View source for Dina Wadia

{{Short description|Daughter and only child of Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1919–2017)}}
{{Tone|date=February 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Use British English Oxford spelling|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Dina Wadia
| image              = Fatima and Dina Jinnah at the funeral of Muhammad Ali Jinnah.jpg
| native_name        = {{Nastaliq|دینا واڈیا}}
| native_name_lang   = ur
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1919|8|15|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[London]], [[England]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2017|11|02|df=y|1919|8|15}}
| death_place        = [[Madison Avenue]], [[New York City|New York]], [[United States]]
| birth_name         = Dina Jinnah
| citizenship        = {{flag|United States}}<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-11-06|title=Dina Wadia was highly respected in dad Jinnah’s Pakistan|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/dina-wadia-death-muhammad-ali-jinnah-house-pakistan-mumbai-india-my-darling-papa-4925364/|access-date=2021-02-18|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref>
| parents            = {{plainlist|
* [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]] (father)
* [[Rattanbai Jinnah|Rattanbai Petit]] (mother)
}}
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Neville Wadia]]|1938|1943|end={{abbr|sep.|separated}}}}
| children           = 2 (including [[Nusli Wadia]])
| family             = {{plainlist|
* [[Jinnah family]] {{small|(paternal)}}
* [[Petit baronets|Petit family]] {{small|(maternal)}}
* [[Wadia family]] {{small|(via marriage)}}
}}
}}

'''Dina Wadia''' (born '''Dina Jinnah'''; 15&nbsp;August 1919{{snd}}2&nbsp;November 2017) was the daughter and only child of the founder of [[Pakistan]], [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]], and his wife, [[Rattanbai Jinnah|Rattanbai Petit]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1548097/1-quaid-e-azams-daughter-dina-wadia-passes-away-98-london/|title=Quaid-i-Azam's daughter Dina Wadia passes away at 98 in New York|date=2 November 2017|work=The Express Tribune|access-date=4 November 2017}}</ref><ref name="Biography of Muhammad Ali Jinnah">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iekF9X3OwwMC&pg=PA173|title=A Brief History of India|first=Judith E.|last=Walsh|date=10 July 2017|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=9781438108254|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="The story of Pakistan">{{cite web|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/muhammad-ali-jinnah/|title=Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah – Founder of Pakistan & Former 1st Governor-General of Pakistan|date=25 October 2013}}</ref> She belonged to the prominent [[Jinnah family]] through her father, the [[Petit baronets|Petit family]] through her mother, and to the [[Wadia family]] through her marriage to [[Neville Wadia]].<ref name="Gujrats gifts to India and Pakistan">{{cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/340710/gujarats-gifts-to-india-and-pakistan/|title=Gujarat's gifts to India and Pakistan|work=The Express Tribune|date=23 February 2012}}</ref><ref name="Dawn"/><ref name="SCMP"/>

==Early life and background==
{{See also|Jinnah family}}
Dina was born in [[London]], shortly after midnight, on 15 August 1919, to the founder of [[Pakistan]], [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]] (often informally referred to as "Jinnah"), and his second wife, [[Rattanbai Petit]] (whose name was legally amended to Maryam Jinnah after her marriage, though she did not use her new name).<ref name="dawn/3march2012">{{cite news|last1=InpaperMagazine|first1=From|title=First lady: The Flower of Bombay|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/699973|access-date=27 March 2018|work=DAWN.COM|date=3 March 2012}}</ref> As [[Stanley Wolpert]]'s ''[[Jinnah of Pakistan]]'' records: "Oddly enough, precisely twenty-eight years to the day and hour before the birth of Jinnah's other offspring, Pakistan". Her premature arrival was unexpected — her parents were at the theatre, but "were obliged to leave their box hurriedly."<ref name="Dina Wadia and her darling papa">{{cite news|date=2 November 2017|url=https://www.geo.tv/latest/166321-dina-wadia-and-her-darling-papa|title=Dina Wadia and her darling papa|agency=PTI|work=[[Geo News]]|access-date=2 November 2017}}</ref> She was reported to be "a dark-eyed beauty, lithe and winsome, with a smile like her mother's."<ref>{{cite web |title=Dina Wadia & Muhammad Ali Jinnah: A daughter's journey |url=http://www.wionews.com/photos/dina-wadia-dies-at-the-age-of-98-532 |website=WION News |publisher=Zee Media Corporation Ltd., Essel Group |access-date=26 October 2018 |date=1998}}</ref>

