A student of Aitchison College and later a medical graduate of Lahore’s prestigious King Edward Medical College, he had set his sights on medicine and was doing his house job at Mayo Hospital when fate intervened in the most unexpected way.
asserted
fate → set → way
A day before the 1990 general elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), his father, retired Colonel Muhammad Naqi Khan, then minister for health, died in a tragic road accident while campaigning.
asserted
father → retire → accident
The family elders soon decided that his only son should carry forward the political legacy.
asserted
son → decide → legacy
At 26, and with little political experience, Dr Naqi was persuaded to take the plunge.
asserted
Naqi → persuade → plunge
He contested the 1990 election on a Muslim Conference ticket but lost.
asserted
He → contest → ticket
The setback, however, proved only a temporary detour.
asserted
setback → prove → ?
The assembly was dissolved within a year, paving the way for fresh elections, in which the young doctor returned to the fray — and this time emerged victorious.
asserted
doctor → dissolve → fray
That was the beginning of a parliamentary career that would span more than three decades.
asserted
that → span → decades
In those days, a first-time legislator was not expected to walk straight into the cabinet.
asserted
legislator → expect → cabinet
The convention was to start at the bottom and work one’s way up.
asserted
convention → start → way
Dr Naqi did precisely that, serving as parliamentary secretary for health and planning and development from 1991 to 1996.
asserted
Naqi → do → 1996
He won again in 1996, but with the PPP forming the government, he spent the next five years on the opposition benches.
asserted
he → win → benches
He lost the 2001 election but was subsequently elected by assembly members to the AJK Council, where he served until 2006.
asserted
he → lose → 2006
Born on Jan 19, 1964, Dr Naqi comes from a prominent political, social and educational family of Poonch whose public-service tradition stretches back several generations.
asserted
tradition → bear → Poonch
At the heart of that legacy stands his grandfather, Col Khan Muhammad Khan, popularly remembered as Khan Sahib and Baba-e-Poonch.
asserted
grandfather → stand → Sahib
A soldier, politician, social reformer and educationist, Khan Muhammad Khan served in the British Indian Army during the First World War and was awarded the Indian Distinguished Service Medal.
asserted
Khan → serve → Medal
After retiring as a subedar major, he served as police inspector of Poonch before turning his energies to social welfare and public life.
asserted
he → retire → welfare
Education was one of his abiding passions.
asserted
Education → abide → passions
In an era when formal education remained beyond the reach of many people, particularly in rural areas of Poonch, Khan Sahib devised the “Muthi Bhar Atta” — or “handful of flour” — scheme.
asserted
Sahib → remain → scheme
Households contributed a handful of flour every week, which was sold, with the proceeds channelled into educational activities.
asserted
proceeds → contribute → activities
In 1934, he founded the Sudhan Educational Conference to encourage both religious and modern education.
asserted
he → found → education
The same year, he was elected to the Tehsil Bagh and Sudhnoti seat of the Praja Sabha, the first legislature of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.
asserted
he → elect → Jammu
He retained the seat until 1946, when he voluntarily stepped aside in favour of Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, who would later become the first AJK president.
asserted
who → retain → Khan
The educational initiative also spawned scholarships for talented students and helped establish educational and religious institutions.
asserted
initiative → spawn → institutions
During the 1947 Kashmir conflict, Khan Sahib served as chairman of the War Council and played a prominent role in the movement that led to the establishment of the territory now administered as AJK.
asserted
that → serve → AJK
Dr Naqi was born four years after his grandfather’s death, the youngest of Col Naqi Khan’s four children, with three elder sisters.
asserted
Naqi → bear → sisters
His father had followed the family tradition into public life, serving in the army before entering AJK politics.
asserted
father → follow → politics
From 1975 to 1977, Col Naqi served as senior adviser to the AJK prime minister.
asserted
Naqi → serve → minister
In 1985, he contested and won the election from Sudhnoti and became the minister for health and food in 1988.
asserted
he → contest → 1988
His death in 1990 unexpectedly pushed his son into the political arena.
asserted
death → push → arena
Dr Naqi returned to the assembly in 2006 for a third term and served as minister for health and population welfare.
asserted
Naqi → return → health
He later held the portfolios of education and information technology.
asserted
He → hold → education
He was elected for a fourth term in 2011 on a PML-N ticket and remained on the opposition benches until 2016.
asserted
He → elect → 2016
The 2016 election brought him back for a fifth assembly term.
asserted
election → bring → term
He subsequently served as minister for health and also held the finance and planning and development portfolios.
asserted
He → serve → portfolios
Over the years, he thus occupied a range of responsibilities spanning health, education, information technology, finance and development.
asserted
he → occupy → health
After losing the 2021 election, Dr Naqi was set to stage a comeback in the 2026 polls.
asserted
Naqi → lose → polls
However, elections in seven constituencies of Poonch division, including his own, were put on hold because of the law and order situation.
asserted
elections → include → situation
Luck had something else in store for him.
asserted
Luck → have → him
As the government formation process was completed on the basis of 46 seats — excluding the seven constituencies of Poonch and Sudhnoti — the top two constitutional offices also went to representatives from other divisions, with the speaker coming from Mirpur and the prime minister from Muzaffarabad.
asserted
speaker → complete → Muzaffarabad
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
