Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas
Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas (1904-1967) was a lawyer and leading politician of Jammu and Kashmir, born in rajput family. After his migration to Azad Jammu and Kashmir he became the pioneer supreme head of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government. He is known as Quaid-e-Kashmir Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas in Azad Jammu and Kashmir [1] The Kashmiri leader died in Rawalpindi on December 18, 1967 and laid to rest in Faizabad near Rawalpindi, close to the capital city of Islamabad When the state of Jammu and Kashmir was under the atrocities of Dogra Raj and the Muslims majority was being subjugated, Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas rose to the occasion with great valor and devotion and dedicated his life for the liberation of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas was born in the middle class Gujjar family of Chaudhry Nawab Khan on February 4, 1904 at Jammu. He graduated from the Prince of Whales College Jammu. He passed his LLB from Law College Lahore and started his career as a lawyer in Jammu. He was offered a post of Sub-Judge but he refused to serve the Dogra raj.
He reorganized the socio-political organization Young Men’s Muslim Association, which was established earlier in 1909 and was the only platform that Muslims were using to raise their political voice in Jammu and Kashmir. This organization conducted some massive demonstrations against the Dogra rule and its activities won admiration among the Muslim masses.
In order to safeguard the rights of the Muslims of the Valley another organization, All Jammu and Kashmir Conference was established. Its president was Sheikh Abdullah while Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas was elected as its secretary general. Later the organization was renamed as National Conference. But when Sheikh Abdullah developed his association with Nehru and the Congress, Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas withdrew hands from the National Conference. As the struggle between the Congress and the Muslim League over the partition of India had its repercussions in Kashmir and the idea of Pakistan gained ground, the National Conference lost its popularity. Consequently, the Muslim Conference was revived under the leadership of Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas. The Muslim Conference being the real representative of the Muslims of the Valley demanded Kashmir affiliation to Pakistan on July 19, 1947.
Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas enthusiastically campaigned for the affiliation of the people of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan. He reached Pakistan after the transfer of prisoners in 1948 after the ceasefire and served the Azad Kashmir government till 1951. He presented the case of Pakistan in the United Nations along with Sardar Ibrahim when India asked UNO to resolve the issue, which ended up with the cease-fire line.
In 1951 he resigned from the headship of Azad Kashmir government and set aside from politics. He died of stomach cancer on December 18, 1967 and was buried at Faizabad, Rawalpindi as he willed to be buried in Pakistan. He is survived by three sons and two daughters Tariq Abbas, Tahir Abbas, Farooq Abbas, Rahat Abbas and Wajahat Abbas.
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See also
- Hurriyat and Problems before Plebiscite
- Syed Ali Shah Geelani
- Kashmir conflict
- Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election, 2014
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Kashmiris want exercise of right to self-determination
