Daily Times

MUZAFFARABAD: The first death anniversary of Kashmiri leader Sardar Muhammad Abdul Qayyum Khan, who served as president and prime minister in Azad Jammu Kashmir, was observed with due reverence and solemnity across the divided state on Sunday.

The late Kashmiri leader, also known as Mujahid-e-Awal, was a man of strong principles and an uncompromising personality. Holding a revered position in the state’s political history, he was praised both as a freedom fighter as well as a brilliant statesman, who first coined the slogan “Kashmir to become Pakistan.” He was the supreme leader of the Muslim Conference party.

Born in Ghaziabad village in district Bagh, on April 4, 1924, Sardar Abdul Qayyum joined the British Army where he gained his initial military insight soon after his early education. After leaving the army, he decided to take up struggle against the Maharaja, ruler of the then princely State of Jammu Kashmir, as division of the Indian subcontinent was also near.

After leading and playing a very important part in the liberation of 32,000 square miles of Kashmiri territory, Sardar Abdul Qayyum became part of its political spectrum, later becoming the president and then prime minister of the state. He was taken under the wings by Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas, leader of the All Jammu Kashmir Muslim Conference, a political party of the Kashmiri Muslims, considered an off-shoot of the Pakistan Muslim League of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

– Annexation with Pakistan –

The Muslim Conference had passed the resolution for annexation (of the princely state) with Pakistan in July 1947 while the party had also won majority mandate. As president and the prime minister, the late Kashmiri leader pioneered several departments, which were hitherto held by the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs in Islamabad. Throughout his life, Sardar Abdul Qayyum kept a firm stance on his mission of the (state’s) annexation with Pakistan but he had also stood against some steps of the government and the political leadership of Pakistan.

For pointing errors, his government had been sent home, along with him going to jail. Despite his pro-Pakistan credentials, he also had to see a ‘change of fate’ from the President’s House to the notorious Palandri Jail during (the then-prime minister) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government when differences between the two leaders resulted in Kashmiri government in the state being toppled and Pakistan’s Federal Security Force (FSF) locking him up in the jail.

But in a dramatic turn of events, it was the same (Zulfikar Ali) Bhutto who had to send a helicopter to bring Sardar Abdul Qayyum from the Palandri Jail to somehow allay his heated opposition from the Pakistan National Alliance and convince them to come down to the negotiation table. He played an effective role as he was also popular in religious and right wing circles of Pakistan.

After General Ziaul Haq’s martial law, he had to face initial hostility as he had asked the martial law administrator to acquit (Zulfikar Ali) Bhutto of the severe death penalty leveled against him. He continued to oppose him but shortly later they reconciled and Sardar Abdul Qayyum became indispensable for then military leader.

Sardar Abdul Qayyum reiterated to his policymakers and the Kashmiri people that it is highly important to differentiate between Pakistan and the government of Pakistan. “We may oppose the people in the (Pakistan’s) government but we cannot let go or oppose Pakistan (as a state),” he had said.

Sardar Abdul Qayyum was very clear on the question of expansion of Pakistan’s political parties. He himself wrote that he opposed (former military leader) General Ayub Khan, who at that time had Bhutto in his corner and wanted Sardar Abdul Qayyum to integrate the Muslim Conference into their party.

He openly opposed the formation of the political franchises from Pakistan in Azad Jammu Kashmir, as it would provide both precedence to Indian parties in the other parts of the state and would result in diminishing the concentration on the freedom struggle due to this over politicisation in electoral perspective.

He wrote several books on the Kashmir issue and consistently addressed various national and international, and civilian and military delegations on Jammu Kashmir issue. His writings include Kashmir Banega Pakistan, From Negotiation to Martial Law, Good Governance, The Importance of Morals in Politics, and many others in which he proves to be an encyclopedia on several political and religious issues.

In 1990, addressing a seminar, Sardar Abdul Qayyum had called Kashmir issue a conflict of a science of its own. He had written a wider range of letters calling attention on Kashmir addressed to dignitaries including representatives of all Muslim countries and presidents and prime ministers of countries ranging from China to France.

The late leader passed away on July 10, 2015 and was buried in Dhirkot with state honour. He had selected his place of burial when he was a freedom fighter while standing at the spot which today holds his body. His burial with the state honour has been considered generally by the Kashmiri people as a renewal of Pakistan’s pledge in its support of the Kashmiri freedom struggle and even his grave is a symbol of the affiliation of the Kashmiri people with Pakistan.

Hasnat ul Hasnain, a Kashmiri blogger and a civil society activist, contributed this news feature for Daily Times