Jinnah House in South Mumbai is going to be turned into a cultural centre by the ICCR. It is expected to become a centre for diplomacy and might also include a museum that will showcase South Asian culture.
The Jinnah House is also known as South Court. Pakistan has been looking for possession of the house. The BJP is looking to revive the Jinnah House. Muhammad Ali Jinnah lived at the house until Partition. The house has been lying vacant for over three decades. It was labelled ‘evacuee property’ since 1949. It has also been the centre of much legal battles for eight decades.
The ICCR chief Vinay Sahasrabuddhe says that the house will be renovated, he said it is now the property of the ICCR. It will be used for diplomatic causes like the Hyderabad House in Delhi. It will be seen as a war memorial as well. The site was visited by Sahasrabuddhe and Malabar Hill MLA Prabhat Lodha to see whether it could be used for the purposes intended. Mr. Lodha earlier wanted the mansion demolished because it was associated with Jinnah previously.
The Jinnah House was built in 1936, on a 2.5 acre plot. It stands opposite the Maharashtra chief minister’s official residence ‘Varsha’. It has caused much argument between the two nations, India and Pakistan. Pakistan has wanted to build a consulate there. The question of making it a cultural centre came in 2017. Lodha raised the demand calling it a symbol of Partition. The Lokmanya Tilak Swaraj Bhoomi Trust has wanted to built a memorial for Bal Ganghadar Tilak there as well. Dina Wadia, the only daughter of Jinnah and his wife Rattanbai Petit spent her last few days in the house after filing a petition in the Bombay High Court. What will become of the site is still uncertain, but it might become the attraction for much of the nation steeped in the country’s history.