Dina Wadia

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Dina Wadia
Wadia (right) with her father Muhammad Ali Jinnah (left)
Born
Dina Jinnah

(1919-08-15)15 August 1919
London, England
DiedNovember 2, 2017(2017-11-02) (aged 98)
New York City, U.S.
Resting placeNew York City, U.S.
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1938; sep. 1943)​
Children2, including Nusli Wadia
Parents
Relatives

Dina Wadia (

Rattanbai Petit. Born in London, she grew up in an influential and politically active family. Her paternal family was of Khoja heritage, while her maternal family was Parsi
.

Wadia's early years were shaped by personal loss, including the death of her mother when she was young, after which she was raised by her aunt,

1947 partition of India after which she acquired an Indian citizenship.[1] She had also spent time in London before settling in New York City later in life.[2] She married Bombay-based businessman, Neville Wadia in 1938 and had two children: Nusli Wadia
and Diana Wadia.

On 2 November 2017, she died at the age of 98 from pneumonia in her New York City home.

Early life

Father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Mother, Rattanbai Petit

Dina Wadia was born Dina Jinnah shortly after midnight on 15 August 1919 in London.

Rattanbai "Ruttie" Petit, had separated but later reunited during her mother's illness.[10]

Jinnah's

Ismaili sect of Islam and were followers the Aga Khan.[13][14] Her father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was a lawyer and the leader of the All-India Muslim League, which called for a separate Muslim homeland following the end of British rule in India.[15][16]

Jinnah's

Parsis who traditionally followed Zoroastrianism. Her great-grandfather, Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, founded the first cotton mill in India and earned a baronetcy for his contributions to industry, trade, and philanthropy.[17] Her mother, Rattanbai Petit, was the only child of Sir Dinshaw Petit. Rattanbai converted to Islam to marry Muhammad Ali Jinnah on 19 April 1918, resulting in a permanent estrangement from her family and Parsi society.[18][19]

In 1929, Jinnah's mother, Rattanbai, died when she was only 9 years old. That year, Jinnah moved to London with her father and aunt, Fatima Jinnah, who raise her as a Muslim,[20] teaching her the Quran and salah.[21] She was educated in a convent boarding school in Panchgani and a private school in Sussex.[22] Jinnah affectionately nicknamed her father "Grey Wolf" after his admiration for the biography Grey Wolf: An Intimate Study of a Dictator on the life of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's life.[23][24]

Marriage, rift with father and reconciliation

My darling Papa,
First of all, I must congratulate you – we have got Pakistan, that is to say the principal has been accepted. I am so proud and happy for you – how hard you have worked for it...
I do hope you are keeping well – I get lots of news of you from the newspapers. The children are just recovering from 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[25]

— Wadia on Pakistan in a letter to Jinnah, 28 April 1947

On 16 November 1938, Wadia married Parsi business man Neville Wadia, from the prominent Wadia family, at All Saints' Church.[n 2] Although Jinnah himself had an inter-faith marriage, he expected Wadia to marry a Muslim, which led to a strained relationship between them.[27] He was not in attendance at the wedding ceremony.[28] In an interview with Akbar Ahmed, she said "He was very disapproving, and we didn’t speak for a few years."[29]

M. C. Chagla recounted in his autobiography Roses in December that when Dina married Neville, her father said to her that she was not his daughter anymore. This story, however, is contentious as some[who?] say that Jinnah had sent a bouquet through his driver, Abdul Hai, to the newly married couple.[30] Their relationship was 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.[31]

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.

Bombay in 1946. When I was about to depart, my father hugged 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.'"[1][30][33] After Dina's death, her personal diary revealed that her relationship with her father was no more formal, and they had reunited as a family.[34]

The couple resided in Bombay and had two children, Nusli and Diana.[35] They separated in 1943,[36][34] after which Wadia moved to New York City.[37]

Later life and death

Wadia was living in an apartment in

Times of India, Indian actress Preity Zinta, who met Wadia several times, stated: "She carries an aura of unmistakable strength."[40]

Wadia was involved in a legal dispute over the ownership of her father's house in Bombay, which she referred to as 'South Court'. Built in 1936, the house had been ultimately classified as evacuee property in 1948 like other property left by muhajirs following independence.[41] Until 1982, it was leased to the British Deputy High Commission, and in 2007, Pervez Musharraf requested that it be converted into Pakistan's consulate.[42] In August of that year, Wadia filed a petition before the Bombay High Court, claiming to be the rightful heir under Hindu law (which applied to Khojas). Although the court determined that Fatima Jinnah was the heir in Jinnah's will, Wadia contested this, arguing that Fatima had been declared an evacuee and was therefore ineligible to legally own property in India and the house should be transferred to Jinnah's legal heir, herself. In response, the Union government claimed the petition was not maintainable and was barred after an unexplained delay.[43][44]

Death

At the age of 98, Wadia died from

minute of silence in her remembrance and offered prayers for her and her father.[51] Andrew Whitehead remarked that "the last remaining link with South Asia's independence era leaders has been broken."[38]

Notes

  1. ^ In Mr. and Mrs. Jinnah: The Marriage that Shook India, Wadia is quoted as saying "she (Lady Dinabai Petit) took over completely and brought me up" following the death of her mother.[6]
  2. ^ Neville was a Christian at the time of their marriage; however, later in life, and following their separation, he converted to Zoroastrianism.[26]

