Yusuf Haroon (1916-2011): end of an era

The last survivor of the constituent assembly, a Muslim League politician, a former mayor of Karachi (May 1944-May 1945), chief minister of Sindh (February 1949-May 1950), a former governor of West Pakistan, a federal minister and a former editor-in-chief of Dawn, Yusuf A Haroon is no more in this world.
So are many Sindh stalwarts of his days when he succeeded his illustrious father Sir Haji Abdullah Haroon following the latter's death at the platform of Sindh Muslim League during the times that arguably constituted the most tumultuous period of freedom struggle in undivided India - G M Sayed, Sir Ghulam Husain Hidyatullah, Ayub Khurho, Dr Choith Ram Gidwani, Allah Bux Soomro, Mir Bandey Ali Ralpur, Jamshed Nusserwanji, Allah Bux, Pir Sibghatullah Shah II, Pir Ali Mohammad Rashdi, Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur, Sheikh Abdul Majid Sindhi, Makhdoom Sahib of Hala, Pir Illahi Bux, Ghulam Mustafa Bhurguri and Hashim Gazdar.... Indeed, the list of all those luminaries of that period is quite long.
Younger generation of Pakistanis may only have a vague idea about Yusuf Haroon whose personality was characterised by highly valuable qualities of probity and loyalty and who always had a greater sense of history, but for those who have lived through the cataclysmic days before creation of Pakistan in 1947 - the period between early to mid-twentieth century, the news of his passing away, came as a great shock. Indeed, he was the very last survivor from among the trusted lieutenants of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and with his death an epoch of steadfastness, loyalty, courage and true faith comes to an end.
He was a key witness to the events that led to the Partition of India and also those that later shaped up today's Pakistan. Following the passage of Quit India Resolution by the Indian Congress, the Quaid called a meeting of the party's working committee at Bombay on August 16, 1942 to consider the resolution. Ayub Khurho and Yusuf Haroon went to Bombay to represent Sindh.
At the 1945 Simla conference, which was called by Viceroy Lord Wavell, who was authorised by the British to set up an interim government and arrive at a settlement with the Indian leadership following the end of World War II, Yusuf accompanied G M Sayed, the member of All India Muslim League Working Committee, along with Pir Ali Mohammad Rashdi and Shaikh Abdul Majid Sindhi. It was on that occasion he also met the big names of Indian politics such as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Pundit G.B. Pant, Rajagopalachari, Tara Singh and Dr Khan Saheb.
Yusuf Haroon was also present at the Allahabad session of All-India Muslim League where Allama Iqbal first mooted his idea of Pakistan (Autonomy in provinces and states where Muslims were in a majority - Sind, Balochistan, NWFP, Kashmir and Punjab in the West, and Bengal and Assam in the East), and since then he was and remained a member of All-India Muslim League Working Committee, as well as the moving spirit of the organisation in Sindh.
The late Yusuf Haroon was an old friend of M A Zuberi, who died in December last year. On the Quaid's instructions, M A Zuberi, the founder of this newspaper, came to Karachi about two weeks prior to Independence with a planeload of Dawn's First Pakistan Day Supplement because the Muslim League leadership in Delhi had no idea of printing facilities in Karachi. The person waiting for Mr Zuberi's arrival at the airport was no other than Yusuf Haroon himself. Dawn's independence was a sore-point for dictator Ayub Khan and others who followed him, and that forced Yusuf Haroon to leave the country in a hurry, or face arrest. Much before he left the country, Editor Altaf Husain and his deputy M A Zuberi were eased out of Dawn by the dictator. After his departure, Yusuf's younger brother, Mahmoud efficiently ran the family business, and Yusuf came only on occasions for a brief visit, starting with the time of Ziaul Haq, but stayed most of the time in New York. His last few months of life, specially after Mahmoud's death in 2008, were extremely painful till he breathed his last in a New York hospital on February 13, 2011.
His death closes the chapter of stalwarts who were trusted companions of Quaid-e-Azam, and remained true to the latter's ideals and preaching to the very end, despite hardships, trials and tribulations. May his soul rest in eternal peace, and may God grant solace to the bereaved family, friends and well-wishers. Amen.