Sikandar Hayat Khan (Azad Kashmir politician)

Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan (1 June 1934 – 9 October 2021) was twice a former Prime Minister and President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. He was the longest serving Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Early life
Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan was born into a famous political family of Kashmir.  He was the son of Sardar Fateh Muhammad Khan Karela vi. Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan graduated from Gordon College (Rawalpindi) in 1956. He then went to the University Law College in Lahore for a law degree in 1958.

Political career
He returned to Kotli to start a law practice.  He joined the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference.  He also successfully ran for membership of the local council.  He had this position for eight years. During this period he was also elected as President of Bar Association, Kotli. In 1970, he was elected to the Azad Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly.

He has been returned to office from his constituency in every election held in Azad Kashmir between 1970 and 2001, barring the years when he was President of Azad Kashmir. His brother Sardar Muhammad Naeem Khan served as a member from that area during that period.

He was acting President of the Jammu & Kashmir Muslim Conference in the 1976-78 period. He was elected President in 1978, a position he held until 1988.

In 1985, he was elected Prime Minister of Azad Jammu & Kashmir.  He kept that office for the next five years. He was leader of the opposition in the Assembly during the next two years.  Then he was elected President of Azad Jammu & Kashmir for a five-year term in 1991.

He was sworn in as Prime Minister of Azad Jammu & Kashmir on July 25, 2001 for the second time.  He retired from active politics in July 2006 after completing his second term.

Death
Khan died in Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir from heart disease on 9 October 2021, aged 87.Former AJK president and PM Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan passes away

References

Other websites
 PakDef E-Reporter Vol. I, Issue 3 - page 20 
 Profile of Sardar Muhammad Naeem Khan, Minister of Revenue, Government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir 

Category:Prime Ministers of Azad Kashmir
Category:1934 births
Category:2021 deaths
Category:Pakistani Muslims
Category:Presidents of Azad Kashmir
Category:Deaths from heart disease