Prominent Kashmiri leader Ghulam Nabi Fai, has paid tributes to Sardar Muhammad Abdul Qayyum Khan, a former prime minister of Azad Kashmir, calling him a “preeminent” leader who strived to uphold the human and political rights of the people of the disputed State.
In a statement ahead of the 7th anniversary of his death falling on Sunday, Fai, Secretary General of World Kashmir Awareness Forum, a Washington-based advocacy group, said Sardar Qayyum was a man with a vision and his espousal of the cause of Kashmir at the international level has had a lasting impact on the policy makers.
“He was a courageous leader who understood the long road ahead … when he told us in Washington in 1994 that our top priority should be to make sure that the leadership of the State of Jammu and Kashmir is on one page,” Fai said.
“Sardar Abdul Qayyum was always against the option of maintaining the status quo”, and always stood for including Kashmiris in the negotiations to settle the Kashmir dispute, he said. “Sardar was a giant among Kashmiri politicians,” Fai said. “We miss him a lot.—KMS
