ISLAMABAD, Aug 28: Speakers at a reference on Thursday paid glowing tributes to the former AJK president, late Sardar Ibrahim Khan, for his struggle for the freedom of Kashmiri people and his contribution towards strengthening democratic system in Azad Kashmir.

A large number of people, including politicians, intellectuals and lawyers from Pakistan and Azad Kashmir attended the reference organized by Jammu and Kashmir People’s Party (JKPP) here on Thursday.

Prominent among those who spoke at the reference were AJK President Sardar Mohammad Anwar Khan, AJK Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan, former AJK prime minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, president of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference Sardar Attiq, PML-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haq, son of Sardar Ibrahim and former president of JKPP Sardar Khalid Ibrahim, president of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Amanullah Khan, secretary-general PPP AJK Chaudhry Latif Akbar and former president of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation League Chaudhry Sharif Tariq.

The speakers were of the view that Kashmiris were struggling for their right to self-determination under the UN resolutions which were passed by the world body due to the efforts of late Sardar Ibrahim. They said Sardar Ibrahim was a supporter of Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan and spent all his life to achieve this goal.

The speakers regretted that despite the fact that Sardar Ibrahim had true love for Pakistan, no official of the Pakistani government was present at his funeral in Rawalakot. They said when Sheikh Abdullah died, the then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi and president Gayani Zail Singh attended his funeral in Srinagar.

They said Sardar Ibrahim spent a disciplined and organized life. He always kept the interests of the Kashmiri people supreme over his personal interests, they added. They said Sardar Ibrahim did politics throughout his life as a worker and an activist and not as a profession.

The speakers demanded that the AJK government should declare public holiday on Sardar Ibrahim’s death anniversary and his photographs be displayed at all government offices and educational institutions.

They said Sardar Ibrahim was a record breaker as he became president of Azad Kashmir four times and had the honour of becoming the youngest and the oldest president of Azad Kashmir.

The JKLF chairman, Amanullah Khan, said when Sardar Ibrahim visited New York in 1948, he received a lot of appreciation and attention of the world media and his personality overshadowed that of Sheikh Abdullah who was also visiting the US at the time.

This was the difference between a mercenary and a revolutionary, he added.