Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas (4 February 1904 – 18 December 1967) was a leading

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

of Jammu and Kashmir and the President of the Muslim Conference party. After his migration to

Pakistan administered Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompass ...

in 1947, he became the head of the

Azad Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (; ), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger Ka ...

(AJK) government.

Early life and career

Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas was born in a middle-class

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

family of Chaudhry Nawab Khan on 4 February 1904 at

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi Ri ...

. He graduated from the Prince of Wales College, Jammu. He received his law degree from the Lahore Law College and started his career as a lawyer in Jammu. He was offered a position of Sub-Judge but he refused to serve the Dogra Raj in Kashmir. 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 held some massive demonstrations against the Dogra rule. As a result, the Association became very popular among the Muslim public. To protect the rights of the Muslims of the

Valley of Kashmir The Kashmir Valley, also known as the ''Vale of Kashmir'', is an intermontane valley concentrated in the Kashmir Division of the Indian- union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The valley is bounded on the southwest by the Pir Panjal Range and ...

, another organization,

All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference The All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference ( ur, آل جموں و کشمیر مسلم کانفرنس) also shortly referred as Muslim Conference (MC) is a major political party in Pakistan administrated territory of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The ...

was established. Its president was

Sheikh Abdullah Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah (5 December 1905 – 8 September 1982) was an Indian politician who played a central role in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir Abdullah was the founding leader of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (later rena ...

while Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas was elected as its secretary general. Later the organization was renamed as

Jammu and Kashmir National Conference The Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) is a regional political party in the Indian union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Founded as the ''All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference'' by Sheikh Abdullah and Chaudhry Ghulam Ab ...

. But when Sheikh Abdullah developed his association with

Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

and the All India National Congress, Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas withdrew from the National Conference. Consequently, the Muslim Conference was revived under the leadership of Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas and Agha Shaukat Ali. The Muslim Conference demanded Kashmir affiliation to Pakistan on 19 July 1947. Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas campaigned for the affiliation of the people of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan. He arrived in Pakistan after the transfer of prisoners in 1948 when the ceasefire in the

Kashmir conflict The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, with China playing a third-party role. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as both India and Pakistan claim ...

took effect and served the Azad Kashmir government till 1951. He presented the case of Pakistan in the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

along with Muhammad Ibrahim Khan when India took the Kashmir issue there.

ended up drawing the cease-fire line to stop the fighting. In 1951, he resigned as head of the Azad Kashmir government and did not participate in government politics after that.Profile of Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas on storyofpakistan.com website
Published 1 January 2007, Retrieved 22 September 2021

Death and legacy

Abbas died of stomach cancer in Rawalpindi on 18 December 1967 and was laid to rest in Faizabad near

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

, close to the capital city of

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

, Pakistan.Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas remembered
The Nation (newspaper), Published 19 December 2014, Retrieved 22 September 2021 In 1995,

Pakistan Postal Services Pakistan Post ( ur, ) is a state enterprise which functions as Pakistan's primary and largest postal operator. 49,502 employees through a vehicle fleet of 5,000 operate traditional "to the door" service from more than 13,419 post offices acro ...

issued a commemorative postage stamp to honor his services.Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas's Commemorative Postage Stamp
Retrieved 22 September 2021 In 2006, a public event was organized in

, Pakistan to observe his death anniversary on 19 December 2006 where the leaders of the

Sardar Abdul Qayyum Sardar Muhammad Abdul Qayyum Khan (also known as ʻAbdul Qayyūm K̲h̲ān, Urdu: سردار محمد عبدالقيوم خان) was a Kashmiri politician who also served as the president and the prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). ...

and

Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan ( ur, سردار سِکندر حیات خان) (1 June 1932 – 9 October 2021) was elected as Prime Minister twice and president twice of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). He was the longest-serving Prime Minister of AJK ...

paid tributes to him.Kashmiris vow to continue liberation struggle (on death anniversary of Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas)
Dawn (newspaper), Published 19 December 2006, Retrieved 22 September 2021 In 2014, on the death anniversary of Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas, an event was organized at Aiwan-i-Karkunan-i-Tehreek-i-Pakistan in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

to pay tributes to this dedicated leader of

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the pe ...

and Kashmir liberation struggle.

Books

By him

*''Kashmakash'', 2010. Autobiography.

About him

*''Qāʼid-i Kashmīr : Chaudhrī G̲h̲ulām ʻAbbās'', 1988, by Bashīr Aḥmad Quraishī. *''Ḥayāt-i qāʼid-i Kashmīr, Chauhdrī G̲h̲ulām ʻAbbās'', 1992, by Sayyid Mahmūd Āzād. *''Chauhdrī G̲h̲ulām ʻAbbās : shak̲h̲ṣiyyat aur kārnāme'', 1992, by G̲h̲ulām Ḥusain Aẓhar. *''Qāʼid-i millat Chauhdarī G̲h̲ulām ʻAbbās'', 2004, by Javvād Ḥusain Jaʻfarī. *''Qāʼid-i Kashmīr aur taḥrīk-i Kashmīr'', 2005, by Muḥammad Yaʻqūb Chauhdarī.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbas, Chaudhry Ghulam People from Jammu People from Azad Kashmir 1904 births 1967 deaths Pakistan Movement activists from Kashmir Deaths from stomach cancer Deaths from cancer in Pakistan Jammu & Kashmir National Conference politicians