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b "Girl who made Jinnah walk many miles". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Dina Wadia: Farewell, Jinnah's daughter, dead at 98". 3 November 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
  3. ^ "Dina Wadia & Muhammad Ali Jinnah: A daughter's journey". WION News. Zee Media Corporation Ltd., Essel Group. 1998. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  4. ^ Wolpert 1984, p. 63.
  5. ^ "Quaid-i-Azam's daughter Dina Wadia passes away at 98 in New York". The Express Tribune. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  6. ^
    ISBN 0670086436
    .
  7. ^ "Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah – Founder of Pakistan & Former 1st Governor-General of Pakistan". 25 October 2013.
  8. ^ Guriro, Amar (30 June 2009). "Aslam Jinnah's claim of being Quaid's family disputed". Daily Times. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  9. ^ InpaperMagazine, From (3 March 2012). "First lady: The Flower of Bombay". Dawn. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  10. ^ Ahmed, pp. 14–15.
  11. ISBN 9781438108254
    – via Google Books.
  12. ^ "Muslim law doesn't apply to Jinnah, says daughter". The Indian Express. 14 October 2008.
  13. ^ "Mohammed Ali Jinnah". britannica.com. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  14. ^ "A closed fist worth millions". Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  15. ISBN 9781438108254
    – via Google Books.
  16. ^ Guriro, Amar (30 June 2009). "Aslam Jinnah's claim of being Quaid's family disputed". Daily Times. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  17. ^ Vijayraghavan, Kala (24 June 2015). "Business baron Nusli Wadia attends to his ailing mother". The Economic Times.
  18. ^ "The truth about Aslam Jinnah". 10 July 2009.
  19. ^ "Was Ruttie The Woman Behind Jinnah's Success?". 13 June 2022.
  20. ^ Ahmed, p. 7,12.
  21. ^ "Girl who made Jinnah walk many miles". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  22. ^ "OBITUARY Dina Wadia". thetimes. 8 November 2017.
  23. ^ "Dina Wadia (1919-2017): Only child of the 'affectionate but undemonstrative' Muhammad Ali Jinnah". scroll.in. 3 November 2017.
  24. ^ Wolpert 1984, p. 130.
  25. ^ Ahmed, p. 17.
  26. ^ Singh, Kuldip (5 August 1996). "Obituary:Neville Wadia". The Independent.
  27. ^ Wolpert 1984, p. 370.
  28. ^ a b "A FAREWELL TO JINNAH'S DAUGHTER". magtheweekly.com. 17 November 2017.
  29. ^ "Remembering Dina". Tribune.pk. 17 November 2017.
  30. ^ a b c Mir, Hamid (2 November 2017). "Dina Wadia and her darling papa". Geo News. PTI. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  31. ^ "Two nations and a daughter at war over house". South China Morning Post. 21 October 2007. Retrieved 2 November 2017. 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.
  32. ^ "Dina Wadia, Mohammad Ali Jinnah's only child, passes away". The Times of India. PTI. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  33. ^ "Dina Wadia's last meeting with Quaid-e-Azam–in her own words | SAMAA". Samaa TV. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  34. ^ a b "Fact file: Jinnah's family". Dawn. 26 December 2009. Retrieved 1 November 2017. Dina and Neville lived in Mumbai and had two children, a boy and a girl, before the couple divorced.
  35. ^ "Jinnah's Daughter Dina Wadia Dies, Leaves Behind Disputed Property". 2 November 2017.
  36. ^ "Nehru and Jinnah had the same problem – their daughters loved men they did not approve of". Tribune. 8 December 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  37. ^ Wolpert 1984, p. 371.
  38. ^ a b "Dina Wadia: Farewell, Jinnah's daughter, dead at 98". BBC. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
  39. ^ "Dina Wadia visits mausoleum of Quaid". DAWN.COM. 27 March 2004.
  40. Times of India
    . 27 June 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  41. Times Now News
    . 21 November 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  42. India.com
    . 9 February 2025. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  43. ^ "Jinnah's Daughter Dina Wadia Dies, Leaves Behind Disputed Property". The Quint. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  44. ^ "Two nations and a daughter at war over house". South China Morning Post. 21 October 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  45. ^ "President, PM convey nation's grief at Dina Wadia's funeral". Dawn. 5 November 2017.
  46. ISSN 0971-751X
    . Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  47. ^ Richa Taneja (3 November 2017). "All About Dina Wadia, The Only Daughter Of Pakistan Founder Jinnah". NDTV. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  48. ^ "Condolences pour in following Dina Wadia's demise". Dawn. 2 November 2017.
  49. ^ "Pakistan mourns the death of Jinnah's only child Dina Wadia". Hindustan Times. 5 November 2017.
  50. ^ "Preity Zinta says she was fortunate enough to meet Dina Wadia". dunyanews. 3 November 2017.
  51. ^ "Dina Wadia's death: Sindh Assembly observes a minute of silence". Samaa TV. PTI. 3 November 2017. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2017.

Bibliography

Further reading

  • Chagla, M. C. Individual and the State, Asia Publishing House, 1961
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