Dina's grandfather Jinnahbhai Poonja, was a prosperous merchant, and his family belonged to the lohana caste, Hindus who had converted to Islam centuries earlier and who were followers of the Aga Khan.<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica">{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/biography/Mohammed-Ali-Jinnah |title=Mohammed Ali Jinnah |website=britannica.com |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=June 6, 2020 }}</ref> Her maternal grandparents were [[Parsi]] and had disowned her mother, Rattanbai, when she married Jinnah. Her paternal grandparents were from [[Gujarat]] and had moved to [[Karachi]] for business in the mid-1870s, where her father, Jinnah, was born.<ref name="indianexpress.com">{{cite news|title=Muslim law doesn't apply to Jinnah, says daughter|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/muslim-law-doesn-t-apply-to-jinnah-say/372877/|work=The Indian Express|date=14 October 2008}}</ref> Her father, Jinnah, and her aunt, [[Fatima Jinnah|Fatima]], are each important historical figures who started the [[Pakistan movement]].<ref name="Biography of Muhammad Ali Jinnah"/> Jinnah's struggle for Muslims eventually led to the creation of [[partition of India|Pakistan in 1947]], with founder Jinnah as its first [[Governor General of Pakistan]].<ref name="Gujrats gifts to India and Pakistan"/> Jinnah and Fatima were also bestowed with the titles "Father of the Nation" and "Mother of the Nation", respectively.<ref name="The story of Pakistan"/><ref name="Wadia">{{cite web|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C06%5C30%5Cstory_30-6-2009_pg7_32 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416065320/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C06%5C30%5Cstory_30-6-2009_pg7_32 |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 April 2013 |title=Aslam Jinnah's claim of being Quaid's family disputed |date=30 June 2009 |work=[[Daily Times (Pakistan)|Daily Times]] |first=Amar |last=Guriro |access-date=11 September 2012 }}</ref>

Her mother, Rattanbai (better known as "Ruttie"), was born into the elite class [[Parsi]] family of India: the [[Petit baronets|Petits]]. Ruttie's paternal great-grandfather, [[Dinshaw Maneckji Petit]], was the first baronet of Petit, and founded the first cotton mill in India.<ref name="articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com">{{cite web|url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/business-baron-nusli-wadia-attends-to-his-ailing-mother/articleshow/47795613.cms?intenttarget=no|title=Business baron Nusli Wadia attends to his ailing mother|first=Kala|last=Vijayraghavan|date=24 June 2015|via=The Economic Times}}</ref> Her brother Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, the 3rd baronet of Petit, is married to Sylla Tata, daughter of [[Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata]], and sister of [[J.R.D Tata|Jehangir Tata]], who were the chairpersons of [[Tata Group]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/861886/the-truth-about-aslam-jinnah|title=The truth about Aslam Jinnah|date=10 July 2009}}</ref>  Jinnah's first wife, [[Emibai Jinnah]], was her step-mother.<ref name="The story of Pakistan"/><ref name="Wadia"/>

After Ruttie's death, Fatima moved in with Jinnah to help raise her niece, Dina.<ref name="abplive.in">{{cite web|url=http://www.abplive.in/india-news/a-closed-fist-worth-millions-106672|title=A closed fist worth millions}}</ref><ref name="books.google.com">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cX9DAAAAYAAJ&q=+lohana|title=Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Writings and Speeches|last1=Ambedkar|first1=Bhimrao Ramji|last2=Moon|first2=Vasant|date=10 July 2017|publisher=Education Department, Government of Maharashtra|via=Google Books}}</ref> Jinnah raised his daughter as a [[Muslim]].<ref name="indianexpress.com"/> According to Jinnah's chauffeur, Bradbury, Jinnah asked his sister, Fatima, "to teach her niece, Dina, about Islam and The Holy [[Qur'an]]".<ref>"Jinnah & Islam" – Mr. Qutbuddin Aziz quoting Bradbury, who had been chauffeur during his London years (1930–35)</ref> During Jinnah's time in [[London]], during 1930{{ndash}}33, Wolpert commented, "Dina was [Jinnah's] sole comfort, but Dina was away at school most of the time and home only for brief times, yet still the pampered daughter could be a joy to her doting father". In November 1932, Jinnah read H. C. Armstrong's biography of [[Kemal Atatürk]], ''Grey Wolf'', and seemed to have found his own reflection in the story of [[Turkey]]'s great modernist leader. It was all he talked about for a while at home, even to Dina, who consequently nicknamed him "Grey Wolf".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/girl-who-made-jinnah-walk-many-miles/cid/1326131|title=Girl who made Jinnah walk many miles|website=www.telegraphindia.com|language=en|access-date=2019-01-09}}</ref>

