Mohammad Abdul Qayyum Khan

Early life and career

Sardar Abdul Qayyum was born on 4 April 1924 in Ghaziabad, District, Bagh (Poonch), then part of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir. After completing his secondary education in Jammu, he joined the Engineers Corps of the British Indian Army and served in Africa and the Middle East.

Political career

He actively participated in the Kashmiri freedom struggle. His title 'Mujahid-e-Awwal' (first holy warrior) is based on the belief that he is the person who fired the first shot in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. In 1951, he joined the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference. He was elected president of this body a record 14 times during his lifetime. He was elected as President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) state three times in 1956, 1971 and 1985. "Towards the end of his term, his relations with then Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto started turning sour. As a result in 1974, Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan was removed from the office of the president through a vote of no confidence."

He also remained Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir from 1991 to 1996. In 2002, he was made chairman of the National Kashmir Committee. His son Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan also became Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir in 2006 and then again in 2010.

Writer

He is the author of dozens of books on the Kashmir Freedom Struggle (Kashmir conflict). He also wrote on political, mystic, spiritual and religious topics.

Death and legacy

He died in Rawalpindi on 10 July 2015. The Azad Kashmir government announced a three-day mourning period on his death.