Political Legacy of Poonch Family Spans Generations;

MIRPUR:  PML – N’s nominee for the AJK State President slot Dr Muhammad Najeeb Naqi Khan, a veteran distinguished  AJK politician with more than three decades of parliamentary and governmental experience, has served five terms as a member of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and held several key portfolios, including Health, Finance, and Planning and Development.

Election to the office of the President of Azad Jammu Kashmir State is scheduled to be held on September  24, 2026, for the next 5 years of constitutional term, according to the announcement by AJK Election Commission.

PML – Supremo and former prime minister of Pakistan Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had yesterday  formally announced the nomination of Dr. Najeeb Naqi as his party’s candidate in the election  for the Presidential office with advice to file his nomination papers to jump into the polls arena for the top slot of the AJK  State.

Born in Rawalpindi on January 19, 1964, Dr Najeeb Naqi Khan hails from a prominent political, social, and educational family of Poonch, whose public service legacy spans generations, our Special Jammu Kashmir state Correspondent Altaf Hamid Rao reports  from Mirpur on Thursday.

His grandfather, Khan Sahib Colonel Khan Muhammad Khan, popularly known as “Baba-e-Poonch” and “Ghazi-e-Kashmir,” was a soldier, political leader, social reformer and educationist who played a prominent role in the Kashmir freedom movement.

After retiring from the British Indian Army, Colonel Khan Muhammad Khan devoted himself to education and social welfare. He launched the “Muthi Bhar Aata” scheme, under which flour collected from households was sold and the proceeds used for establishing educational institutions in Poonch.

In 1934, he founded the Sudhan Educational Conference and was elected member of the Jammu and Kashmir Praja Sabha, the first legislature of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, serving until 1946.

He later vacated his seat for young Barrister Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan and nominated him as his political successor.

During the 1947 Kashmir freedom struggle, Colonel Khan Muhammad Khan served as Chairman of the War Council and played an important role in the movement for the liberation of Azad Jammu Kashmir.

Dr Najeeb Naqi Khan’s father, Colonel (retd) Muhammad Naqi Khan, served in the Pakistan Army before entering AJK politics. He was Adviser to the Prime Minister from 1975 to 1977 and was elected member of the AJK Legislative Assembly in 1985.

He served as Minister for Health and Food from 1988 to 1990 before dying in a tragic road accident a day before the 1990 general elections.

Dr Najeeb Naqi Khan received his early education at Aitchison College, Lahore, and later obtained his MBBS degree from King Edward Medical College, Lahore.

Following his father’s death in 1990, he entered practical politics and was elected to the AJK Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1991.

From 1991 to 1996, he served as Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Planning and Development.

He was elected to the Assembly for a second time in 1996 and remained on the opposition benches until 2001, when he was elected member of the AJK Council.

He remained a member of the Council until 2006 and returned to the Legislative Assembly the same year for a third term.

From 2006 to January 2009, he served as Minister for Health and Population Welfare. After serving briefly as an opposition member, he returned to the cabinet in October 2009 as Minister for Health.

From 2010 to 2011, he also held the portfolios of Information Technology and Education (Colleges).

Elected for a fourth term in 2011, Dr Najeeb Naqi Khan served as an opposition member until 2016.

In 2016, he secured his fifth Assembly term and joined the PML-N government, where he held key portfolios including Health, Finance, and Planning and Development.

He remained part of the government until 2021.

With five Assembly terms, membership of the AJK Council, parliamentary responsibilities and service in several important ministries, Dr Najeeb Naqi Khan’s political career represents more than three decades of parliamentary and public service, continuing a longstanding family tradition in Poonch.