The Chairman of the Senate Defence Committee, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, has lauded the unparalleled contribution and outstanding services of Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan for the cause of Kashmir and his consistent commitment to projecting Pakistan’s perspective on this issue at home and abroad.
Talking to the media on Sunday, Senator Mushahid Hussain, while expressing his heartfelt condolences to Sardar Atiq and other members of the grieving family, said that when he visited Sardar Qayyum in hospital recently, although he was physically frail, but he was firm and steadfast as ever saying ‘I will not be there but my cause, Kashmir, will live on’.
Senator Mushahid Hussain recalled his visit to Washington in 2002 as part of a Kashmir delegation under the leadership of Sardar Qayyum, where he ably promoted the Kashmir cause during an interaction with the editorial boards of The Washington Post and The Washington Times, both newspapers then carried stories on Kashmir prominently in their pages.
Senator Mushahid Hussain also referred to Sardar Qayyum’s famous interview in the popular Indian TV show ‘Aap ki Adalat’, where he presented Kashmir’s case with strong, well-reasoned arguments despite hostile questioning. Terming Sardar Qayyum as a ‘giant in the Kashmiri struggle for freedom and self-determination,’ Senator Mushahid said while his passing away is an irreparable loss, his legacy will live on as the Kashmiri people continue to reject the Indian occupation and despite nearly seven decades of grave human rights violations, the flame of freedom which he lit as ‘Mujahid-e-Awal’ cannot be extinguished by the military might of India.
He said a befitting and lasting tribute to Sardar Qayyum would be to have a Centre for Kashmir Studies named after Sardar Qayyum in the University of Azad Kashmir and to institute a scholarship in his name dedicated to academic research abroad on the Kashmir cause given to any deserving student.