SIR ABDULLAH HAROON

(1872–1942)
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In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent and the Merciful

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 Introduction
• Sir Abdullah Haroon was born on 1 January 1872 in Karachi
• He was a British Indian politician
• Contributed a lot towards developing and defining the role of Muslims in economic,
educational, social and political fields in the Indian subcontinent
• Belonged to the memon family
• Became part of Indian national congress in 1917
• He was selected as a president of Sindh opposition committee from 1919 to 1924
• From 1921 to 1934, he worked as a member of Karachi Municipal Corporation
• He was a distinguished philanthropist and established several institutions, which provided
services to the poor like ‘Islamia Orphanage School for Boys’ and ‘Cutchi Memon Madarasa-
e-Benat for Girls’
• The British Government gave him the title of ‘Sir’ in 1937
• He took his last breath on April 27, 1942 3
 Early Life
• Had a modest start in his life
• His father died when he was 6 yrs old and was raised by his grandmother who was a deeply
religious lady
• Early in his life, he worked as an 'assistant bicycle repairman' at the very low wages of 4
annas (quarter of an Indian rupee)
• He deeply believed in the dignity of labor
• At the age of 24, he started his own business as a small merchant
• He soon became very successful and was called the 'Sugar King' by his contemporaries due
to his business trades in sugar
• Afterwards he was nominated as a director of a shipping company “Mughal Lines” and “The
Indian Transcontinental Air Ways”
• Due to his involvement in municipal affairs, he was elected to the municipal comity Karachi
from 1913 -1917 and 1921-1934 4
 Political Career
• He started his political career as a member of National Congress in 1917
• He was closely associated with the Khilafat Movement as President of the Sind Provincial
Khilafat Committee for five years (1919-1924)
• Later he was elected as the President of the All India Central Khilafat Committee in 1928
• In 1923 he got seat in the Bombay Legislative Council and in 1926 in the Indian Legislative
Assembly, which he retained for sixteen years till his death in 1942
• He was prominent among many Muslim leaders in the All India Muslim Conference, which
was set up to counter the Nehru Report in 1929

Cont… 5
 Political Career
• In 1930 he was elected President of all-India Tanzim Conference
in Allahabad, and in 1931 of all India Post
• The most important service he performed was to organize the
First Sind Provincial Muslim League Conference at Karachi in
1938
• A year later he was elected as President of the Sind Provincial
Muslim League and Chairman of All India Muslim League
Foreign Subcommittee
• He played a prominent role in the separation of Sind from
Bombay being the Secretary of Financial Inquiry Committee
(1930-35), member of Sind Administrative Committee (1933)
and Sind Delimitation Committee (1935)
• He also chaired the second Sind Azad Conference (1934), which
was established to counter the Hindu propaganda against the
separation of Sind from Bombay 6
 Contribution for Education
• In his life, he took interest in educational and health schemes
for the urban poor especially in Liari quarters
• He was known as a pioneer of Sindhi Muslim woman and
founded an education center named as “Hajiani Hanifa Bai
School” in 1926
• He was among the first Muslim Sindhi leaders who took bold
steps of sending his own daughters to english medium
schools from whom one became doctor
• He developed many educational institutions that include
“Jamia Islamia Yatimkhana” to help poor students acquire
good education as well as professional training
• He played a vital role in political awakening of Muslims of
Sindh for which he setup a newspaper “Alwahid” in 1920. He
used “Alwahid” to raise voice of Sindhi Muslims
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 Death and Legacy
• He died on 27 April 1942 in Karachi
• He had donated ten thousand rupees to the Muslim League
at Allahabad in 1942
• He was a philanthropist and active in social welfare projects
throughout his life and contributed to many charitable
institutions
• Among his survivors were 3 sons, eldest - Yusuf Haroon
(1916- 12 Feb 2011), second son Mahmoud Haroon (1920- 6
Nov 2008) and a third son Saeed Haroon
• In Karachi, there is a 'Sir Abdullah Haroon Road' (formerly
Victoria Road) named after him in the Saddar Town area of
the city and also a College in his name "SIR ABDULLAH
HAROOON COLLEGE In Lyari Town
• Pakistan Post Office also had issued a postage stamp in his
honour in its 'Pioneers of Freedom' series 8
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