Ex-AJK president Raja Zulqarnain dies at 93
MUZAFFARABAD: Former Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) president Raja Mohammad Zulqarnain Khan died at a hospital in Islamabad on Saturday after a brief illness. He was 93. The AJK government announced a day of official mourning on Sunday, during which the state’s flag would fly at half-mast. It also ordered his burial with full state honours in his native town of Kasguma, Bhimber district, following…
Former Azad Jammu and Kashmir president Raja Mohammad Zulqarnain Khan passed away at the age of 93 in Islamabad on Saturday due to a brief illness. The AJK government declared a day of official mourning on Sunday, during which the state flag would be flown at half-mast, and ordered his burial with full state honors in his hometown of Kasguma, Bhimber district.
Born on March 15, 1933, the son of Khan Bahadur Raja Mohammad Afzal Khan, an ICS officer from the Chib Rajput tribe who served in Maharaja Hari Singh's administration, Zulqarnain received his early education in Srinagar and Delhi before attending Lawrence College, Ghora Gali, at the age of 13. Among his contemporaries were future Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali and former Balochistan Chief Minister Sardar Akbar Bugti.
After graduating from Government College, Lahore, in 1955, he ventured into the construction business in 1958 with United Builders, which later undertook projects in Pakistan, AJK, UAE, and Iraq. Entering politics in 1960-61, Zulqarnain served as an associate of KH Khurshid, a former AJK president and private secretary to Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
He became the chairman of his native union council, Kasguma, in 1960-61 during the first elections under the Basic Democracies system implemented by Gen Ayub Khan in Pakistan and later in AJK. In 1962, when Khurshid founded the Jammu Kashmir Liberation League, he appointed Zulqarnain as its founding secretary general. Influenced by Khurshid's political outlook and personal demeanor, Zulqarnain later joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in 1975 and was elected to the Legislative Assembly from Samahni in that year's general elections under the parliamentary system.
He served in the cabinets of Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan from 1985 to 1990 and Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan from 1991 to 1996. Joining the Muslim Conference (MC) in 1990, Zulqarnain won the Bhimber seat in the 1985 election and held various ministerial positions. In 1996, he was elected to the AJK Council on the MC ticket. Despite Raja Zulqarnain's opposition to Chaudhry Tariq Farooq during the 2001 general elections, he supported him during the 2006 elections, backing Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, who won the seat.
Elected as AJK president in 2006, he remained in the position until 2011, continuing to support Haq in the 2011 and 2016 elections. Disenchanted with Haq in 2021, Zulqarnain became a member of the Pakistan Muslim League (N), with his son, Babar Ali Zulqarnain, announcing the decision the following month. Former AJK Premier Sardar Tanveer Ilyas expressed deep sorrow over Raja Zulqarnain's passing.
Written by urgent.news from Dawn - Pakistan's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
