Altaf Hamid Rao.
MIRPUR (AJK), (Parliament Times) : Sardar Sikander Hayat Khan, former President and Prime Minister of Azad Jammu Kashmir, laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard at his native town of Fatehpur Thakiyala (Nikayal) in Kotli district of AJK on Sunday.
Sikanader, 87, had died of cardiac arrest in District Hospital in Kotli Azad Jammu Kashmir Saturday night.
His first funeral prayer was offered in Kotli city – while the second funeral prayer was held in his native town of Fatehpur Nikayal Sunday afternoon.
Our Special AJK Correspondent Altaf Hamid Rao reports from Mirpur that thousands of people from various parts of Azad Jammu Kashmir and Pakistan including AJK Prime Minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi, his cabinet colleagues, former AJK Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan and other elected representatives, government officials, social and political workers, lawyers, members of the business community and journalists attended the funeral.
Late Sardar Sikander Khan long distinguished career in politics of Azad Jammu Kashmir spreading over six decades – where he served as President of the State, Prime Minister of the State Government, Minister in late PM Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan’s cabinet – besides serving as a lawyer in Kotli Azad Kashmir till joining the practical politics in the liberated territory.
Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan was elected as Prime Minister twice and president twice of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). He was the longest-serving Prime Minister of AJK.
Born on June 1st in 1934 into an eminent political family of Kashmir, Khan was the son of Sardar Fateh Muhammad Khan Karelvi, famous for his role in one of the first major uprisings against the Dogra regime in 1931. His father led the protest against a tax on salt imposed by the Maharaja’s regime.
Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan received his early schooling in his native village of Karela in Fatehpur Thakiala, now in District Kotli, and in Poonch city. He went on to study at Gordon College (Rawalpindi), graduating in 1956 before going on to the University Law College in Lahore to obtain a law degree in 1958.
After formally joining the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference, he ran for membership in the Kotli council, a position he occupied for eight years, during which he was also elected the President of Bar Association, Kotli. In 1970, he was elected to the Azad Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly and became the Revenue Minister in 1972.
He returned to office from his constituency in every election held in Azad Kashmir between 1970 and 2001, barring the years when he was President of Azad Kashmir. His brother Sardar Muhammad Naeem Khan[5] served as a member from that area during that period.
He served as acting President of the Jammu & Kashmir Muslim Conference in the 1976–78 period and was elected President in 1978, a position he held until 1988. In 1985, he was elected Prime Minister of AJK and served until 1990. He headed the opposition in the Assembly until 1991, when he was elected President of AJK for a five-year term. On 25 July 2001, he was sworn in as Prime Minister of AJK for a second time, serving another five-year term. Khan initially retired from active politics in July 2006. However, he later played a major role in introducing Pakistan Muslim League (N) in AJK for which he was given the position of Senior Vice President of PML-(N) in 2011.
He quit PML-(N) in February 2021 and rejoined the Muslim Conference as supreme head of the party.
