MUZAFFARABAD: The foundation stone of a memorial to Ghazi-i-Millat Sardar Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, the founding president of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), was laid here on Tuesday.

The stone laying was performed by AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed in the presence of AJK President Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan, former prime minister of Pakistan Raja Pervez Ashraf, former federal minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, late leader’s son and supreme leader of Jammu Kashmir Peoples Party (JKPP) Sardar Khalid Ibrahim Khan and a large number of people from different walks of life.

Sardar Ibrahim, it may be recalled, was a member of Jammu Kashmir Assembly (Parja Sabha) in 1947. When the territory of Azad Jammu and Kashmir was liberated, he was installed as its founding president on October 24, 1947, an office he held until May 1950. In the ensuing years, he held the office of president from April 1957 to April 1959 and June 1975 to October 1978 and for a full five-year term from August 1996 to August 2001. He breathed his last on July 31, 2003 and was buried in his ancestral Horna Mera village in district Poonch.

He was also author of two books (autobiographies) – the Kashmir Saga in English and Mata-i-Zindagi in Urdu.

Speaking on the stone laying ceremony, Mr Majeed paid glowing tributes to Sardar Ibrahim, terming him a great national asset.

“It is our paramount duty to update our next generations on the supreme sacrifices of our elders,” he said.

He vowed that the struggle for achievement of the right to self-determination as enshrined in the UN resolutions would be continued, something he said was also the mission of Sardar Ibrahim.

The AJK premier said his government was fully aware of its responsibilities to highlight Kashmir issue and expose Indian atrocities to suppress the voice of Kashmiris – both at home and abroad.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2014