Prof Salma Ahmad Farooqui, Director of H K Sherwani Centre for Deccan Studies, writing for Siasat.com says, “I had invited him to our Centre. He gave a lecture and stayed with us at the university for two days.
She reminisces that Abdul Ghafoor Noorani was a lovable person. He was an eminent jurist and a prolific writer.
He gave a talk at the Centre for Deccan Studies, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, about a crucial period in Indian history that changed the destiny of a State – Hyderabad – that was envied the world over. The lecture was titled ‘Relations between Delhi and Hyderabad 1947-1948.’ He said while referring to the events and circumstances that prevailed between 1947 and 1948, the former Princely State was a tragedy in the making from the very beginning which could have been avoided by not putting into action Operation Polo or what is popularly called Police Action.
The lecture was held on January 21, 2016, at the MANUU campus.
On this occasion, he also released the research study titled Trading Network of the Deccan prepared by the Centre. Many legal and other luminaries had come to the campus to attend his lecture.
“During that visit to Hyderabad, AGN, I, and Mushtaq, an aide of Asad Owaisi, went to Bikanerwala on road number 1, Banjara Hills. We had all kinds of chats. Noorani loved them all. The next morning he wanted to eat nihari. MANUU guest house cooks brought it for him from outside at 7-00 am. He was gorging on it.”
He had the most lovable personality. “He insisted that I call him Ghafoor and not Sir. I could never do that out of respect,” recalls Farooqui.
“When his book Destruction of Hyderabad released in Hyderabad, I was invited by him to Jubilee Hall in Public Gardens. My friend, Anuradha Naik, and I attended the function together where many of Hyderabad’s intellectuals and public figures were present. I remember he was in touch with Anuradha the next morning asking details about Hyderabad’s monuments. Such was his zeal and desire to know more and more about any issue that interested him,” the professor recalled.
“He truly earned the name that wealth and power could never buy”, Farooqui felt.
