Yusuf Haroon

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Yusuf Abdullah Haroon
Urdu: یوسف ہارون
5th Governor of West Pakistan
In office
March 1969 – September 1969
Preceded byMuhammad Musa
Succeeded byMalik Nur Khan
3rd Chief Minister of Sindh
In office
18 February 1949 – 7 May 1950
Governor GeneralMuhammad Ali Jinnah
Khawaja Nazimuddin
Preceded byPir Ilahi Bux
Succeeded byQazi Fazlullah Ubaidullah
Personal details
Born1916
Died12 February 2011(2011-02-12) (aged 94–95)
New York City, United States
Political partyMuslim League

Muhammad Yusuf Abdullah Haroon (Urdu: یوسف ہارون) (1916 – 12 February 2011) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 5th Governor of West Pakistan and 3rd Chief Minister of Sindh.[1]

Early life[]

He was the eldest son of Sir Haji Abdullah Haroon, he worked closely with Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah as his personal assistant and was active in the Pakistan Movement.[1] Yusuf Haroon was a witness to All-India Muslim League’s 25th session in Allahabad in 1930.[2]

Career[]

A seasoned politician, Yusuf’s involvement in politics spanned nearly seven decades. He served as mayor of Pre-independence Karachi (May 10, 1944, to May 8, 1945),[2] Chief Minister of Sindh (1949–50), Governor of West Pakistan (1969) and a Federal minister. He was also a former high commissioner to Australia. In addition, he worked briefly as chief editor, Daily Dawn newspaper in 1966. After moving to New York, he served as an executive of the now-defunct Pan Am Airlines before retiring.[2]

As chief minister of Sindh, Yusuf Haroon piloted a bill for land reform to abolish large land-holdings. When the bill failed to pass, he resigned from his position as chief minister.[3]

Foundation of newspaper[]

Yusuf Haroon was a founding member of the Dawn newspaper. In 1946, when Yusuf was in New Delhi to attend a constituent assembly session, Jinnah called him to his residence and asked him to discontinue the newspaper The Herald, then edited by Desmond Young, and instead start the publication of Dawn newspaper in Karachi, Pakistan, the soon-to-be independent nation, even though Dawn’s Delhi edition would continue to be published. Jinnah also asked him and his family to buy all the shares of the new newspaper company.[4]

He became the chief editor of the Dawn newspaper in April 1966[3] after the long time editor Altaf Husain decided to join the cabinet of President of Pakistan, Field Marshal Ayub Khan in March 1965. Altaf Husain had been hand-picked by Jinnah to be the editor of Dawn, Delhi before 1947.[3] He was also elected the president of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society of Pakistan for the term 1966–67. Yusuf Haroon's independent-looking outlook annoyed the next President of Pakistan General Yahya Khan and he had to leave Pakistan in a hurry to avoid arrest in 1969. He later decided to settle in New York and remained there after the Yahya Khan government fell in December 1971.[3]

Death[]

Yusuf Haroon died on February 12, 2011, after a protracted illness, at the age of 95 in New York.[3][1][5]

His funeral was attended by the former Pakistani prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, former Sindh governors Kamal Azfar and Moinuddin Haider, former speaker of National Assembly of Pakistan Illahi Bukhsh Soomro and the veteran politician Sherbaz Khan Mazari.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Obituary of Yusuf Haroon on The Nation newspaper Published 14 February 2011, Retrieved 17 September 2021
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c Qazi Asif (15 February 2011). "Yusuf Haroon - a chapter closed". Pakistan Today (newspaper). Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Obituary: Former governor of West Pakistan no more Dawn (newspaper), Published 17 February 2011, Retrieved 17 September 2021
  4. ^ The day Dawn became Herald JournalismPakistan.com website, Published 27 April 2013, Retrieved 17 September 2021
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Yusuf Haroon laid to rest Dawn (newspaper), Published 17 February 2011, Retrieved 17 September 2021

External Links[]

Political offices
Preceded by
Shambo Nath Molraaj 		Mayor of Karachi
1944–1945 		Succeeded by
Manuel Misquita
Preceded by
Pir Ilahi Bux 		Chief Minister of Sindh
1949–1950 		Succeeded by
Qazi Fazlullah Ubaidullah
Preceded by
Muhammad Musa 		Governor of West Pakistan
1969 		Succeeded by
Malik Nur Khan
Retrieved from ""