Defence Council. He also organised 60,000 ex-servicemen from the Sudhan tribe to fight against 'Dogra rule' in Poonch. He dedicated his life and the resources he had, to improving the lives of the Muslims of Poonch particularly and the Muslims of Kashmir generally. His main political concern was the plight of Muslims under the oppressive double tier rule of Raja Poonch and Maharaja of Kashmir. He worked against various social evils prevailing among his people at that time. He motivated his people to give up the superfluous and frivolous social practices like Dowry, lavish spending on birth, death and marriage rituals, naswar and cigarettes, he emphasized the importance of education for all. It is basically thanks to his efforts that Azad Kashmir today has a comparatively higher literacy rate then the neighbouring areas of NWFP and Punjab. He founded the Sudhan Educational Conference which still provides free education for the poor, he also set up a muthi bhar atta scheme where a handful of each family's surplus flour was collected everyday and used to fund projects such as the construction of the Jamia mosque and the Darul Allum Madrassa in Pallandri. Role in 1947 Independence Struggle Shortly after the announcement of the partition plan 3 June 1947 under which the South Asian Sub-continent was divided into two sovereign states named Pakistan and India, Khan Sahib Col Khan Muhammad Khan Baba e Poonch held a meeting of ex-service men at Pallandri and announced the formation of home guards for various groups of villages in Sudhnati, Bagh and Kotli. It was the first step towards the armed struggle for liberation of Kashmir and its accession to Pakistan. Khan sb Col Khan Muhammad Khan established Numb camp near Pallandri on 1 October 1947 and made arrangements for distribution of dry rations to volunteers coming forward to join liberation forces being organized to fight against the Dogra rule. On 2 October 1947 Khan Sahib held last meeting to organize Mujahid forces in Chechan area. Many retired JCOs and ex-service men from lower Sudhnati and adjoining areas of Kotli attended the meeting. On 6 October 1947 a War Council under Khan sahib Col Khan Muhammad Khan Baba e Poonch was set up at Pallandri. It was subsequently reconstituted and renamed as Defence Council Under Lieutenant Col Syed Ali Ahmed Shah, Defence Minister as Chairman and Syed Nazeer Hussain Shah, Finance Minister, Brig Muhammad Zaman Kiyani,