Pakistan has long wanted possession of its founder’s house, while BJP MLA M.P. Lodha wants it to be repurposed as a cultural centre, war memorial or museum.
Mumbai/New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government is considering reviving the sprawling, sea-front Jinnah House in Mumbai, where Muhammad Ali Jinnah lived until partition.
The rejuvenation of the house which was labelled an ‘evacuee property’ in 1949 and has been lying vacant for nearly three decades, is a controversial subject, with the Pakistan government keen on getting its possession.
Remodel as cultural centre
BJP legislator Mangal Prabhat Lodha, in whose assembly constituency Jinnah House stands, told ThePrint that the Indian Council for Cultural Research (ICCR) has in principle accepted his proposal of turning the Jinnah House into a ‘South Asia Centre for Art and Culture’.
Lodha, who is also the founder of the Lodha real estate group, and ICCR president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe visited the Jinnah House, originally known as South Court, in south Mumbai’s Malabar Hill Sunday.
“Dr Sahasrabuddhe and I went to the house for a preliminary visit. The ICCR will, over the next two months, see if it is feasible to revamp the Jinnah House as a cultural centre and take a final decision on it. So far, my suggestion has been accepted in principle,” Lodha said.
He added he does not want the structure to be demolished, but simply remodelled for a different use.
After the visit, Sahasrabuddhe too tweeted: “Visited what is known as Jinnah House, Malabar Hill, Mumbai, a heritage building under the possession of ICCR Delhi; along with local MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha ji! Reviewed present conditions before preparing a plan for its rejuvenation and purposeful use!”
Sahasrabuddhe could not be reached for comment Monday as he was out of the country.
Sources close to the development said the primary aim of the visit was to assess the possibility and the extent to which the property can be renovated. The process of hiring a consultant will begin soon.
“The idea that we have in mind for the Jinnah House is to have something on lines of the Hyderabad House in Delhi. Foreign dignitaries can visit and banquets, too, can be arranged for them. There should be a cultural venue where foreign dignitaries can be entertained,” said an official who did not wish to be named.
He added that the technical details could be finalised only after discussions with the Ministry of External Affairs.
Significance of the property
Jinnah House, built in 1936 on a 2.5-acre plot, stands opposite the Maharashtra chief minister’s official residence ‘Varsha’, and is a protected heritage structure. It was the location of a crucial meeting between Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi and Jinnah before Partition.
The palatial property has been a long-standing bone of contention between India and Pakistan, with the latter keen on setting up its consulate there.
Moreover, Dina Wadia, the only child of Jinnah and his Parsi wife Rattanbai Petit, had filed a petition in the Bombay High Court to take control of her property and spend her last few days in her childhood home. Wadia died in November.
In 2017, Lodha raised the demand of converting it into a cultural centre, saying the property is a symbol of partition. Last month, he wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office and to Sahasrabuddhe reiterating this demand.
In the past, Lodha had also proposed turning the house into a war memorial and museum.
The Lokmanya Tilak Swaraj Bhoomi Trust too wanted the bungalow to build a memorial for Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
With inputs from Pragya Kaushika in Delhi