==Marriage, rift and reconciliation with father==
{{see also|Wadia family}}
Wadia's relationship with her father became strained when she expressed her desire to marry the [[Parsi people|Parsi]]-born Indian [[Neville Wadia]]. Jinnah, a [[Muslim]], tried to dissuade her, but failed. [[M. C. Chagla]], who was Jinnah's assistant at the time, recalls: "Jinnah, in his usual imperious manner, told her that there were millions of Muslim boys in India, and she could have chosen anyone. Reminding her father that his wife (Dina's mother [[Rattanbai Petit|Rattanbai]]), had also been a non-Muslim and a Parsi as well, the young lady replied: 'Father, there were millions of Muslim girls in India. Why did you not marry one of them?''' ''And he replied that, 'She became a Muslim'."

Jinnah's then associate and later a prominent judge [[M. C. Chagla]] recounts in his autobiography ''Roses in December'' that; when Dina married [[Neville Wadia|Neville]], [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah|Jinnah]] said to her that she was not his daughter any more. This story, however, is contentious as some say that Jinnah had sent a bouquet through his driver, Abdul Hai, to the newly married couple.<ref name="Dina Wadia and her darling papa"/> Their relationship is a matter of legal conjecture as Pakistani laws allow for a person to be disinherited for violating Islamic rules (in this case by a Muslim woman marrying a non-Muslim), and hence no claim of hers was entertained on the Pakistani properties of Jinnah.<ref name="SCMP">{{cite web|url=http://www.scmp.com/article/612289/two-nations-and-daughter-war-over-house|title=Two nations and a daughter at war over house|work=[[South China Morning Post]]|date=21 October 2007|access-date=2 November 2017|quote=Ms Wadia, who moved to New York after divorcing her husband, divides her time between New York, London and Mumbai, where her son Nusli runs one of India's largest textile companies.}}</ref> The Wadias lived in [[Mumbai|Bombay]] and had two children, a boy named [[Nusli Wadia|Nusli]] and a girl named Diana N Wadia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thequint.com/news/dina-wadia-jinnah-daughter-passes-away#read-more|title=Jinnah's Daughter Dina Wadia Dies, Leaves Behind Disputed Property}}</ref> The marriage did not last long, however, and she separated from Wadia in 1943; the couple never formally divorced because divorce was illegal in India at the time.<ref name="Dawn">{{cite web|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/510759/fact-file-jinnahaes-family|title=Fact file: Jinnah's family|work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]|date=26 December 2009|access-date=1 November 2017|quote=Dina and Neville lived in Mumbai and had two children, a boy and a girl, before the couple divorced.}}</ref>

Following the marriage, the father-daughter relationship became extremely formal and he addressed her formally as 'Mrs. Wadia'. This too is contentious as Dina rebuffed this information calling it a rumour.<ref name="Dina Wadia and her darling papa"/><ref name="The Times of India">{{cite news|date=2 November 2017|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/dina-wadia-mohammad-ali-jinnahs-only-child-passes-away/articleshow/61467698.cms|title=Dina Wadia, Mohammad Ali Jinnah's only child, passes away|agency=PTI|work=[[The Times of India]]|access-date=2 November 2017}}</ref> In an interview with [[Hamid Mir]], she said: "My father was not a demonstrative man but he was an affectionate father. My last meeting with him took place in [[Bombay]] in 1946. When I was about to depart, my father hugged [[Nusli Wadia|Nusli]] (who was two years old then). The grey cap (Jinnah was wearing) caught Nusli’s fancy and in a moment my father put it on Nusli’s head saying, 'Keep it my boy'."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/girl-who-made-jinnah-walk-many-miles-183068|title=Girl who made Jinnah walk many miles|work=Telegraph India|date=3 November 2017|access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="Dina Wadia and her darling papa"/><ref>{{Cite web|title=Dina Wadia's last meeting with Quaid-e-Azam–in her own words {{!}} SAMAA|url=https://www.samaa.tv/news/2017/11/dina-wadia-said-last-meeting-jinnah/|access-date=2020-08-07|website=Samaa TV|language=en-US}}</ref>

