Jinnah's Bombay home will be used for promoting international culture

Syed Firdaus Ashraf in Bombay

The grand house built by the founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, in Bombay will be used for promoting international cultural activities.

According to highly-placed sources in the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, which acquired Jinnah House on February 4, the mansion will not be thrown open to the general public for fear of it becoming a monument for visiting Pakistanis, which, in turn, could lead to a political controversy.

"Political parties might try to draw mileage from it. Moreover, it could lead to a disturbing situation between the leading communities of Bombay which were involved in the riots during December 1992 and January 1993," says an ICCR official, who did not wish to be identified.

The source told Rediff On The NeT, "We have no time-frame as to what we will do with the building. But we are very clear that Jinnah House will not be open to the general public. If we do that, Pakistani nationals coming to Bombay will visit the building and that will lead to an unnecessary controversy."

Ever since Jinnah departed for Pakistan after Partition, there has been a dispute over the possession over his house, situated at #2, Mount Pleasant Road, Malabar Hill, in south Bombay.

According to an official in the Pakistani embassy in Delhi, the mansion was promised to the Pakistan government by the then external affairs minister P V Narasimha Rao on September 3, 1981. "He reiterated on March 25, 1982, that Jinnah House will be returned to Pakistan. We feel disappointed that the promise given to us by the former prime minister was not kept," said the official, who requested anonymity.

However, due to political compulsions and the fear of a public outcry, neither the ruling party nor any other political party is willing to risk handing over Jinnah House to Pakistan.

For the present, ICCR feels that Jinnah House will be used for cultural activities. "The only purpose it can serve is to promote various exhibitions from different parts of the world. This will improve ties of India with different countries around the world. And these exhibitions will be meant for selected people only," the ICCR official said.

Jinnah House was completed in 1939. After Partition in 1947, Jinnah had been very keen to visit his Bombay home, but his wish remained unfulfilled till his death on September 11, 1948. The house, built at a cost of Rs 200,000, covers an area of 15,467 square yards.

After Jinnah's departure, the mansion was taken over by the department of rehabilitation. In 1957, it was acquired by the ministry of works and housing, Government of India. When Pakistan reopened its embassy in New Delhi in May 1979, for the first time, the then Pakistani foreign secretary, Shah Nawaz, formally appealed to India to permit Jinnah House to be the home of the Pakistan consul-general in Bombay. Pakistan shut down its consulate in Bombay in March 1994.

In 1982, Jinnah House was briefly the home of the British deputy high commissioner. Since then, it has been under the care of the central public works department.

Incidentally, Dina Neville Wadia, Jinnah's daughter and mother of Bombay Dyeing chairman Nusli Wadia, had staked her claim to Jinnah House. She had sent a personal request to former prime minister Narasimha Rao and also filed a writ petition in the Bombay high court in 1993.

But she had to withdraw the case at the stage of admission as the government questioned various disputed facts that occurred in the years 1944-45, and which she could not verify.

Meanwhile, ICCR officials in Bombay expect to shift their office to Jinnah House shortly. Twelve people work at ICCR's Bombay office.

"The building has been not been occupied for the past 15 years and we have to maintain its heritage. We will keep the dignity of the structure and will ensure that no harm is done to it. At present, there is only old cane furniture inside the house left behind by the British deputy commissioner in 1982," says Meera Shankar, director-general, ICCR.

Asked whether the name Jinnah House would be changed, she said, "There are no plans right now."

Situated a short distance away from the Maharashtra chief minister's home, Varsha, Jinnah House is well guarded. Written on the main gate are the words: 'Photography prohibited'. The once lovely garden is over-run by weeds and bushes, and there is a deathly silence in the vicinity.

Photographs: Jewella C Miranda