RAWALPINDI, July 31: Participants of a function here on Saturday paid tributes to late Sardar Ibrahim Khan, the first president of Azad Kashmir , for the invaluable services he had rendered during the Kashmir freedom movement and the accession of Kashmir to Pakistan.

Jammu and Kashmir People's Party had organized the programme in connection with the first death anniversary of Sardar Ibrahim Khan. A large number of people participated in the event, wherein 10 students of various educational institutions also presented their papers on the life, character and achievements of the great Kashmiri leader.

Prominent among the speakers were Jammu and Kashmir People's Party president Sardar Abdul Hameed Khan, former Azad Kashmir president Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Rehman Farooqui, AJK Legislative Assembly's deputy speaker Samiullah Qadri and Gen (retired) Hameed Gul.

However, the main feature of the four-hour function was the papers presented by the students on the life of the great leader. Ghazi-i-Millat Memorial Committee had announced a Rs25,000 cash prize for the student presenting the best paper.

Naela Rafique, who stood first in the competition, said the character of Sardar Ibrahim Khan was equal to that of Jawahir Lal Nehro, Mr Gandhi and Quaid-i-Azam, keeping in view his struggle for the freedom of the people of Kashmir, human rights and the accession of Kashmir to Pakistan in the presence of the "brutal" Maharaja. In 1947, Mr Khan quit from his post of assistant advocate general and devoted his energies to the freedom of his people, who were living on the mercy of the Maharaja, who was loyal to the Indian government, she said.

On July 19, 1947, Mr Khan passed the famous resolution regarding Kashmir's accession to Pakistan, she said. The historic resolution was a hard blow to the Maharaja's as well as the Indian government's designs.

Highlighting the educational qualification of Mr Khan, Sadia Akram, who stood second, said Sardar Ibrahim was born on April 10, 1945, in Rawlakot. After getting his primary education from his own village, he went to England for getting an LLB degree.