Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan

Who was Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan?

Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan also known as Bani-e-Kashmir "Father of Kashmir" and Ghazi-e-Millat "Hero of Nation", was the founder and first President of Azad Kashmir. Born in Hurnamera, a village of District Poonch of Kashmir, Sardar Ibrahim obtained his LLB from the University of London in 1943, and began his practice as a prosecutor in 1943 at Mirpur. He completed his BVC from Lincoln's Inn and became the first Barrister of Kashmir. He was appointed as assistant advocate general in 1944 by the then Maharaja of Kashmir. He left the government job in line with the liberation of Kashmir movement, and contested the 1946 elections with sweeping victory that made him the Member of Rajiha Sabha. He led an army of Kashmiri guerrillas against the Maharaja of Kashmir, Hari Singh, after passing the resolution for Kashmir's accession to Pakistan in 1947, at his residence. Sardar and his army were unable to capture the whole Kashmiri Territory due to the resolution passed by United Nations on August 13, 1948. However, the captured area was named as Azad Kashmir and Khan was elected as its first President at the age of 32. He represented Kashmir in different capacities in the United Nations from 1948 to 1971.