Chief Justice Muhammad Yusuf Saraf | |
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| Chief Justice of theAzad Kashmir High Court | |
| In office 1975–1980 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1923-09-23)September 23, 1923 |
| Died | January 2, 1995(1995-01-02) (aged 71) |
| Alma mater | St. Joseph's College Aligarh Muslim University |
Justice Muhammad Yusuf Saraf (born 1923) was the Chief Justice of theAzad Kashmir High Court[1] and the author of the voluminous work,Kashmiris Fight for Freedom. He was born inBaramulla in the then princely state ofJammu and Kashmir, but migrated toPakistan prior to thePartition of India. He started practising law inMirpur in 1949, rising to the bench in 1969. He served as the Chief Justice of Azad Kashmir from 1975 to 1980.
Muhammad Yusuf Saraf was born inBaramulla in 1923. After graduating fromSt. Joseph's College he took degrees of M. A. (History) andLL. B fromAligarh Muslim University in 1948. He was the Student Union president and the President of Kashmir Youth Congress, 1943–1945. He was also a secretary for the All-India Students Congress during this period, associated withSheikh Abdullah'sNational Conference.[2]
In August 1945, Saraf joinedAll Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference, a pro-Pakistan splinter party of the National Conference, which favouredJammu and Kashmir's accession to Pakistan. He was appointed a secretary of the party in 1946.[2]
On 19 July 1947, at a convention of the Muslim Conference workers was held in Srinagar, Saraf argued for the accession of the state to Pakistan. This was said to have been against the party Working Committee's decision the previous day in favour of the State remaining independent. The Working Committee cited the advice ofMuhammad Ali Jinnah in support of its decision. However, Saraf wanted the party to decide in favour of accession to Pakistan. He hastily pencilled a counter-resolution and read it out at the convention, which is said to have received overwhelming support from the younger members of the convention. Consequently, the convention passed a resolution urging the Maharaja to accede to Pakistan.[3][4] The Working Committee subsequently modified its resolution urging the Maharaja to accede to Pakistan.
In August, following thePartition of British India, Saraf conducted a mission for Chaudhary Hamidullah, the acting president of the Muslim Conference. Hamidullah sought "sympathetic people" fromPunjab and theNorth-West Frontier Province (NWFP) to attack the state borders in order to draw theState Forces away from Srinagar. It was meant provide an opportunity for therebels from Poonch to attack the state capitalSrinagar. Hamidullah asked Saraf to carry a letter to the NWFP chief ministerKhan Abdul Qayyum Khan to facilitate attacks from the Pakistani side. The Khan, on the other hand, dismissed the proposal as being "foolish". He thought such attacks would give an excuse for India to intervene. He wanted Hamidullah to come in person to discuss the development of a proper plan. Saraf relayed the message to Hamidullah in Srinagar, and then went to stay with a relative inGarhi Habibullah in the NWFP. He believed a warrant had been issued for his arrest.[5]
In Garhi Habibullah, Saraf acquired a sizeable quantity of dynamite for the insurgency.Khurshid Anwar was in the area at that time in connection with organising atribal invasion of Kashmir. With Anwar's assurance that it would be used for 'the same purpose', Saraf handed over the dynamite to the Khan of Garhi, Muhammad Aslam Khan, which was then presumably used during the tribal invasion.[6]
In October 1947, Saraf went toRawalpindi, where the Azad Kashmir provisional government set up by the Muslim Conference was operating from the Paris Hotel. He was asked to set up a publicity office for the movement inLahore. Saraf did so, with the assistance ofMirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, the head ofAhmadiyya sect,Faiz Ahmed Faiz and other influential people of Lahore. The Divisional Commissioner of Lahore, Inamur Rahim, also extended his help.[7] When the Provisional Government of Azad Kashmir was reconstituted underSardar Ibrahim Khan on 24 October 1947, Saraf supported it.[8]
Saraf received anL.L.B. degree fromAligarh University in 1948. He started law practice inMirpur in 1949. He continued to be involved with the Azad Kashmir affairs, serving on the Electoral Rolls and Polling Sub-Committee set up by the Government of Pakistan, the Azad Kashmir Radio Advisory Committee and the Azad Kashmir Administration Advisory Committee, etc.[2]
In 1969, Saraf was appointed as a judge of the Mirpur Court. He served on the Azad Kashmir Laws Adaptation and Scrutiny Committee and the Azad Kashmir Islamic Laws Committee and the Azad Kashmir Law Commission.[2]
In 1975, Saraf was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Azad Kashmir High Court, serving in this post till 1980.[9]
The volumes received favourable reviews in the Pakistani press. The U. S. Ambassador to Pakistan,Arthur W. Hummel remarked that it appeared to be "a monumental work, representing much research and scholarship".[10] Being a voluminous piece of work covering a long period of history, the volumes are often cited by scholars, such asVictoria Schofield andChristopher Snedden, for historical information.[11][12] However, Brian Cloughly inA History of the Pakistan Army, said that it is not an unbiased piece of work.Lord Mountbatten is said to have characterised it as 'an exercise in aspersion and innuendo'.[13] Azad Kashmiri journalistKhalid Hasan, who co-editedMemory Lane to Jammu, which included excerpts from Saraf's book, has stated that it is an unsatisfactory account with a "gung-ho, super-patriotic tone", lacking in objectivity.[14]
Justice Saraf died on 2 January, 1995.[15][16]
The Sultana Foundation has established aJustice Yusaf Saraf Centre for Research, Rehabilitation & Mainstreaming of Street Children in his honour.[17]
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