‘Biography of Mirza Muhammad Akram’ to be launched on Oct 23

MIRPUR [AJK]: Oct 18 (APP): The biography of late Mirza Muhammad Akram who served in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government in various capacities, will be launched here on October 23.

The book titled ‘Biography of Mirza Muhammad Akram’ is co-authored by his daughters – Midhat Shehzad, Incumbent Secretary of Information and Information Technology, AJK and Sabahat Ibrar, Dean of University of Kotli, AJK depicting his lifelong struggle to emerge as a successful person reaching at the age of 85 when he left for heavenly abode on this day last year.

Late Mirza Akram, originally hailing from Jarral clan of Rajouri district of Jammu region, the son of one of millions of divided families belonging to the Jammu Kashmir State, had migrated with his parents to AJK in 1947 at the age of only 10.

He was a hardworking man and had a promising career in the AJK government service, retiring as the head of the State Local Government & Rural Development Department 25 years ago.

He came from a well-off family and his early childhood was the only period of his life which was relatively stable. They had enough land, animals, jewelry and above all means of livelihood to lead a reasonably comfortable life.

The partition of the subcontinent that led to the creation of Pakistan and India changed the lives and fates of millions of people. The partition left long-lasting impact on people’s lives. Those who were well off became economically challenged within days – Mirza Akram’s family being one of them.

He belonged to the Jarral Rajput clan which had a long history of leading and winning battles while ruling Rajauri for almost 700 years.

Almost 90% of its male population was in army at the time of 1948 war, and they had played a significant role in getting freedom for Jammu and Kashmir. To achieve this, they sacrificed life, money and above all their homes. Almost 11 years old Mirza sahib was no exception.

For next 3-4 years, the child’s life was in a constant flux. They kept moving to find an abode that is safe enough to lead a peaceful life and close enough to their dear homes to let them go back as soon as possible.

For the next 75 years of his life, he lived with this dream of returning to the place he fondly called ‘Kaar’ (meaning home in Pahari) and it was there in his eyes when he breathed last in 2021.