Khurshid Hasan Khurshid (born 3 January 1924 – 11 March 1988) was the Private Secretary of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the first Governor-General of Pakistan. He was sent by Jinnah to Jammu and Kashmir in October 1947 shortly before the tribal invasion. He was arrested by Indian forces and jailed in Srinagar and finally repatriated in a prisoner exchange in 1949. He was the first elected president of Azad Kashmir. He was the founder of first Constitution of Azad Kashmir. Khurshid often wrote his name as simply "Khurshid", which was both his first name and last name. Indian sources often mistakenly write it as "Khurshid Ahmed". Early life Khurshid was born in Srinagar on 3 January 1924. His father was Maulvi Mohammad Hasan, a headmaster of a boys' school in Gilgit. Consequently, the early years of Khurshid's life were spent in Gilgit. He completed a bachelor's degree from the Amar Singh College in Srinagar. During his college years, he established Kashmir Muslim Students Federation and met Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Jalandhar for the first time in 1942. Khurshid also wrote for the weekly Javed started by the Muslim Conference leader Allah Rakha Sagar. Later he started working for the news agency Orient Press of India in Srinagar. When Jinnah went to Srinagar for a holiday in May 1944, Khurshid interacted with him as an agent of the Orient Press. Jinnah was impressed with him and hired him on his staff. Khurshid subsequently rose to be Jinnah's private secretary and watched the troubled political waters leading to the Partition of India from close quarters. Khurshid was married to Begum Sorayya, a confidante of Fatimah Jinnah and the author of Memories of Fatimah Jinnah. She was the brother of journalist Khalid Hasan. Missions to Kashmir Jinnah sent Khurshid on a mission to Kashmir in the summer of 1947. Jinnah wanted to holiday in Kashmir at this time but, given the pressure on him to accede to one of the incoming dominions, the Maharaja Hari Singh was no mood to entertain the request. Khurshid reportedly told the Maharaja that he was an independent sovereign and need not consult anybody regarding the accession of the state. If he acceded to Pakistan, he would not have to delegate any of his powers to Sheikh Abdullah. "Pakistan would not touch a hair of his head or take an iota of his powers." Scholar Das Gupta also states