Raja Zulqarnain Khan, who served as president of Azad Jammu and Kashmir from 2006 to 2011, died in Islamabad on Saturday after a brief illness. He was 93.
The AJK government announced a day of official mourning on Sunday, during which the state’s flag would fly at half-mast. It also ordered his burial with full state honours in his native town of Kasguma, Bhimber district, following funeral prayers at 11am on Sunday. He will be laid to rest at the ancestral graveyard at Thathi Kasguma, family sources confirmed.
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed sorrow over the passing of the former AJK president. Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani also conveyed his condolences to the deceased’s son, Raja Babar Ali Zulqarnain, praising the former president’s public service and his advocacy for the rights of Kashmiri people.
Raja Zulqarnain Khan: a life in politics
Born on March 15, 1933, Raja Mohammad Zulqarnain Khan was the son of Khan Bahadur Raja Mohammad Afzal Khan, an officer of the Indian Civil Service from the Chib Rajput tribe who served in Maharaja Hari Singh’s administration. He was granted an estate in present-day Bhimber district.
Raja Zulqarnain received his early education in Srinagar and Delhi before joining Lawrence College, Ghora Gali, at the age of 13. His contemporaries there included former prime minister Zafarullah Jamali and former Balochistan chief minister Sardar Akbar Bugti. After graduating from Government College, Lahore, in 1955, he entered the construction business in 1958 by establishing United Builders in Karachi. The company subsequently undertook projects in Pakistan, AJK, the UAE and Iraq.
He entered politics in 1960-61 as an associate of KH Khurshid, the former AJK president and private secretary to Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He was elected chairman of his native union council, Kasguma, in the first elections held under the Basic Democracies system. When Mr Khurshid founded the Jammu Kashmir Liberation League in 1962, he appointed Raja Zulqarnain its founding secretary general. He remained deeply influenced by his mentor’s political outlook and personal manner.
From the assembly to the presidency
Ahead of AJK’s first general elections under the parliamentary system in 1975, Raja Zulqarnain joined the Pakistan Peoples Party and was elected to the Legislative Assembly from Samahni. After the restoration of political activities following Gen Ziaul Haq’s martial law, he joined the Muslim Conference and won the 1985 election from Bhimber on its ticket. He served in Sardar Sikandar Hayat’s cabinet for five years.
He lost the 1990 assembly election to PPP candidate Chaudhry Sohbat Ali, returned to the assembly in 1991 and served in Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan’s cabinet for five years. In 1996, the Muslim Conference secured his election to the AJK Council.
In the 1996 general elections, he backed Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, who was elected to the assembly for the first time. Their association ended amid local rivalries, and Mr Farooq beat him as an independent in 2001.
In 2006, Raja Zulqarnain opposed Mr Farooq, the Muslim Conference nominee, helping Chaudhry Anwarul Haq win his first assembly seat by a narrow margin. In August that year, the Muslim Conference elected him AJK president, a position he held until August 2011.
He backed Mr Haq in 2011, 2016 and 2021, when Mr Haq won as a PTI candidate, but later became disenchanted with him.
In April this year, a PML-N delegation invited him to join the party. His son, Babar Ali Zulqarnain, announced the decision at a public meeting in Bhimber the following month and was appointed a party vice president.
Condolences and tributes
In his condolence message, AJK Legislative Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Tariq Farooq described Raja Zulqarnain’s death as a major loss for the political, parliamentary and social circles of Jammu and Kashmir. Former AJK premier Sardar Tanveer Ilyas also expressed deep sorrow over his death.
His passing closes a political career that spanned more than six decades. The region has seen unrest and political appeals in Rawalakot in recent weeks, marked Jammu Martyrs Day this month, and ordered the registration of weapon licences within 10 days, while a move to oust the PML-N government in AJK has kept its politics in focus.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Raja Zulqarnain Khan?
He was a former president of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, serving from August 2006 to August 2011.
When and where did he die?
He died on Saturday, Nov 7, 2026, at a hospital in Islamabad after a brief illness. He was 93.
Where will he be buried?
He will be buried with full state honours at the ancestral graveyard in Thathi Kasguma, his native village in Bhimber district, after funeral prayers at 11am on Sunday, Nov 8.
What did he do before politics?
He graduated from Government College, Lahore, in 1955 and founded the construction firm United Builders in Karachi in 1958, which worked on projects in Pakistan, AJK, the UAE and Iraq.
