Abdul Ghafoor Majeed Noorani, known popularly as A. G. Noorani (born 16 September 1930), is a lawyer in India and political commentator. He has practised as an advocate in the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

and in the

Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the high court of the states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily at Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), and is one of the ...

Early life and education

Noorani was born in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

(now

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

) in 1930. He attended a Jesuit school, St. Mary's, and got his law degree from

Government Law College, Mumbai The Government Law College, Mumbai, (GLC Mumbai), founded in 1855, is the one of the oldest law schools in Asia. The college, affiliated to the University of Mumbai, is run by the Government of Maharashtra. Bal Gangadhar Tilak ,Pratibha Pa ...

Career

His columns have appeared in various publications, including ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the sec ...

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's ...

, The Statesman,

Frontline Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield. Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to: Books and publications * ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant * ''Frontlines ...

Economic and Political Weekly The ''Economic and Political Weekly'' (''EPW'') is a weekly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all social sciences, and is published by the Sameeksha Trust. In January 2018, academic Gopal Guru was named the new Editor of the journal. Guru wil ...

'' and

Dainik Bhaskar ''Dainik Bhaskar ''is India's largest Hindi-language daily newspaper owned by the Dainik Bhaskar Group. According to Audit Bureau of Circulations, it is ranked 3rd in the world by circulation and is the largest newspaper in India by circu ...

. He is the author of a number of books including: ''The Kashmir Question'', ''Badruddin Tyabji Ministers' Misconduct'', ''Brezhnev's Plan for Asian Security'', ''The Presidential System'', ''The Trial of

Bhagat Singh Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was a charismatic Indian revolutionary* * who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer * * in what was to be retaliation for the death of an Indian national ...

'', ''Constitutional Questions in India'' and ''The RSS and the

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...

: A Division of Labour'' (

LeftWord Books LeftWord Books is a New Delhi-based publisher that seeks to reflect the views of the Left in India and South Asia. Its Managing Director is Prakash Karat, the former General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M). The C ...

, 2000). He has also authored the biographies of

Badruddin Tyabji Badruddin Tyabji (10 October 1844 – 19 August 1906) was an Indian lawyer, activist and politician during British Raj. Tyabji was the first Indian to practice as a barrister of the High Court of Bombay who served as the third President of ...

and Dr Zakir Hussain. He has defended

Sheikh Abdullah Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah (5 December 1905 – 8 September 1982) was an Indian politician who played a central role in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir Abdullah was the founding leader of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (later rena ...

of Kashmir during his long period of detention. He appeared in the

for former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister

Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Art ...

against the latter's main political rival

J. Jayalalitha Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

Publications

* ''The Destruction of Hyderabad'' (2014), * ''The Kashmir Dispute 1947–2012'', 2 Volume set (editor, 2013), , * ''Islam, South Asia and the Cold War'' (2012) * ''Article 370: A Constitutional History of Jammu and Kashmir'' (2011) * ''Jinnah and Tilak: Comrades in the Freedom Struggle'' (2010) * ''India–China Boundary Problem 1846–1947: History and Diplomacy'' (2010), *''The RSS and the BJP:A Division of Labour''(2008), * ''Indian Political Trials 1775–1947'' (2006), * ''Constitutional Questions and Citizens' Rights'' (2006) * ''The Trial of Bhagat Singh: Politics of Justice'' (2005), * ''The Muslims of India: A Documentary Record'' (editor, 2003) * ''Islam and Jihad: Prejudice versus Reality'' (2002) * ''The Babri Masjid Question 1528–2003: 'A Matter of National Honour, in two volumes (2003). * ''Constitutional Questions in India: The President, Parliament and the States'' (2002), * ''Savarkar and Hindutva'' (2002), * ''Challenges to Civil Rights Guarantees in India'', (2012) ISBN 9780199088577

Reception

''The Kashmir Dispute 1947–2012''

In a scholarly review of ''The Kashmir Dispute 1947–2012'', Tooba Khurshid from the

Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad The Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad (ISSI), () is a strategic studies think tank based in Islamabad, Pakistan established in 1973. It is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan. Its most famous member is the nationalist ...

it was noted that Khurshid points out that the book is a collection of documents, both archival and contemporary, as well as speeches and interviews and notes that Noorani has supported his arguments with reference to a large array of documents to provide the historical context of the political dispute. Khurshid highly recommends the book for researchers and also praises it for its reference to a large number of archived documents. Khurshid classifies the book as "solid, scholarly research" and recommends it also to policy makers because of its considerable use of classified documents.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noorani, A. G. 1930 births Living people 20th-century Indian lawyers 21st-century Indian Muslims Indian political writers Scholars from Mumbai University of Mumbai alumni Indian columnists Islam and secularism Indian people of Pashtun descent 21st-century Indian historians 20th-century Indian historians Writers about the Kashmir conflict