.
MUZAFFARABAD:
Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry has passed away at the age of 71 after prolonged illness.
According to a statement issued by the media office of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Chaudhry died in Islamabad.
His funeral prayer will be offered on Sunday (today) at 4:00 PM at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium after which he will be laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard in Chichiyan. President Chaudhry, a leading advocate of the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination, born on 9 August 1955 at Chichiyan, Mirpur in AJK.
He received his early education in his native town, completed matriculation from Cantt Public School Rawalpindi and graduated from Gordon College Rawalpindi. He later went to the United Kingdom, where he took a Bar-at-Law degree from Lincoln’s Inn.
Chaudhry was first elected as the Prime Minister of AJK in 1996 and later became the President in 2021.
During his political career, he was elected nine times as a member of the AJK Legislative Assembly from Mirpur, establishing himself as one of the most enduring political figures in the region.
He remained associated with and served as president of several political parties, including All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation League, Pakistan People’s Party Azad Kashmir and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Azad Kashmir. In 2021, he was elected president of AJK.
He played a significant role in highlighting the Jammu and Kashmir issue at the international level. He also led marches in London, outside the UN headquarters in New York and in front of the Irish Parliament in Dublin.
Additionally, he held several meetings in Islamabad with ambassadors from European and Islamic countries to brief them on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and ongoing human rights violations in the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir IIOJK.
President Chaudhry was the only politician from AJK who had visited IIOJK. During his visit to Srinagar, he also visited Lal Chowk and Pahalgam and met prominent political leaders including Syed Ali Gilani, Syed Shabbir Shah, Omar Abdullah, Mufti Saeed, Mehbooba Mufti, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik.
Since the 1980s, he remained actively engaged in an unparalleled struggle for the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination and continued his efforts to project the Kashmir issue globally despite illness. He was considered a popular and widely respected leader of AJK.
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed deep sorrow over Chaudhry’s passing and prayed that he be “forgiveness and a high place in heaven,” according to a statement from the presidency.
The President also conveyed heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and described Chaudhry’s national and political services as “invaluable”.
Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani also mourned the AJK president, calling him a “dignified and principled politician”.
He said Chaudhry had played a significant role in raising the Kashmir issue at the international level and his services would always be remembered.
Gilani added that Chaudhry’s political struggle would remain a “beacon for generations to come.” He also expressed his sympathy to the family.
National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq expressed grief over the loss and hailed Chaudhry’s “distinguished political and social services, especially his invaluable contribution in effectively highlighting the Kashmir issue in international forums”.
He said Chaudhry’s advocacy of the legitimate rights of the Kashmiri people would always be remembered.
