Altaf Hamid Rao.
MIRPUR (AJK): February 2; “Today stands as a day of grief, sorrow, and historical significance for the people of Jammu & Kashmiri including those living in various parts of the world over the sad demise of AJK President and eminent Kashmiri leader Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry”, US-based Overseas Kashmiris elders said.

American overseas Kashmiris’ famous abode of Brooklyn witnessed sorrowful scenes at Kashmiri Makkah Masjid, where extraordinary number of Kashmiri and Pakistani expatriates from across the United States offered the funeral prayer in absentia for the veteran leader of Kashmir and President of Azad Jammu Kashmir, Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry who had breathed his last on Sunday in a private hospital after prolonged illness.

Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry became the fifth Pakistani and Kashmiri leader to be laid to rest with full state protocol.

“This tribute was a testament to the fact that he was not merely a political figure, but a national asset”, said Sardar Sawar Khan, US based overseas Kashmiris leader while addressing the participants of the funeral prayer, says a message reaching and released to the media here Tuesday.

Qari Usama led the funeral prayer in absentia with deep emotion and humility.

After the prayer, he offered a special supplication for the late President of Azad Kashmir.
During the dua, quiet sobs echoed through the mosque, and every heart felt that a great soldier of Kashmir had departed.

“When the funeral prayer in absentia was offered at Makkah Masjid, the atmosphere was filled with profound silence and deep emotion. People had traveled from New York, New Jersey, Boston, and many other states.Every face reflected sorrow, love, and reverence”, according to the message.

Sardar Sawar Khan, former member of the Kashmir Council, expressed his emotions with a trembling voice saying “I had a 55 year relationship with my leader, Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry.
I am a witness that he dedicated his entire life to the right of self determination for the Kashmiri people.
He fought for Kashmir on every forum, on every front. He never learned to step back.
His life had only one purpose—Kashmir’s freedom.”

“Today, we are not only bidding farewell to a leader, but to an entire era.
Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry was a movement, a passion, a light. His struggle will forever remain alive in history”, Khan said.

A large number of Kashmiri leaders attended the funeral prayer in absentia besides hundreds of others from all walks of life.

Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry was influential in life, and even in death he united the nation.
His passing has left a wound in the hearts of the Kashmiri people that may never fully heal.
Yet his struggle, his vision, his courage, and his selfless love for Kashmir will forever shine in history, the mourners attending the funeral prayer in absentia observed