New Delhi: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Thursday suggested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should hand over Jinnah House in Mumbai to the only daughter of founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
“Now I suggest PM hand over the Jinnah House in Mumbai to Jinnah’s only daughter Dina Wadia who refused to go to settle in Pakistan,” Swamy tweeted.
Swamy’s tweet came after India carried out surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads across the LoC in Pakistan and inflicted heavy casualties.
Born as Dina Jinnah, Dina Wadia’s relationship with her father became strained when she expressed her desire to marry a Parsi-born Indian, Neville Wadia. Jinnah, a Muslim, tried to dissuade her, but failed. It is said that when Dina married Neville, Jinnah said to her that she was not his daughter any more. After the marraiage, the Wadias lived in Mumbai and had two children, a boy and a girl.
After Jinnah returned to Mumbai from England to take charge of the Muslim League, he built himself a palatial mansion South Court (Jinnah House) in Mumbai, which became his residence during the politically momentous decade preceding the creation of Pakistan.
The house, designed by Claude Batley, a British architect, was built in 1936 and is located at 2, Bhausaheb Hirey Marg, Malabar Hill. In 1948, it was leased to the British Deputy High Commission which occupied it till 1982.
Successive Pakistani governments have often expressed deep interest in acquiring the property free of charge for sentimental reasons.
During his visit to India, then President Pervez Musharraf had renewed Pakistan’s claim to the house which he had suggested to then Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee should be given to Pakistan so that it could be turned into a consulate.
However, Dina Wadia who lived in New York City, wrote to the Indian Prime Minister demanding that the house on the Malabar Hill, be handed over to her.
IANS