MUZAFFARABAD: A former AJK minister and in-charge of PTI election campaign for the upcoming AJK polls, retired Lt-Col Raja Mohammad Nasim, was laid to rest in his ancestral Kafal Garh village in district Bagh on Monday. He died at the age of 64.

After attending an election rally, Nasim briefly stopped at the residence of his in-laws in Haari Gehal village of district Bagh past midnight, where he suffered a cardiac arrest and breathed his last on way to a nearby health facility.

During his 25-year career in the army, he also served as staff officer to General Mirza Aslam Beg, the then chief of general staff (CGS). When he was Lieutenant Colonel he obtained premature retirement in 1990 after developing cardiac problem.

In 1993, he raised “Jammu and Kashmir Citizens Forum” which highlighted in the Kashmir struggle through more than 100 seminars, conferences and rallies all over AJK and Pakistan.

When Benazir Bhutto assumed the office of prime minister for the second time, Nasim was picked as an active official of a research wing in the PM Secretariat under Lt-Gen Raja Saroop Khan. In that capacity he also oversaw execution of federal government funded Social Action Programme in AJK.

Later, he moved to the US where he stayed for more than five years.

After returning to Pakistan, he joined Muslim Conference (MC) and won 2006 election as its candidate from LA-14, Wasti Bagh, beating Sardar Qamaruz Zaman of PPP and Abdul Rashid Turabi of Jamaat-i-Islami AJK.

Interestingly, that assembly saw four governments and Nasim was part of each cabinet with the same portfolio.

In April 2011, he joined PML-N, but as the party offered constituency to JIAJK under an alliance, he rebelled and contested 2011 election as an independent candidate. The seat was however clinched by PPP’s Zaman, the sitting health minister.

Of late, Nasim again grew angry with PML-N leadership, fearing that he could be denied ticket once again after the inclusion of journalist Mushtaq Minhas in PML-N.

Some six weeks ago, he formally joined PTI in the presence of Imran Khan at his Bani Gala residence and was appointed in-charge of party’s election campaign.

Nasim’s funeral prayers were offered in Haari Gehal ground, which was attended among others by former AJK premiers Barrister Sultan Mahmood and Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan. AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed later visited Nasim’s residence to offer condolences to the bereaved family.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed deep sorrow and grief over the demise of Nasim.

The AJK chapter of PTI announced a three-days mourning and deferred the May 12 public rally of Imran Khan in Muzaffarabad till May 18, according to a party spokesman.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2016