Khurshid Hasan Khurshid

2021-10-20T14:56:02Z

115.186.141.55:

{{short description|Secretary of Governor-General of Pakistan}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=February 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Khurshid Hasan Khurshid
| office1 = [[President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir]]
| term_start1 = 1 May 1959
| term_end1 = 7 August 1964
|predecessor1 = [[Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan]]
|successor1 = [[Abdul Hamid Khan (Azad Kashmiri politician)|Abdul Hamid Khan]]
|birth_date= 3 January 1924
|birth_place=[[Srinagar]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]], [[British Indian Empire]]
|death_date= 11 March 1988<ref name=Thokar/>
|death_place= Died in a road accident near [[Lahore]], Pakistan<br>Buried in [[Muzaffarabad]], [[Azad Kashmir]]<ref name=Dawn/>
|occupation= Private secretary of [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]]<br/> [[Azad Kashmir]] politics
| relatives = [[Fawad Hasan Fawad]] (Brother-in-Law)
|party = Jammu and Kashmir Liberation League
}}
'''Khurshid Hasan Khurshid ''' (born 3 January 1924 – 11 March 1988) was the [[Private Secretary]] of [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]], the first [[Governor-General of Pakistan]]. He was sent by Jinnah to [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] in October 1947 shortly before the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947|tribal invasion]]. He was arrested by Indian forces and jailed in [[Srinagar]] and finally repatriated in a prisoner exchange in 1949.<ref name=Thokar/><ref name="Mahajan1985">{{citation|last=Mahajan|first=Vidya Dhar|author-link=Vidya Dhar Mahajan|title=Modern Indian History, from 1707 to the Present Day: British Rule in India and After|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3rW1vqSdHtQC&pg=RA1-PA576|year=1985|publisher=S. Chand|isbn=978-81-219-0935-8|page=576}}</ref> He was the first elected president of [[Azad Kashmir]]. He was the founder of first [[Constitution]] of Azad Kashmir.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

Khurshid often wrote his name as simply "Khurshid", which was both his first name and last name. Indian sources often mistakenly write it as "Khurshid Ahmed".{{sfn|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012|pp=88, 97}}

== Early life ==
Khurshid was born in [[Srinagar]] on 3 January 1924. His father was Maulvi Mohammad Hasan, a headmaster of a boys' school in [[Gilgit]]. Consequently, the early years of Khurshid's life were spent in Gilgit.{{sfn|Khurshid & Hasan, Memoris of Jinnah|1990|p=xv}} He completed a bachelor's degree from the Amar Singh College in [[Srinagar]]. During his college years, he established ''Kashmir Muslim Students Federation'' and met [[Mohammad Ali Jinnah]] in [[Jalandhar]] for the first time in 1942.<ref name=Thokar>Nisar Thokar, [http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/news/kh-khursheed-the-kashmiri-who-fought-along-jinnah/30418.html KH Khursheed- the Kashmiri who fought along Jinnah], Greater Kashmir, 12 March 2008, Retrieved 23 January 2017</ref>
Khurshid also wrote for the weekly ''Javed'' started by the [[All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference|Muslim Conference]] leader Allah Rakha Sagar.{{sfn|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012|p=88}}{{sfn|Khurshid & Hasan, Memoris of Jinnah|1990|p=5}}

Later he started working for the news agency ''Orient Press of India'' in Srinagar. When Jinnah went to Srinagar for a holiday in May 1944, Khurshid interacted with him as an agent of the Orient Press. Jinnah was impressed with him and hired him on his staff.<ref name=Thokar/>{{sfn|Hajari, Midnight's Furies|2015|loc=Chapter 8}} Khurshid subsequently rose to be Jinnah's private secretary and watched the troubled political waters leading to the [[Partition of India]] from close quarters.

Khurshid was married to Begum Sorayya, a stalwart in the struggle for the [[Pakistan Movement]] and a confidante of [[Fatimah Jinnah]]. Begum Sorraya is the renowned author of Memories of [[Fatimah Jinnah]] and the maternal [[cousin]] of [[Fawad Hasan Fawad]].

