Mumbai: Eminent scholar, lawyer and political commentator Abdul Gafoor (AG) Majeed Noorani passed away in Mumbai on Thursday, August 29, at 94.
A former lawyer, Noorani practised in both the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court. He was widely respected as a Constitution expert, political commentator, and prolific writer. His various expert works are written about Kashmir.
Noorani authored numerous books covering a broad range of topics, including geopolitics, history, Constitutional law, and religion. One of his most acclaimed works is ‘The Destruction of Hyderabad’, in which he argued that the Indian government could have avoided military intervention during Hyderabad’s annexation.
Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi expressed his condolences on X, praising Noorani as a towering scholar. “I learned so much from him, from the constitution to Kashmir, China, and even the art of appreciating good food. May Allah grant him maghfirah,” Owaisi wrote.
Noorani was among the last experts on the Indian Constitution from his generation. Born in Mumbai in 1930, he contributed columns to various publications, including Hindustan Times, The Hindu, Dawn, The Statesman, Frontline, Economic and Political Weekly, and Dainik Bhaskar, beginning in the early 1960s.
His extensive bibliography includes titles such as The Kashmir Question, Ministers’ Misconduct, Brezhnev’s Plan for Asian Security, The Presidential System, The Trial of Bhagat Singh, Constitutional Questions in India, The RSS and the BJP: A Division of Labour, and The RSS: A Menace to India. He also wrote biographies of Badruddin Tyabji and Dr. Zakir Husain.
Noorani defended Sheikh Abdullah of Kashmir during his prolonged detention and represented former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi in the Bombay High Court against political rival J Jayalalitha.
Various journalists, authors and other people have expressed their grief over the scholar’s demise.
