MUZA FFA R ABAD: Former Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) president Raja Mohammad Zulgarnain Khan was laid to rest with full state honours in his native village of Kasguma in southern Bhimber district on Sunday.
Earlier, his funeral prayers were offered at an open ground and attended by AJK President Dr Mohammad Najeeb Nagi, Legislative Assembly Speaker and local MLA Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, former president Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan, and five former prime ministers, Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan, Raja Farooq Haider, Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi, Sardar Tanveer Ilyas and Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, as well as serving and former cabinet members, legislators, political leaders, senior civil, military and judicial officials and a large number of people.
Raja Zulgarnain, 93, who served as AJK president from 2006 to 2011 and earlier held cabinet positions in two Muslim Conference governments, died at a hospital inIslamabad on Saturday after a brief illness.
After the funeral prayers, a smartly turned-out contingent of the AJK police presented a guard ofhonour to the late leader.
The AJK government had announced a day of mourning across the state, during which the state flag flew at halfmast.
Addressing the funeral gathering, President Nagi, Speaker Farooq, AJK Chief Justice Raja Saeed Akram, all five former prime ministers, former MNA from neighbouringGujrat district Chaudhry Abid Raza Kotla, AJK Council member Chaudhry Mohammad Saeed, retired Lt Gen Raja Sher Afgan, former Jamaat-i-1slami AJK chief Abdul Rashid Turabi and several other speakers paid rich tributes to Raja Zulgarnain, recalling his five-decade political career.
They praised his courtesy, dignified conduct, political foresight and composure, describing his death as a major loss for the nation and the state. They also offered condolences to his sons, Raja Baber Ali Zulgarnain, Raja Qaiser Zulgarnain and Raja Umar Zulgarnain, and other members of the bereaved family.
One of the tributes described him as ‘a man of an era, a sheltering tree and a precious gem’, adding that his legacy would live on in the hearts of the people and in the history of Jammu and Kashmir.
‘He was a respected elder, a sincere wellwisher and a gracious mentor,’ the tribute said.
In his address, Raja Baber Ali Zulgarnain, the late leader’s son and a former member of the AJK Council, thanked all those who had attended his father’s funeral and sent condolence messages through different media.
He said he and his siblings would make every effort to uphold and carry forward the traditions and values their father had left behind.
Earlier on Saturday, President Asif Ali Zardari, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and several other personalities had expressed grief over Raja Zulgarnain’s death, while paying tribute to his political struggle and services to the Kashmiri people.