Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) lost an eminent jurist and an intellectual in politics as retired justice Abdul Majeed Mallick bade adieu to this mortal world on Tuesday, plunging his family, friends and followers on both sides of the divide into gloom. Mr Mallick, who was 89 and a half years old, had been hospitalized in District Headquarters Hospital Mirpur about two weeks ago due to acute chest infection. Some four days ago, his family had brought him back home where he breathed his last at about 3pm.
Born on September 15, 1932 in a suburban village of Dadyal, Mr Mallick chose a career in law and earned his LLB degree from Lahore. From 1956 to 1958, he practised law in Lahore but returned to Mirpur due to family’s relocation in the wake of Mangla Dam's construction.
In AJK, he was enthusiastically associated with the visionary Kashmiri leader Khurshid Hassan Khurshid aka K H Khurshid from a young age.
When Mr Khurshid launched his Jammu Kashmir Liberation League (JKLL) party in 1962, Mr Mallick was appointed its founding chief organizer. He became the party's secretary general in 1967 and held this position over the next 11 years.
Since he was also an eminent practicing lawyer, he was inducted in the AJK High Court as a judge in May 1978 where he became the chief justice in August 1983, an office he held until his retirement in September 1994 on attaining the age of superannuation.
As most of the JKLL workers would view him as the mirror image of Mr Khurshid, Mr Mallick took the reins of the party on their insistence from 1996 to 2020.
From 2005 to 2010, Mr Mallick undertook around 10 visits to India and separately another four to India occupied Kashmir through Wagah border under track-II diplomacy and people-to-people contact initiatives. During these visits, he had addressed many events and met many important personalities.
It was why social media was flooded with condolence messages from the Kashmiris not only from both sides of Jammu and Kashmir but also from UK, Europe, USA and Canada.
“So sad to hear about him. May he rest in peace. My heartfelt condolences to his family,” tweeted Nayeema Ahmed Mehjoor, an author, broadcaster and journalist from Srinagar, currently living with children in London.
Syed Nazir Gillani, chairman of the London based Jammu Kashmir Council for Human Rights, said that in the death of Mr Mallick the state of Jammu and Kashmir had lost a great son.
“We have lost an unfailing and reliable friend. A courageous person and carried an overwhelming influence. A day of mourning. Allah bless his soul in heaven,” he tweeted.
On Facebook, former ambassador Arif Kamal wrote: “We lost a gem of the unfragmented state of Jammu-Kashmir. The man who held high the flag of our national emancipation.”
Apart from almost all heads of the AJK political parties and cabinet members, sitting and former judges of the AJK’s superior judiciary and legal fraternity members also paid glowing tributes to Mr Mallick for his services in the fields of law and politics.
A fearless jurist who stood firm in his rulings and conviction had many bold judgments to his credit.
In March 1993, he had taken everyone by shock when he held that Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), then referred to as Northern Areas, were part of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. In the landmark judgment, he had directed the central government to hand over GB’s administrative control to the AJK government. He directed the AJK government to take over control and give equal rights and representation to the GB people in all institutions of the state and establish the same institutions in GB. However, the judgement was not upheld by the apex court on the point of jurisdiction.
“… his decisions in law books will keep him alive forever and his services for the judicial system will be a guideline for us… Historians will jot down your efforts for Kashmir cause in golden words,” said Syed Zulqarnain Raza Naqvi, an office bearer of the AJK High Court Bar Association.
In order to pay him respects, the chief justices of AJK’s supreme and high courts announced suspension of judicial work in their respective courts on Wednesday while the AJK government declared a holiday on Wednesday in three districts of Mirpur division to facilitate the people to attend his funerals. Until early this year, Mr Mallick enjoyed good health with a surprisingly good memory and led an active life in the lakeside city of Mirpur, receiving visitors at his residence and attending events outside with regard to Kashmir issue.In December last year, he launched his autobiography. On that occasion, he told this scribe that he had put together his personal observations and experiences which also included some controversies that had not come into the open to this day.
“I believe that a writer should be fair to his readers and set the record straight without bothering about the response,” he had said.
Tariq Naqash
