Yousuf Salahuddin
Quick Facts
Biography
Mian Yousuf Salahuddin (Urdu: میاں یوسف صلاح الدین), commonly known as Yousaf Salli, is a Pakistani socialite, philanthropist, ex-politician, from Lahore.
Family
He is a maternal grandson of the poet and literary scholar Allama Iqbal and nephew of Javed Iqbal. His paternal grandfather, Mian Amiruddin, was the first Muslim Lord Mayor of Lahore, from the "Mian" family of Lahore, Pakistan. Salahuddin is a distant relative of the Taseer family, from which the ex-Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer hailed.
He is also related to third Governor General of Pakistan Malik Ghulam Muhammad who from the finance ministry became the Governor General of Pakistan. He is known for having started peculiar politics in Pakistan by discharging the elected assemblies of Pakistan. This action is now seen as the beginning of “viceregal” politics in Pakistan, in which the military and civil bureaucracy, not elected officials, govern the country and maintain substantial influence over society and the provinces.
Social life
A resident of a traditional 17th century Mughal-style haveli, known as Barood Khana in the Walled City of Lahore, Salahuddin has hosted parties, dinners and get-togethers at his residence and elsewhere. High-profile personalities from throughout the country are invited as guests. He is a figure in the city's arts and culture circles who is credited for reviving Basant festivals and organising various musical, artistic and poetic gatherings; the popular classicial music show Virsa Heritage Revived broadcast on PTV is personally hosted by Salahuddin and has invited performances from a number of artists.
Pakistan Television Corporation producers and directors have used the above-mentioned Mughal-style haveli's large-sized enclosed outdoors ('haveli sehan' in Urdu language) to hold the music concerts for a live audience for their TV program Virsa: Heritage Revived.