Quaid-i-Azam’s daughter Dina Wadia passes away at 98 in New York
Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s daughter Dina Wadia breathed her last today as she passed away in New York. She was 98 years old.
Dina Wadia was the only child of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his second wife Rattanbai Petit who was also known as Maryam Jinnah.
She is survived by her son Indian industrialist Nusli Wadia. The Wadia Group, one of the oldest conglomerates of India, was founded by Sir Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia in 1736.
Dina Wadia was born on the night between August 14 and 15 in 1919.
“She made a dramatic entry into the world, announcing her arrival when her parents were enjoying a movie at a local theatre in London.
“Oddly enough, precisely 28 years to the day and hour before the birth of Jinnah’s other offspring, Pakistan,” acclaimed historian Stanely Wolpert wrote in his book Jinnah of Pakistan.
After marrying a Parsi businessman, Wadia stayed in India before moving to the United States. She visited Pakistan upon the death of Jinnah, followed by another trip in 2004, during the Pervez Musharraf regime.
“This has been very sad and wonderful for me. May his [Jinnah’s] dream for Pakistan come true,” she had written in the visitor’s book at the Quaid-i-Azam mausoleum in Karachi.
Jinnah’s daughter last visited Pakistan in 2004 during a landmark cricket series between Pakistan and India on the invitation of former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf. She considered cricket diplomacy to be an enthralling dimension.
Soon after the news of Wadia’s death broke, Pakistani politicians and activists took to social media to offer their condolences.
Saddened to learn of the death of our Quaid’s daughter Dina Wadia. May her soul rest in peace.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 2, 2017
Rest in Peace Mrs. Dina Wadia. The last survivor of Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. pic.twitter.com/QibbquBiVk
— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) November 2, 2017
Dina Wadia’s passing away marked passing away of an era, end of unique bond that existed cause of her illustrated father-our founding father
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) November 2, 2017
It’s ok to romanticise Dina Wadia as she passes away at 98. We have so little left of Jinnah’s own extraordinary life. May she rest in peace pic.twitter.com/PjZOrTGSnE
— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) November 2, 2017
Dina Wadia, daughter of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, passed away in Mumbai. Another window on history closes. RIP
— Syed Talat Hussain (@TalatHussain12) November 2, 2017