By NNN-PTI
Islamabad : Pakistan government has “abandoned” the idea of claiming the Jinnah House in Mumbai to open a consulate in India’s financial hub as it feels the building is a “personal” property.
Though Pakistan had previously expressed an interest in claiming the Jinnah House, Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told ‘The News’ daily that the “government has abandoned the idea”.
He avoided further comment on the issue as it is a matter of “emotional attachment for Pakistanis and Indian Muslims”.
Sources in Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the government also has no plans to back the country’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s daughter Dina Wadia’s efforts to gain possession of the building.
Wadia, the only child of Jinnah, and her industrialist son Nusli Wadia recently filed a petition under the Right to Information Act with India’s Central Information Commission to obtain all documents pertaining to the Jinnah House.
The sources said “keeping aside the sentimental value of Muslims of the subcontinent, it is clear that the Jinnah House was personal property of Quaid-i-Azam (Jinnah) and not of the Pakistan government”.
They said Pakistan government also has no plans to “move the international court of justice or litigate in Indian courts”.
Pakistan’s Director of the Department of Archeology and Museums, Qasim Ali Qasim, said the issue of preserving the Jinnah House can be settled only through bilateral arrangements with India.
“We, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, can forward recommendations to the Foreign Office to take up the matter with Indian government,” he said.