==Missions to Kashmir==
Jinnah sent Khurshid on a mission to Kashmir in the summer of 1947. Jinnah wanted to holiday in Kashmir at this time but, given the pressure on him to accede to one of the incoming dominions, the Maharaja [[Hari Singh]] was no mood to entertain the request. Khurshid reportedly told the Maharaja that he was an independent sovereign and need not consult anybody regarding the accession of the state. If he acceded to Pakistan, he would not have to delegate any of his powers to [[Sheikh Abdullah]]. "Pakistan would not touch a hair of his head or take an iota of his powers."<ref name="Chitkara2003">{{citation|last=Chitkara|first=M. G.|title=Kashmir: LoC|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LFKQMf0X-mAC&pg=PA6|year=2003|publisher=APH Publishing|isbn=978-81-7648-441-1|pages=5–6}}</ref><ref>{{citation |first=Balraj |last=Puri |author-link=Balraj Puri |title=The Question of Accession |journal=Epilogue |volume=4 |number=11 |pp=4–6 |date=November 2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TMxJzb7N_8wC&pg=PA4 |ref={{sfnref|Puri, The Question of Accession|2010}}}}</ref> Scholar Das Gupta also states that Khurshid stayed there for several months and created an atmosphere of communal frenzy against India.{{sfn|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012|p=88}}

At the beginning of October 1947, Jinnah sent him to Kashmir again. The Maharaja had appointed Justice [[Mehr Chand Mahajan]], with known connections to the [[Indian National Congress]], as his prime minister, replacing the pro-Pakistan [[Ram Chandra Kak]]. Jinnah wanted to find out Maharaja's intentions. Khurshid reported back on 12 October stating that the Maharaja was "dead set against accession to Pakistan". He also reported that the pro-India [[Jammu & Kashmir National Conference|National Conference]] was the only party in the state. The pro-Pakistan Muslim Conference was "essentially defunct". He concluded:{{sfn|Hajari, Midnight's Furies|2015|loc=Chapter 8}}
{{quote|"In the light of the above, I am personally of the opinion, Sir, that Pakistan must think in terms of fighting . . . as far as Kashmir is concerned.... All that Pakistan has to be ready for in such an eventuality is to supply arms and foodstuffs to the tribes within and without the State who are already sharpening their weapons.... I may say, Sir, that Major Khurshid Anwar (of Muslim [League] National Guards) is already in Rawalpindi and he can very well be trusted with the work of liaison."<ref>Note by Khurshid, Srinagar, 12 October 1947, ''Jinnah Papers'', 9:247, quoted in {{harvnb|Hajari, Midnight's Furies|2015|loc=Chapter 8}}</ref>
}}
In fact, Major [[Khurshid Anwar (Major)|Khurshid Anwar]] had already mobilised the Pashtun tribes from the [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas|Frontier]] for a raid on Kashmir and was poised to launch his attack on 15 October.<ref>{{harvnb|Saraf, Kashmiris Fight for Freedom, Volume 2|2015|p=174}}: "In early October Khurshid Anwar came to Pindi and asked Syed Nazir Hussain Shah for four or five guides on the 12th of October to guide his five hundred men to the airfield in Srinagar. He claims that the original plan was to attack Muzaffarabad on the 15th of October."</ref> When the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947|tribal invasion]] was launched on 22 October 1947, Khurshid was still in the [[Kashmir Valley|Valley]]. He was arrested on 2 November 1947 by the State Police, who recovered maps and documents from him. Indian sources say that Khurshid had gone underground and was attempting to organise an agitation against the state government from the Jama Masjid, the hub of activity for the Muslim Conference. Khurshid remained in custody until a prisoner exchange in 1949, after the [[Karachi Agreement]] was signed by India and Pakistan.{{sfn|Bajwa, Jammu and Kashmir War|2003|p=80}}{{sfn|Cheema, Crimson Chinar|2015|loc=footnote 53 (p. 84)}}{{sfn|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012|p=97}}

