Muhammad Yusuf Abdullah Haroon (1916 – 12 February 2011) was a Pakistani businessman and politician who served as the 5th

Governor of West Pakistan West Pakistan was the western province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1970, covering the territory of present-day Pakistan. Its land borders were with Afghanistan, India and Iran, with a maritime border with Oman in the Gulf of Oman in the Arabi ...

and 3rd

Chief Minister of Sindh The chief minister of Sindh (, —), is the elected head of government of Sindh and serves alongside the Chief Secretary. Murad Ali Shah is the current Chief Minister of Sindh, serving since 26 February 2024. The chief minister is the head of ...

Early life and family

Born in 1916 to Abdullah Haroon, Yusuf worked closely with

Quaid-e-Azam 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 ...

as his personal assistant and was active in the

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation the ...

. He was a witness to

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 ...

's 25th session in

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 1930. Yusuf married Pasha Haroon, the niece of

Aga Khan III Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah (2 November 187711 July 1957), known as Aga Khan III, was the 48th Imamate in Nizari doctrine, imam of the Nizari Isma'ili, Ism'aili branch of Shia Islam. He was one of the founders and the first permanent president of ...

who was the 48th Imam of the Ismaili Shias, in 1937.

Career

Yusuf was active in politics spanning nearly seven decades. From 10 May 1944 to 8 May 1945, he served as mayor of pre-independence

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 ...

. After independence, he served as

between 1949–50, where he 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. In 1969, Haroon served as

governor of West Pakistan West Pakistan was the western province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1970, covering the territory of present-day Pakistan. Its land borders were with Afghanistan, India and Iran, with a maritime border with Oman in the Gulf of Oman in the Arabi ...

in 1969. Yusuf also served as a federal minister and as a high commissioner to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. In 1966, he worked briefly as chief editor for ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

'', a daily newspaper. After moving to New York, he served as an executive of the now-defunct

Pan Am Airlines Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...

before retiring.

''Dawn''

Yusuf Haroon was a founding member of ''

''. 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'' in Karachi,

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, 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. He became the chief editor of the Dawn newspaper in April 1966 after the long time editor

Altaf Husain Altaf Husain (, ; 26 January 1900 – 25 May 1968) was an educationist, journalist, and Pakistan Movement activist. He is noted as one of the pioneers of print journalism in Pakistan and was the founding editor and the first editor-in-chief of ...

decided to join the cabinet of President of Pakistan, Field Marshal

Ayub Khan Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, se ...

in March 1965. Altaf Husain had been hand-picked by Jinnah to be the editor of ''Dawn'', Delhi before 1947. He was also elected the president of the

All Pakistan Newspapers Society All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) is an organization of major Pakistani newspapers, their publishers, companies, and corporations. It includes the Jang Group of Newspapers, Dawn Group of Newspapers, and Nawa-i-Waqt Group of Newspapers.

of Pakistan for the term 1966–67. Yusuf Haroon's independent-looking outlook annoyed the next

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

General

Yahya Khan Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan (4 February 191710 August 1980) was a Pakistani army officer who served as the third president of Pakistan from 1969 to 1971. He also served as the fifth Commander-in-Chief, Pakistan, commander-in-chief of the Pakistan ...

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. He provided financial support to

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...

, the future President of Bangladesh, who was employed at an insurance company owned by Haroon.

Death

Yusuf Haroon died on 12 February 2011, after a protracted illness, at the age of 95 in New York. His funeral was attended by the former Pakistani prime minister Mir

Zafarullah Khan Jamali Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali (1 January 1944 – 2 December 2020) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 2002 to 2004. He was the first and only elected prime minister from Balochistan, Pakistan. Born int ...

, former Sindh governors Kamal Azfar and

Moinuddin Haider Moinuddin Haider, HI(M) (; born 5 June 1942) is a retired three-star rank general of the Pakistan Army, who later served as the Governor and Chief Minister (Chief Executive) of Sindh, and then as the Federal Interior Minister of Pakistan. He h ...

, former speaker of

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly of Pakistan, also referred to as ''Aiwān-ē-Zairīñ'', is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the upper house being the Senate of Pakistan, Senate. As of 2023, the National Assem ...

Illahi Bukhsh Soomro and the veteran politician

Sherbaz Khan Mazari Sherbaz Khan Mazari () (6 October 1930 – 5 December 2020) was a Pakistani politician and a leader of the opposition in the National Assembly. Career Mazari was born in Rojhan Mazari on October 5, 1930. His father, Mir Murad Bakhsh Khan, was ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haroon, Yusuf 1916 births 2011 deaths Pakistani MNAs 1955–1958 Pakistani people of Iranian descent Mayors of Karachi Chief ministers of Sindh Governors of West Pakistan Memon people

Yusuf Yusuf ( ') is a male name meaning " God increases" (in piety, power and influence).From the Hebrew יהוה להוסיף ''YHWH Lhosif'' meaning " YHWH will increase/add". It is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew name Yosef and the English na ...

Dawn Media Group people Politicians from Karachi Pakistan Movement activists St. Patrick's High School, Karachi alumni Dawn (newspaper) editors