, knocked at the door of Ghulam Rasool Kar.The scared family members were taken out and forced to board a vehicle in which Bulla’s body had been kept. The police did not allow them to have a look at Bulla’s body. The body had been washed in the Srinagar Central Jail itself and was wrapped in a shroud.
The police allowed eleven members of the family to take the body to a graveyard near the Sopore Degree College where a grave had been dug in advance. When the family members sought permission to bury Bulla in their ancestral graveyard, the police silenced them by rifle butts. The Nowhamam people protested but the authorities imposed curfew in the area and thus prevented people from coming out. Bulla was laid to rest.
Besides a large number of policemen, eleven members of the family participated in his funeral. In the morning, the shocking news spread like wild fire in the town. The entire Sopore town came out in protest and sought an impartial probe. The government was forced to appoint Mohan Singh, the then SDM Srinagar as enquiry officer, but the police prevented people from appearing before the commission.
The then SHO Handwara presented scores of people before the commission. All of them tried to bail out the police. The commission, however, has not made its findings public till date. One day the concerned deputy commissioner, Abdul Hamid Banihali, called on the aggrieved family and offered relief. The family, however, did not accept the relief.
On December 25, 2006, the Jammu Kashmir Muslim League while celebrating the birthday of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah conferred an award on Bulla.