==Azad Kashmir politics==
K. H. Khurshid was appointed as President of [[Azad Kashmir]] on 1 May 1959 by [[Ayub Khan (general)|Ayub Khan]]. He was, at first, reluctant to accept this office, but eventually did so at the insistence of [[Fatima Jinnah]] who is said to have treated him as her son and had also financially supported him earn the bar-at-law degree from Lincoln's Inn.<ref name=Dawn/> As President, K. H. Khurshid conducted the first ever 'Basic Democracy' elections in Azad Kashmir and also won in this election as the President of Azad Kashmir.<ref name=Dawn/> According to ''[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]'', "following some differences with the powerful Pakistani establishment, Mr Khurshid resigned from the office of AJK president on August 5, 1964."<ref name=Dawn/>

== Death and legacy==
"K. H. Khurshid died in a road accident on 11 March 1988, while travelling in a public transport vehicle as an ordinary passenger."<ref name=Dawn>[http://www.dawn.com/news/612297/k-h-khurshids-death-anniversary-today K. H. Khurshid’s death anniversary today], Dawn newspaper, Published 11 March 2011, Retrieved 23 January 2017</ref> He was buried in [[Muzaffarabad]], [[Azad Kashmir]]. Kashmiri masses regarded him as an icon of honesty, integrity and democracy. Mr. Jinnah was once believed to have said that "Pakistan was made by him, his private secretary and his typewriter."<ref name=Dawn/>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{citation |last=Bajwa |first=Kuldip Singh |title=Jammu and Kashmir War, 1947–1948: Political and Military Perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7bREjE5yXNMC&pg=PA83 |year=2003 |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |ISBN=978-81-241-0923-6 |ref={{sfnref|Bajwa, Jammu and Kashmir War|2003}}}}
* {{citation |last=Cheema |first=Brig Amar |title=The Crimson Chinar: The Kashmir Conflict: A Politico Military Perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qc25BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA51 |date=2015 |publisher=Lancer Publishers |ISBN=978-81-7062-301-4 |pages=51– |ref={{sfnref|Cheema, Crimson Chinar|2015}}}}
* {{citation |last=Das Gupta |first=Jyoti Bhusan |title=Jammu and Kashmir |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dpTpCAAAQBAJ&pg |date=2012 |publisher=Springer |ISBN=978-94-011-9231-6 |ref={{sfnref|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012}}}}
* {{citation |last=Hajari |first=Nisid |author-link=Nisid Hajari |title=Midnight's Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India's Partition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OJGdBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA185 |year=2015 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=978-0-547-66924-3 |pages=185– |ref={{sfnref|Hajari, Midnight's Furies|2015}}}}
* {{citation |last1=Khurshid |first1=K. H. |last2=Hasan |first2=Khālid |title=Memories of Jinnah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AAVuAAAAMAAJ |year=1990 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-577406-1 |ref={{sfnref|Khurshid & Hasan, Memoris of Jinnah|1990}}}}
* {{citation |last=Saraf |first=Muhammad Yusuf |title=Kashmiris Fight for Freedom, Volume 2 |year=2015 |orig-year=first published 1979 by Ferozsons |publisher=National Institute Kashmir Studies |location=Mirpur |ref={{sfnref|Saraf, Kashmiris Fight for Freedom, Volume 2|2015}}}}
* {{citation |first=Christopher |last=Snedden |author-link=Christopher Snedden |title=Kashmir: The Unwritten History |publisher=HarperCollins India |year=2013 |ISBN=9350298988 |orig-year=first published as ''The Untold Story of the People of Azad Kashmir'', 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0cPjAAAAQBAJ |ref={{sfnref|Snedden, Kashmir: The Unwritten History|2013}}}}

{{Pakistan Movement}}
{{Presidents of Azad Kashmir}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khurshid, K. H.}}
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:1988 deaths]]
[[Category:Pakistani people of Kashmiri descent]]
[[Category:Muslim League]]
[[Category:All India Muslim League members]]
[[Category:Pakistani activists]]
[[Category:Presidents of Azad Kashmir]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Pakistan Movement]]

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Khurshid Hasan Khurshid