Sir Abdullah Haroon (1 January 1872 – 27 April 1942) () (also spelled Seth Haji Sir Abdoola Haroon) was a British Indian
politician
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
and
businessman
A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...
who made major contributions towards developing and defining the role of
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s in economic, educational, social and political fields in the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...
.
[
]
Early life and political career
Abdullah Haroon was born into a Kutchi Memon
Memon may refer to:
Ethnic group and language
* Memon people, Sunni Muslim community in Gujarat, India and Sindh, Pakistan
** Memons (Kathiawar)
** Kutchi Memon, from Kutch, Gujarat
*** Kutchi Memons in Bombay
** Bantva Memons, from Bantva, Gujara ...
family in 1872 at Karachi
Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
, British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
.[ He lost his father at an early age of four and was raised by his grandmother who was a deeply religious lady. Early in his life, he worked as an 'assistant bicycle repairman' for 4 annas (quarter of an Indian rupee). He deeply believed in the dignity of labor. Then in 1896, at the age of 24, he started his own business as a small merchant in Karachi. He soon became very successful and was called Sindh's 'Sugar King' by his contemporaries due to his business trades in sugar.]
In 1913, he developed an interest in politics. He first became a member of the Karachi Municipality from May 1913 to September 1916. Again, he was a member of this body from 1 May 1921 to 21 August 1934.[
Abdullah Haroon first joined the ]Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
party in 1917 and started to participate in the Independence movement
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of a ...
of India. He was elected as a member of the Central Legislative Assembly
The Central Legislative Assembly was the lower house of the Indian Legislature, the legislature of British India. It was created by the Government of India Act 1919, implementing the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. It was also sometimes calle ...
in 1924 and then re-elected twice in 1930 and 1934.[
Soon he was disenchanted with the policies of the Congress party of India and joined the ]All-India Muslim League
The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...
party and remained its strong supporter till his death. In 1919, he became president of the Khilafat Committee of Sindh, a branch of the larger Khilafat Movement
The Khilafat movement (1919–22) was a political campaign launched by Indian Muslims in British India over British policy against Turkey and the planned dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire after World War I by Allied forces.
Leaders particip ...
of India under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jouhar.[
He also served as president of the Sindh Provincial Muslim League from 1920 to 1930.][
In 1930, he attended the All-India Muslim Conference and in the same year, he formed the ]Sind United Party
The Sind United Party or Sind Ittehad Party ( Sindhi: سنڌ اتحاد پارٽي) was a political party in Sind, British India. The party was founded in June 1936, the same year that the Sind province had been created. The party was modelled ...
on the pattern of the Unionist Party (Punjab)
The National Unionist Party was a political party based in the Punjab Province during the period of British rule in India. The Unionist Party mainly represented the interests of the landed gentry and landlords of Punjab, which included Muslims ...
which called for the separation of Sindh from the Bombay Presidency, which then actually took place in April 1936 after the enactment of the Government of India Act, 1935. Abdullah Haroon joined the All-India Muslim League
The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...
in 1937.[ Although his party won a plurality of seats in the 1937 provincial elections, it was not able to form the government as its leaders like Haroon and Sir ]Shah Nawaz Bhutto
Shah Nawaz Bhutto (, , ), 8 March 1888 – 19 November 1957, was a politician and a member of the Bhutto family hailing from Larkana in the Sind region of the Bombay Presidency of British India, which is now Sindh, Pakistan.
Early life and ...
failed to be elected. He was knighted by King George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...
in the 1937 Coronation Honours list and came to be known as Sir Abdullah Haroon.
Meanwhile the decline of the Sind United Party led him to organize the Muslim League in Sindh
Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...
in 1938 and he was elected its president in 1939.[
In October 1938, with the help of Shaikh Abdul Majeed Sindhi and Pir Ali Muhammad Rashidi, he organised the First Sind Provincial Muslim League Conference in Karachi, with ]Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 187611 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pa ...
presiding. Participation in this conference was from all over India. Haroon headed the Reception Committee and his welcome address, which set the tone for the conference, was considered quite radical at the time. His warning was that, "We have nearly arrived at the parting of the ways and...it will be impossible to save India from being divided into Hindu India and Muslim India, both placed under separate federation". This also prepared the ground for adoption of the Lahore Resolution
The Lahore Resolution, later called the Pakistan Resolution in Pakistan, was a formal political statement adopted by the All-India Muslim League on the occasion of its three-day general session in Lahore, Punjab, from 22 to 24 March 1940, call ...
in March 1940. He also spoke at this historic event and endorsed the resolution.[
Abdullah Haroon also was a member of the Muslim League Working Committee that drafted and endorsed the ' Pakistan Resolution' on behalf of all Muslims of Sindh at the 27th Session of the Muslim League at ]Lahore
Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
on 23 March 1940.
Death and legacy
Abdullah Haroon died on 27 April 1942 in Karachi
Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
. He had donated ten thousand rupees to the Muslim League at Allahabad
Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...
in 1942. He was a philanthropist and active in social welfare projects throughout his life and contributed to many charitable institutions. According to Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust, ..."he had given away a princely sum of Rs 88,961 to charities, which would be equivalent to about Rs 10 million today".[
The Pakistan Post also had issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honour in its 'Pioneers of Freedom' series.]
Abdullah Haroon was widely considered to be so honest in his conduct with people that even Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
had remarked about him, "I will trust this man with a blank cheque".[
There is a major street named after him in ]Saddar
Saddar (), also known as Saddar Bazaar, is a neighbourhood in Karachi, Pakistan. The locality was developed as the primary commercial district during the period of British-era rule in Karachi. As a result, Saddar contains the large concentratio ...
, Karachi called Abdullah Haroon Road. Its former name was Victoria Road and an official residence of Prime Minister of Pakistan
The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Cabinet of Pakistan, cabinet, desp ...
, 10 Victoria Road, was located there.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haroon, Abdullah
1872 births
1942 deaths
All-India Muslim League politicians
Leaders of the Pakistan Movement
Members of the Central Legislative Assembly of India
Indian Knights Bachelor
Indian philanthropists
Memon people
Abdullah
Businesspeople from British India