A Tribute to A.G. Noorani
In the demise of A.G. Noorani, India has lost a great advocate of human rights today. I personally offer my humble tribute.
Renowned jurist Abdul Ghafoor Abdul Majid alias A.G. Noorani passed away on Thursday August 30, 2024 at his residence in Mumbai at the age of 93. I had the opportunity to work with him at the Ayodhya Consortium during (2014-2015). This process was initiated by Former Cabinet Secretary and my dear friend Zafar Saifullah Sahab. Apart from me, its members included Frontline Magazine Editor N. Ram, A.G. Noorani, Dr. B.D. Sharma, Acharya Jugalkishore and Hindustan Times Editor.
After two or three meetings of this forum, this process suddenly came to a halt after the demise of Zafar Saifullah Sahab. But on this pretext, I got the opportunity to see and listen to A.G. Noorani sahab closely and to have a conversation with him. There were encyclopedias of sensitive topics ranging from the Indian subcontinent’s freedom struggle to communalism, Kashmir and secularism.
That is why in 2013 he has written a book titled "The Kashmir Dispute – 1947-2012" in two volumes of more than 1,200 pages based on various documents. He has also written a separate large volume on Article 370 which he submitted along with Annexe in 2023 in his petition challenging the decision to repeal 370 in the Supreme Court.
Similarly, he was also busy collecting documents against the November 2019 decision of the Supreme Court on the Ayodhya dispute!
Also Read: Malegaon mourns demise of A.G. Noorani
Born in Mumbai in 1930, Noorani, after completing his studies at the Government Law College of Mumbai, practiced law at the Bombay High Court. He was the lawyer in the case challenging the arrest of Sheikh Abdullah, and in the cases of former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. T. Rama Rao and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Karunanidhi!
Similarly, he was also known for giving intelligent opinions on political issues! For example, after Mrs. Indira Gandhi declared Emergency on June 25, 1975, A.G. Noorani was one of the few people in India who had shown courage to oppose the decision.
Noorani sahab had special expertise on the subjects of Kashmir, Article 370, RSS, freedom struggle and communalism. His columns with full references were published in newspapers and magazines like Front Line, Outlook, Dawn, Indian Express, Hindustan Times and The Hindu.
Noorani sahab is the author of a 547-page book on RSS titled "The RSS - A Menace to India" published by Left Word and a book with very rich information on 1857.
For an activist like me who has spent half of his life working on the issue of communalism, the company of AG was very nurturing. During my 35 years of working on this subject, I have been intellectually guided by a few intellectuals in our country. AG Noorani has been number one among them.
Whatever books he has written on these subjects and the collection of articles published from time to time in magazines like Frontline, EPW, Outlook, have always proved to be helpful to me for any debate or writing an article.
Our country has lost a great advocate of human rights today. I personally offer my humble tribute.
[The writer, Dr Suresh Khairnar, is former president of Rashtra Sewa Dal (RSD)]
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