After the death of Dina Wadia, her personal diary revealed that relationship with her father was no more formal and they had reunited as a family. The diary also revealed that Dina visited Pakistan twice, once on her [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah#Illness and death|father's death]], and then for the 2004 India-Pakistan cricket match, and was in regular touch with her aunt, [[Fatima Jinnah]], who had raised her.<ref name="Dawn"/> On 28 April 1947 In one of her letters to her father Jinnah, Dina had said:

<blockquote>"My darling Papa, First of all I must congratulate you — you [[creation of Pakistan|got Pakistan]]….how hard you have worked for it…I do hope you are keeping well — I get lots of news of you from the local  newspapers in Bombay. The children are just recovering from their whooping cough, it will take another month yet. I am taking them to [[Juhu]] on Thursday for a month or so. Are you coming back here? If so I hope you will drive out to Juhu and spend the day if you like. Anyway I have a phone so I will ring you up and drive in to see you if you don’t feel like coming out. Take care of yourself Papa darling. Lots of love & kisses, Dina."<ref name="Dina Wadia and her darling papa"/><ref name="Remembering Dina">{{cite web|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1551486/6-remembering-dina/|title=Remembering Dina|date=17 November 2017|website=Tribune.pk}}</ref></blockquote>

==South Court mansion in Mumbai==
After Jinnah returned to [[Mumbai]] from [[England]] to take charge of the [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]], he built himself a palatial mansion [[South Court]] (informally called "Jinnah House") in Mumbai, which became his residence during the politically momentous decade preceding the creation of Pakistan. The house was designed by [[Claude Batley]], a British architect, and was built in 1936 at a total cost of {{INRConvert|200|k|year=1936}}.

After [[Partition of India|partition]] in 1947, the 2.5 acres (10,000&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup>) property, "South Court", overlooking the sea and located at 2, Bhausaheb Hirey Marg (then Mount Pleasant Road), Malabar Hill, was classified as evacuee property. 
In 1948, it was subsequently leased to the [[United Kingdom|British Deputy High Commission]] which occupied it till 1982. Pakistan had since 1979 requested that India sell the property, or at least lease it to its government as a tribute to its founder in order to convert it into their Consulate. Though [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]], India's foreign minister in 1980, agreed in principle to lease ''Jinnah House'' as the residence of local Consulate-General of Pakistan, the plan was never realised.

During his visit to India, then Pakistani President [[Pervez Musharraf]] had suggested to the then Indian Prime Minister [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]] that the house be given to Pakistan so that it could be turned into a consulate. Talks in June 2004 between the foreign ministers of the two countries over the land did not gain any guarantees from India. In May 2005, Pakistan High Commission officials were shown around various properties in Mumbai and its suburbs for the setting up of its consulate but not the Jinnah House. Indian government sources say that the claim by the Jinnah's heirs ''will be treated "sympathetically", and have no intention of handing it to Pakistan. ''

[[Dina Wadia]], the only child of [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah|Jinnah]], was involved in litigation regarding Jinnah House claiming that Hindu Law is applicable to Jinnah as he was a [[Khoja]] [[Shia]].

It was also campaigned to make ''Jinnah House'', India-Pakistan Friendship Centre by a group of peace activists from [[Mumbai]] and [[Karachi]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Correspondent|first=The Newspaper's|date=2016-06-29|title=Campaign to make Jinnah's Mumbai house hub of friendship|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1267917|access-date=2020-08-11|website=DAWN.COM|language=en}}</ref> In 2007, Dina Wadia filed a writ petition before the [[Bombay High Court]], claiming that Jinnah House could not be classified as "evacuee property", as her father had died without leaving behind a will and demanded that the house be handed over to her.

==Visit to Pakistan in 2004==
In March 2004, Wadia visited [[Lahore]], [[Pakistan]], to watch a cricket match between [[Pakistan Cricket team|Pakistan]] and [[Indian cricket team|India]]. She considered "cricket diplomacy" to be an enthralling dimension that illustrated an entirely new phase in relations between India and Pakistan. But she and her son [[Nusli Wadia]] chose not to share their thoughts with the public on what was certainly a highly emotional encounter. Wadia had not traveled to Pakistan since her father's funeral in September 1948.

