It is with great sadness that I learnt through WhatsApp messages the passing away of Yousuf Mohamed, SC, GOSK, at the age of 88 at his home in Quatre Bornes.
Yousuf was a healthy man, with healthy habits. He was jogging even at past eighty. But an incurable disease forced him to look for treatment in Réunion. He became bedridden on his return home. The only way I could find out about his health was either by ringing his sons or through close friends of the family.
Yousuf was a jovial figure, captivating his audience, be it at a party or at lunch break in the courts. One of his special talents was to tell jokes. You can bet his were original and classy after-dinner jokes. He confided to me once during a dinner party organized in his honour by Alif Society, that magistrates could not contain their laughter when resuming hearing in their courts after listening to his jokes during the recess.
He was a consummate politician, having been a member of our National Assembly as well as our ambassador to the Middle East. He was a fine orator that could galvanize his audience at public meetings. He inherited the love to fight for just causes from his father who thought that in a multi-racial society like Mauritius, the best way to serve members of his faith was to create the Muslim Action Committee which fought for the independence of Mauritius in alliance with the Labour Party.
Yousuf was also an icon of the Mauritian Bar. He was much respected by his colleagues and one confided to me that Yousuf was unbeatable in cross examinations. It is no surprise that members of the legal professions were lining up in Quatre Bornes till early Monday morning to pay their last respects to the departed.
With his departure, Mauritius has lost a pillar in the bar, in politics as well as a perceptive commentator of public life and causes. At these difficult times for the Mohamed family, all those who have known Yousuf mourn today his departure but celebrate also the remarkable contributions of this son of the land for the advancement of our common future. His death has left a vacuum hard to fill. Myself I was always inspired by his counsel and I feel proud to call him my friend.
We have lost Yousuf but the vision he has left will last forever. I am sure Shakeel, who has assumed some of the responsibilities of his father, will continue with the same passion to be the voice of the voiceless and honour the man who has been a gift to the country.
I, like innumerable others, will miss this smiling face. I would like to convey my most heartfelt condolences to his wife Zeinah, his daughter Nooreenah and his sons Shakeel and Zakhir, his 10 grandchildren and to everyone who knew him, loved him and depended upon him. May Allah swt grant him Jannat ul Firdaus.
Dawood Auleear
Monday 4 April 2022
NOTE : Les points de vue exprimés dans cette rubrique ne reflètent pas nécessairement ceux de la rédaction et n’engagent que les auteurs eux-mêmes.
