MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas on Friday paid tributes to towering Kashmiri leader Khurshid Hassan Khurshid, saying his services for the promotion of democracy, rule of law and supremacy of the constitution in the liberated territory will be remembered for a long time to come.

“Khurshid-e-Millat’s selfless services to the society and his unwavering struggle for democracy and the rule of law are a glowing chapter of the parliamentary history of Azad Jammu and Kashmir,” he said of the former AJK president on the eve of his 35th death anniversary.

Mr Khurshid, who had also served as private secretary to Quaid-i-Azam during the epoch-making period of Pakistan movement, had died on March 11, 1988, in a road accident near Gujranwala when he was travelling to Lahore in public transport. He lays buried in the main city of Muzaffarabad, just across a playground later named after him.

Referring to the late leader’s political philosophy, the AJK premier maintained that the “freedom of the Indian occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the accession of the entire state to Pakistan was the ultimate objective of his year’s long struggle.”

“KH Khurshid was a great Pakistani more than anyone because he had given the prime time of his life to the Pakistan movement and the founder of the nation is on record having said Pakistan was made by him, his private secretary and his typewriter,” added the AJK premier.

He said there was a dire need to educate the young generation about KH Khurshid’s valuable contribution to the Pakistan movement and Kashmir cause.

“The young generation should study and seek guidance from the life and struggle of KH Khurshid, who had set unique examples of honesty, integrity, truthfulness, dedication and patriotism.”

Meanwhile, Mir Abdul Lateef, an office-bearer of Jammu Kashmir Liberation League (JKLL) which Mr Khurshid had founded in 1962, told Dawn on Friday that a public meeting to be addressed by leaders and representatives of different parties would be held on Saturday on an open space outside his mausoleum. Earlier, Quran Khawani would also be held inside the mausoleum, he said.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2023