Wadia, her son Nusli Wadia and grandsons [[Ness Wadia]] and [[Jehangir Wadia]] also visited the mausoleum of her father to pay homage. In the visitors' book, Wadia wrote: ''"This has been very sad and wonderful for me. May his dream for Pakistan come true."'' Reports said that she asked for copies of three pictures she saw in the [[mausoleum]]'s antiquities room. In one picture, she is standing with her father and aunt, [[Fatima Jinnah]]. The other is a painting of her mother, [[Rattanbai Jinnah]]. In the third, her father is dictating a letter, showing [[Mohammad Ali Jinnah]]'s political persona. Dina also went to the tomb of [[Madar-e-Millat|Madar-e-Millat Fatima Jinnah]] to pay respects to her aunt and [[Quaid-e-Azam House|Flagstaff House Pakistan]] to hoist the flag of [[Pakistan]] and her father's house [[Wazir Mansion]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/354945|title=Dina Wadia visits mausoleum of Quaid|date=27 March 2004|website=DAWN.COM}}</ref>

==Death==
Dina died at her home in [[Madison Avenue]] in New York City on 2 November 2017, at the age of 98 from [[pneumonia]]. Her death was deeply mourned by the people of Pakistan, and was described as the "nation's grief".<ref name="Remembering Dina"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1368522|title=President, PM convey nation's grief at Dina Wadia's funeral|date=5 November 2017|website=Dawn.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/pakistan-mourns-the-death-of-jinnah-s-only-child-dina-wadia/story-ExvDCngSEpzes8C59aN6qJ.html|title=Pakistan mourns the death of Jinnah's only child Dina Wadia |date=5 November 2017|website=Hindustan Times}}</ref> Several political leaders, including the then [[Prime Minister of Pakistan|Prime Minister]] and [[President of Pakistan]] issued official statements on her death, and later said that she was "greatly respected and admired in Pakistan".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/jinnahs-daughter-dina-wadia-dies-in-new-york/article19969258.ece|title=Jinnah's daughter Dina Wadia dies in New York|date=2 November 2017|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=2 November 2017|issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=3 November 2017|publisher=[[NDTV]]|access-date=3 November 2017|url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/all-you-want-to-know-about-dina-wadia-pakistan-founder-mohammad-ali-jinnahs-daughter-1770701|author=Richa Taneja|title=All About Dina Wadia, The Only Daughter Of Pakistan Founder Jinnah}}</ref> The [[Sindh Assembly]] in Pakistan observed a one-minute silence in her remembrance and offered [[Al-Fatiha]] for her and her father's departed soul.<ref>{{cite news|date=2 November 2017|url=https://www.samaa.tv/pakistan/2017/11/dina-wadias-death-sindh-assembly-observes-minute-silence/|title=Dina Wadia's death: Sindh Assembly observes a minute of silence|agency=PTI|work=[[Samaa TV]]|access-date=2 November 2017}}</ref> Dina was survived by her son and Wadia group chairman [[Nusli Wadia]], daughter Diana Wadia, and grandsons [[Ness Wadia]] and [[Jehangir Wadia]].<ref name="The Times of India"/>

==References==
{{Reflist|1}}

==Further reading==
* Chagla, M. C. ''Individual and the State'', Asia Publishing House, 1961
* [[Stanley Wolpert|Wolpert, Stanley]] ''Jinnah of Pakistan'', Oxford University Press, 1984, {{ISBN|0-614-21694-X}}
* [[Akbar S. Ahmed|Ahmed, Akbar S.]] ''Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity: The Search for Saladin'', Routledge, 1997, {{ISBN|0-415-14966-5}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050206230128/http://www.quaid.gov.pk/ Government of Pakistan's Official Website About Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah – noker shan ka ]
* [https://www.andrewwhitehead.net/blog/meeting-dina-wadia-on-madison-avenue A journalist's account of meeting Dina Wadia in New York in 2002]

{{Wadia Group}}
{{Jinnah}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wadia, Dina}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:Parsi people]]
[[Category:Indian Ismailis]]
[[Category:Gujarati people]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:Jinnah family]]
[[Category:People from London]]
[[Category:People from New York City]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Wadia family]]