MY FEUDAL LORDS

MY feudal lords

While Jinnah and his understudy, Liaquat, shifted to Pakistan after partition in 1947, leaving behind the stately buildings in Mumbai, Delhi and Karnal, which cost a bomb at the current market conditions, "says Vivek Shukla

Although the book on MA Jinnah by Jaswant Singh created a lot of heat and kicked a lot more dust in both political and intellectual circles, one way or another, most people have missed a curious fact about Jinnah, and his deputy in the Muslim league, Liaquat Ali Khan, both of which left the large properties in India. In terms of valuations of their properties in this context, they cost close to RS 700 to RS 750 crore.

Jinnah had a house each in the most exclusive areas of both Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and New Delhi. While he sold his 10 Aurangzeb Road farm in New Delhi before he traveled to Pakistan in the wake of partition, Jinnah chose not to sell the house on Malabar Hill in Mumbai. This house was designed along European architectural lines and estranged daughter Dina Jinnah, claimed that the house many times after the closure of his father in 1948, but the Indian government never accepted her claim against the property. Pakistan has also asked for custody of the house of their founder to start its Mumbai consulate - Indian government refused this request also.

Mumbaikar Zafar Iqbal, an ex-IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre, says that given the central location is located, Jinnah House is a goldmine. It would cost not less than RS 125 crore at today's prices, he says.

Delhi Jinnah's house has not been so lucky, and contrary to Jinnah House in Mumbai, this has never been in the news. Jinnah's visit to Delhi and northern India increased in frequency after 1940, when the Muslim League demanded a separate state for Indian Muslims. Before he bought the house Delhi, he used to live either on or Maidens Hotel Imperial Hotel, instead of staying with some of his party leaders.

It is said that Jinnah was not keen to have a house in Delhi, to begin with. But after some of his close Muslim League colleagues, including Liaquat Ali Khan, persuaded him to have one here, he bought the 10 Aurangzeb Road house. Indeed, many Muslim League leaders convinced him that he would visit Delhi to meet and organize the Muslims, he must have a house of his own here. Altaf Hussain, editor of The Dawn, the body of Muslim League, which used to be here. The Dawn, in those days, there used to be published from Darya Ganj.

But before leaving for Pakistan, Jinnah, who belonged to Islamia Khoja community of Gujarat, sold this house in Ram Krishna Dalmia for less than Rs 3 lakh - a huge sum in 1947. Realty experts say the current price of 10 Aurangzeb Road would not be less than RS 200 crore. The likes of Laxmi Mittal and KP Singh of DLF now has large homes on this road.

And from the exclusive Aurangzeb Road, Tilak Lane is also not very far away. Liaquat Ali Khan, who used to live with his wife, Gul-e-Rana, who taught English in IP College, Delhi University. Liaquat Ali Khan, who became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, had large properties in both Delhi and Karnal. Unfortunately he also could not dispose of his house while going to the county, which he helped to create. Indian government later handed the house to the Pakistani government, which now serve as the official residence of their Delhi-based High Commissioner.