Religion Islam Education University of London Spouse Nisa Khan | Name Sardar Ibrahim Signature | |
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Born April 10, 1915
Kot Mattay Khan, Poonch district, Kashmir and Jammu, British India ( 1915-04-10 ) Relations Sardar Javed Ibrahim Khan Son
Sardar Khalid Ibrahim Khan Son
Uft-e-Huma Daughter
Sardar Farooq Ibrahim Khan Son Died July 31, 2003, Islamabad, Pakistan Political party All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference, Jammu Kashmir Peoples Party | ||
Village of Sardar Ibrahim Khan ( Rant Lambikair ) Azad Kashmir Movie Trailer
Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan (April 10, 1915 – July 31, 2003) also known as Bani-e-Kashmir, "Father of Kashmir" and Ghazi-e-Millat, "Hero of the Nation", was the founder and first President of Azad Kashmir. In British India of 1946, he won the Jammu and Kashmir State Assembly election and became a member of the Praja Sabha. In 1947, during the Poonch rebellion, he led an army of Kashmiri guerrillas against the Maharaja of Kashmir, Hari Singh.
Contents
- Village of Sardar Ibrahim Khan Rant Lambikair Azad Kashmir Movie Trailer
- Early life and education
- Professional political career
- Role in 1947 independence struggle
- Role as President of Azad Kashmir
- Death and legacy
- References
Before that, on 19 July 1947, Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan and his party Muslim Conference had passed a resolution for Kashmir's accession to Pakistan. Khan and his army were unable to capture the entire Kashmiri territory due to a resolution passed by the United Nations on August 13, 1948. The area they took over was renamed to Azad Kashmir, and became a self-governing division of Pakistan. Khan was elected as its first President at the age of 32 in 1948. He represented Kashmir in different capacities at the United Nations from 1948 to 1971. He was the grand-uncle of Masood Khan, a career diplomat who has been recently appointed as the President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir in August 2016.
Early life and education
Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan was born on April 10, 1915 in Kot Mattay Khan, a village in the Poonch District of Kashmir. He received his primary education in his village. He attended college and received a Bachelors of Arts degree in 1935 at Islamia College (Lahore) and sought higher education abroad in 1938. He obtained his LLB degree from the University of London in 1943. Khan then obtained a law degree from Lincoln's Inn, and started practicing law at Srinagar, Kashmir.
Professional & political career
In 1943, Khan was appointed as a public prosecutor in Mirpur. He later worked at the State Advocate General office of Jammu and Kashmir. Then he left the government job to participate in the Kashmir liberation movement, and ran for and won the 1946 Jammu and Kashmir State Assembly elections. He went on to serve three more terms in office until he had to leave due to old age. He retired at the age of 87. He also established the Azad Muslim Conference.
Role in 1947 independence struggle
On 19 July 1947, Khan held a general assembly meeting at his residence where a resolution was unanimously passed for the State of Kashmir to join Pakistan. The Mahraja, Hari Singh, disapproved of his actions, and Khan left the state and went to Murree, Pakistan. In Murree, he gathered ammunition from private individuals and organizations. With several fellow Kashmiris, he launched a ‘Jihad’ against the Maharaja. On 24 October 1947, he defeated the forces of the Maharaja in the Poonch rebellion and founded the state of Azad Kashmir, which became a self-governing division of Pakistan.
Role as President of Azad Kashmir
As the first President of Azad Kashmir, he was invited by the United Nations to brief the General assembly on the situation in Kashmir. Under the leadership of Khan, the annual session of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference was held at Kotli in 1954, and a resolution was passed for the establishment of a proper Legislative Assembly in Azad Kashmir. While he and his lieutenants continued to push for a legislative assembly, it wouldn't be until the presidency of General Yahya Khan that the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly would be formed. Khan was elected president of Azad Kashmir for the second time on April 13, 1957, and for the third time on June 5, 1975. Sardar Ibrahim was very close to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and had formed the Azad Kashmir chapter of the Pakistan Peoples Party. In 1977, General Zia ul-Haq dissolved Bhutto's government, and offered to allow Khan to continue as president as long as he stopped supporting Bhutto. Khan refused to betray Bhutto, resulting in his termination as president through a proclamation issued by General Zia ul-Haq, the Chairman of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council, on October 30, 1978. Khan, however, was re-elected again as the President of Azad Kashmir in August 1996. He remained in office until August 2001 and was the Azad Kashmir president four times in his lifetime.
Death and legacy
Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan died at his Islamabad, Pakistan home on 31 July 2003 after a long illness at age 88. President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali paid tributes to him in their condolence messages.